rin-spa-aic

My dealer recommended after. You want the tub installed and oriented first and then have the electrician bring the power to the spa. They also said not to fill the tub until the electrician shows up, especially here where the temperature was scheduled to drop below freezing that night. I was fortunate to schedule the electrician an hour after the tub delivery. Started filling the tub from the washer's hot water line and by the time they were done running wire, installing the panel, and wiring the tub we only had to wait about 10 minutes before the water was at a level that we could turn it on. My spa called out a GFCI disconnect panel as a requirement for the warranty. They also specified brand, either a Square-D or SIemens panel. I got the Siemens 60a panel from Amazon $88. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NCV07C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000NCV07C&linkCode=as2&tag=r1rinaicfavor-20

Stove electric, dryer is gas. Looks like previous owners had electric dryer, and that's the spot on the panel that we put the new spa breaker on Someday a gas oven/range will replace our electric! I do have 2 full sized refrigerators + full sized soda (beer) vending machine running in the house also.

Ran last night with no issues. 2 pumps on high, heater, air blower, lights for over 5 minutes with no issue. 2 pumps on high, heater, and lights for more than 30 minutes with no issues. The whole time the house was at normal electrical usage + a 1400w appliance was running. Fingers crossed, but I think it's all set!

Electrician came out last night. Some miscommunication with his partner had resulted in the tub being installed on the old electric dryer breaker, which was supposed to be replaced with a new 60 amp. Replaced with the new 60amp breaker. Didn't get a chance to run the tub last night at full power for an extended period, but I will tonight. Crossing fingers that this solves the problem and I can keep 60a tub on my 100a service! Will update tomorrow.

I looked specifically at these models and ended up with a Maax Elite 7500. They are based out of Chandler. If you had a problem you could head straight to the factory and complain! Just took delivery last Friday, very happy so far.

Yes the GFCI is tested and working properly. I will definitely have the electrician back out this week. More likely it is a problem with my electrical math. 2 pumps rated at 15amps + 5.5Kw heater (240V/5500w =23 amps) = 53 amps if all running at high...

Regular breaker, the GFI is in the Spa Panel

Just to clarify, by "main breaker" I meant the 60amp breaker in the main panel that feeds the spa panel, not the whole house. Everything was done by a "Qualified" licensed electrician to code.

This past Friday we installed a 240V-60amp spa on a 100w panel that had room. We did have an initial electrician consult if we should just install the 60a spa disconnect panel ($650 with 50 feet of copper, not including panel) or upgrade to 200a service ($1800+$650+panel) The electrician told us that as long as we didn't use the dishwasher, oven, microwave, or AC when the spa was running we should be ok. Over the weekend the main breaker tripped twice while running the spa (2 pumps on high + 5.5kw heater = 53amps according the the user manual). It tripped in the house, and not at the spa disconnect panel. We will change out the breaker at the house this week to see if that is the problem, but I suspect that we will need a panel upgrade to fully utilize this spa. Our short term solution would be to change the spa from 60a operation to 40a setting which does limit the heater to function only when pump one is at low speed and pump two is off. By my own calculation at 40amp we would only possibly have a problem if more than 1 of the earlier mentioned appliances was running.

You should be able to get both for the same price with same options packages. I also considered both before extending my budget. Go with whichever dealer makes you more comfortable and has the best reputation.

We just evaluated that exact same lineup this past weekend. All seemed like well built, comfortable tubs. Didn't like the way the Peyton pillows hit (I'm 6'1") We ended up with a Maax Elite 7500. I would have likely gone with the Jacuzzi 245 or Caldera Marino if my significant other didn't authorize the extra budget. Hint: You might be able to shave a couple more dollars off the prices you listed. Dreading our electrician visit tomorrow to quote the service upgrade!

We just looked at a bunch of tubs and decided on the Maax 7500. Features and warranty for the price were the deciding factor. The finish was desert as we like the tetxured better than smooth. The neck jets and ability to sit comfortably up on the top of the hot tub were big selling points for us. The Maax 480 is like bigger version of the 7500. If I remember they asked $8500+ for the tub so we didn't even consider it. I did sit in a Monarque and felt the foot dome wasn't comfortable (6'1"). The foot dome in the Jacuzzi was less obtrusive and would have been acceptable. We did look at a bunch of manufacturers with local dealers before deciding on the Maax and Jacuzzi was the runner up for our price point. Of course the real test will be after it's installed for a few weeks, I won't be able to give that update until October.