RichardSC

Apparently, a suction side leak was pulling in enough air to unload the impeller and cause the pump motor to trip. I replaced the heater diverter piece that had a very hard to see crack in the PVC flange. I also replaced the pump cable. Everything worked on startup. Thanks for the help. With a 30 year old hot tub, I suspect I will be back ....

Thanks for responding. Everything was working fine till i replaced two O rings. Fixing that did cause a significant leak (about 200 mL/min) at the suction side of pump - I await the part. When I refilled the spa, turning on the spa pump tripped the GFCI. New pump connector plug is on order to replace the damaged one. The GFCI is on the spa pack (photo). A new one is on order. The circulating pump and heater appear to be functioning fine. I ran them all day yesterday - the water came up to set temp. If I turn the spa pump on, the circuit trips after a few seconds. UPDATE: today it ran for about 10 s beforeit turned it off. It does suck in air at the leak. The flow out the jets was very weak. The pump tripping the GFCI and the arcing legacy found on the pump connector are what made me suspect a potential pump electrical issue. But would air infiltration cause a pump to trip? I did replace relays a few years back. In practice, when the pump is activated the relays for the circ pump and heater should turn them off. I have not tested them yet but, again, they were working. Hopefully attached are the board and the compartment pix. I do not have a circuit diagram.

My first post: I have a 1994 Tiger River Manora (M34xxxx series). A few years back, I replaced the relays and the heater but otherwise has been troublefree. It was working perfectly until it sprung a leak at its heater o-ring the other day. So I replaced the O ring. Two things occurred: (1) as can be expected in an older unit, when you start moving things around it will spring another leak, this time at the suction port to pump. So it awaits another O ring or two which I did not have (compartment pix). BUT (2) the pump has never been a problem. When I put everything together, the pump popped the internal breaker after about 3 sec. Repeated on reset. I noticed some history of arcing on the pump plug to the circuit board (the only pump related thing I touched) and there was some melted plastic on the female side (pigtail pix). The power trip needs to be solved. Could it be as simple as the damaged pigtail? I can order a new pigtail (wow - still available!). Is the suction leak pulling in air to trip it (me just hoping) ? Or is the pump motor gone (Wavemaster 5000) and the connector is the consequence? Strange that it died when I replaced an O ring. Someone with experience have suggestions? I prefer to keep the unit if reasonable - the shell is sound, the wood skirt looks fine and the cover is one season new.