Tafoya1969 Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 Caldera Hawaiian spa 2003 Spa worked great until now. The 30 amp GFCI breaker is randomly tripping, so I reset breaker look at the display. I get the four dashes - - - - so i reset it again every thing works circ pump starts all jets and air work display comes on shows temp. Spa's been tripped so it shows low 80's 90's water temp to be expected. I checked on it about 1 hour later still working temp rising looks good. I go to work come home GFCI breaker tripped. Start the reset process all over. So I wait about 10 mins and I heard it trip it was just criculating no jets or air on. Called the Tech hes said its the watkins circ pump their bad.. ok I replaced the circ pump ...GRRRR. still tripping . I unpluged the Ozonator still trips, I unpluged the air pump, still trips... It will run for days before tripping or trip 10mins after reset. Ill try unpluging the jets.....Also it seems to trip no matter if its running full jet and air or just circulating. any thoughts Could it be the high limit thermo. or pressure switch? or bad GFCI breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavalier Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 My 1989 Sundance Optima kept tripping the GFI breaker until I changed out the motherboard. Caldera Hawaiian spa 2003 Spa worked great until now. The 30 amp GFCI breaker is randomly tripping, so I reset breaker look at the display I get the four dashes - - - - so i reset it again every thing works circ pump starts all jets and air work display comes on shows temp. Spa been tripped so it shows low 80's 90's water temp to be expected. I checked on it about 1 hour later still working temp rising looks good. I go to work come home GFCI breaker tripped. Start the reset process all over. So I wait about 10 mins and I heard it trip it was just criculating no jets or air on. Called the Tech hes said its the watkins cric pump their bad.. ok I replaced the cric pump ...GRRRR. still tripping . I unpluged the Ozonator still trips, I unpluged the air pump, still trips... It will run for days before tripping or trip 10mins after reset. Ill try unpluging the jets.....Also it seems to trip no matter if its running full jet and air or just criculating. any thoughts Could it be the high limit thermo. or pressure switch? or bad GFCI breaker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ps558 Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 Caldera Hawaiian spa 2003 Spa worked great until now. The 30 amp GFCI breaker is randomly tripping, so I reset breaker look at the display. I get the four dashes - - - - so i reset it again every thing works circ pump starts all jets and air work display comes on shows temp. Spa's been tripped so it shows low 80's 90's water temp to be expected. I checked on it about 1 hour later still working temp rising looks good. I go to work come home GFCI breaker tripped. Start the reset process all over. So I wait about 10 mins and I heard it trip it was just criculating no jets or air on. Called the Tech hes said its the watkins circ pump their bad.. ok I replaced the circ pump ...GRRRR. still tripping . I unpluged the Ozonator still trips, I unpluged the air pump, still trips... It will run for days before tripping or trip 10mins after reset. Ill try unpluging the jets.....Also it seems to trip no matter if its running full jet and air or just circulating. any thoughts Could it be the high limit thermo. or pressure switch? or bad GFCI breaker. Look at the heater relay board located on the left side inside the control box. look for any black marks. It also could be a weakening GFCI breaker. You can try to run the spa with the heater disconnected. Most of the times 99% pressure switches ,sensors etc will not trip the breaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerimiahR Posted February 1, 2010 Report Share Posted February 1, 2010 Caldera Hawaiian spa 2003 Spa worked great until now. The 30 amp GFCI breaker is randomly tripping, so I reset breaker look at the display. I get the four dashes - - - - so i reset it again every thing works circ pump starts all jets and air work display comes on shows temp. Spa's been tripped so it shows low 80's 90's water temp to be expected. I checked on it about 1 hour later still working temp rising looks good. I go to work come home GFCI breaker tripped. Start the reset process all over. So I wait about 10 mins and I heard it trip it was just criculating no jets or air on. Called the Tech hes said its the watkins circ pump their bad.. ok I replaced the circ pump ...GRRRR. still tripping . I unpluged the Ozonator still trips, I unpluged the air pump, still trips... It will run for days before tripping or trip 10mins after reset. Ill try unpluging the jets.....Also it seems to trip no matter if its running full jet and air or just circulating. any thoughts Could it be the high limit thermo. or pressure switch? or bad GFCI breaker. When you say the breaker trips, is the breaker switch literally turning to the off position BY ITSELF? I'm sorry if this seems like as stupid question, but it's a very common mistake. If the breaker is actually turning itself off, then yes indeed it's tripping. This would indicate either an electrical problem or a bad GFCI breaker. If the breaker is NOT turning off, and you're just having to turn it on/off to get the spa working again, then there's an issue with the spa (and in that case the breaker is NOT tripping off). Most commonly, if the spa itself 'trips off' randomly, or over a few days, it's probably a poor flow issue due to older or dirty filters. If you have not done so already, remove the filter from the spa entirely and see if the problem still occurs. It could also be a flow switch issue if the filter doesn't correct the issue. Edit: Generally speaking, the breaker itself will only switch off if: 1) There's an electrical problem (Ground Fault, short circuit, too much amp draw, etc) 2) The breaker is failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Yes the 30 amp will literally turn off by it self ..as if some one pushed the test button.. My spa has never done this Ive had it new since 2003. Something must be over loading it. I just dont know what yet. When you say the breaker trips, is the breaker switch literally turning to the off position BY ITSELF? I'm sorry if this seems like as stupid question, but it's a very common mistake. If the breaker is actually turning itself off, then yes indeed it's tripping. This would indicate either an electrical problem or a bad GFCI breaker. If the breaker is NOT turning off, and you're just having to turn it on/off to get the spa working again, then there's an issue with the spa (and in that case the breaker is NOT tripping off). Most commonly, if the spa itself 'trips off' randomly, or over a few days, it's probably a poor flow issue due to older or dirty filters. If you have not done so already, remove the filter from the spa entirely and see if the problem still occurs. It could also be a flow switch issue if the filter doesn't correct the issue. Edit: Generally speaking, the breaker itself will only switch off if: 1) There's an electrical problem (Ground Fault, short circuit, too much amp draw, etc) 2) The breaker is failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 looks like this www.spa-works.com/imagedisplay_popup.php?pid=6449&imid=6127&twm=0&wm=1&it=D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spatech (the unreal one) Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Sounds like it could be the breaker based on what you've described. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot_water Posted February 2, 2010 Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Yes the 30 amp will literally turn off by it self ..as if some one pushed the test button.. My spa has never done this Ive had it new since 2003. Something must be over loading it. I just dont know what yet. When you say the breaker trips, is the breaker switch literally turning to the off position BY ITSELF? I'm sorry if this seems like as stupid question, but it's a very common mistake. If the breaker is actually turning itself off, then yes indeed it's tripping. This would indicate either an electrical problem or a bad GFCI breaker. If the breaker is NOT turning off, and you're just having to turn it on/off to get the spa working again, then there's an issue with the spa (and in that case the breaker is NOT tripping off). Most commonly, if the spa itself 'trips off' randomly, or over a few days, it's probably a poor flow issue due to older or dirty filters. If you have not done so already, remove the filter from the spa entirely and see if the problem still occurs. It could also be a flow switch issue if the filter doesn't correct the issue. Edit: Generally speaking, the breaker itself will only switch off if: 1) There's an electrical problem (Ground Fault, short circuit, too much amp draw, etc) 2) The breaker is failing. 30 amp GFI breakers are not cheap, but not too bad, compared to larger ones. You can try a new GFI breaker, and if it behaves the same way, you have eliminated the breaker as the culprit. I've heard from others that these do fail by tripping randomly, although the only failures of GFIs that I've experienced (spa or otherwise) is that they fail to trip under a ground fault at all (a very dangerous situation - which is why you should test your GFI). If you try a new one, and the old one was good, you have a spare -- which is very handy for future troubleshooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 2, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2010 Well.... It has not tripped the breaker since the post yesterday. I unpluged and reset everything, I have the access panels off. Ill button every thing up.....maybe its getting to hot under there???? But like i said it may take days before it may trip again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2010 Well.... It has not tripped the breaker since the post yesterday. I unpluged and reset everything, I have the access panels off. Ill button every thing up.....maybe its getting to hot under there???? But like i said it may take days before it may trip again. It tripped about an hr ago 11:00am my time, Feb 3rd. I reset it and looked a the temp its at 107.. Its fricken cold outside I live in Colorado it shouldnt over heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted February 4, 2010 Report Share Posted February 4, 2010 Well.... It has not tripped the breaker since the post yesterday. I unpluged and reset everything, I have the access panels off. Ill button every thing up.....maybe its getting to hot under there???? But like i said it may take days before it may trip again. It tripped about an hr ago 11:00am my time, Feb 3rd. I reset it and looked a the temp its at 107.. Its fricken cold outside I live in Colorado it shouldnt over heat. If you can dissconnect the heater and let it run for a day or two. If it doesn't trip the breaker then we have narrowed it down to 2-3 things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2010 Well.... It has not tripped the breaker since the post yesterday. I unpluged and reset everything, I have the access panels off. Ill button every thing up.....maybe its getting to hot under there???? But like i said it may take days before it may trip again. It tripped about an hr ago 11:00am my time, Feb 3rd. I reset it and looked a the temp its at 107.. Its fricken cold outside I live in Colorado it shouldnt over heat. If you can dissconnect the heater and let it run for a day or two. If it doesn't trip the breaker then we have narrowed it down to 2-3 things. Ill try it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tafoya1969 Posted February 16, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Well.... It has not tripped the breaker since the post yesterday. I unpluged and reset everything, I have the access panels off. Ill button every thing up.....maybe its getting to hot under there???? But like i said it may take days before it may trip again. It tripped about an hr ago 11:00am my time, Feb 3rd. I reset it and looked a the temp its at 107.. Its fricken cold outside I live in Colorado it shouldnt over heat. If you can dissconnect the heater and let it run for a day or two. If it doesn't trip the breaker then we have narrowed it down to 2-3 things. Ill try it. Thanks Well I disconnected everything, one at a time ..Jet 1 then Jet 2, then blower, hi /low limit thermo, Reg thermo, pressure switch. LED light, ....How ever i left the cric pump hooked up ...came back to check on it and it has tripped the GFI. Cric pump is the only thing running everything els is disconnected...... I just replace the original 72204 - Caldera/Watkins Recirc Pump SB-909 115V 1in. (NO LONGER AVAILABLE) - 72204 circ pump... With 74427 - Caldera Spas / Hotsprings Retro Circ Pump - 74427.. I thought it was the cric pump so I replaced it and its still tripping GFI....Ok so now I have hook all the jets and blower and thermos back up, and disconnected the circ pump. it hasnt tripped yet......remember the circ pump is new... could it be my board??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spatech (the unreal one) Posted February 16, 2010 Report Share Posted February 16, 2010 Well I disconnected everything, one at a time ..Jet 1 then Jet 2, then blower, hi /low limit thermo, Reg thermo, pressure switch. LED light, ....How ever i left the cric pump hooked up ...came back to check on it and it has tripped the GFI. Cric pump is the only thing running everything els is disconnected...... I just replace the original 72204 - Caldera/Watkins Recirc Pump SB-909 115V 1in. (NO LONGER AVAILABLE) - 72204 circ pump... With 74427 - Caldera Spas / Hotsprings Retro Circ Pump - 74427.. I thought it was the cric pump so I replaced it and its still tripping GFI....Ok so now I have hook all the jets and blower and thermos back up, and disconnected the circ pump. it hasnt tripped yet......remember the circ pump is new... could it be my board??? The heater is tied to its own breaker so if that beaker is tripping then its probalby your heater but you said it was the 30 breaker and I don't think thats teh ehater break so your heater is not involved. Otherwise, if I read this right you said you disconnected everything but the circ pump and it tripped so you got a new circ pump and its tripping again. That would lead me to conclude what I was guessed previously, a bad breaker (control boards probably not tripping a breaker). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thespaguyca Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Who's brand breaker is it? Looks like it might be a branded cutler hammer..the did have some problems in mid 90's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ed3553 Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 Do you have two breakers a 20amp and a 30amp? Also have you disconnected both power wires going to the heater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flot Posted February 22, 2010 Report Share Posted February 22, 2010 As above, I'd also suspect the breaker. I don't know how much your particular breaker would run you, but the one on my spa was only about $40 and a 5 minute job to swap out. That'd be my first troubleshooting step, worst case I'd know I had a new breaker in place. GFI breakers DO go bad. It it also possible to have a sympathetic GFCI trip - that is to say, the breaker could trip if there is another ground fault on a related circuit. You could try to remove the hot tub load altogether - either leave it disconnected or connect something else, and see if the GFI continues to trip with no load. (I am not 100% sure if it will trip in that case, but I think it will... we've all gone to plug in a hairdryer or blender and found our bathroom/kitchen GFIs tripped, right? Just my non-professional thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pathwaydave Posted March 3, 2010 Report Share Posted March 3, 2010 Remember that a GFCI (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter) will trip if it detects that the AC current flowing in and out of the load between the 2 hot legs (black & red) in a 2-pole 240V circuit (or hot & neutral in a 1-pole 120V circuit) is not 100% balanced. An imbalance between the two means some of the current is being lost on the load side of the GFCI, usually via ground. You said that the trip mode is the same as if you pressed the Test button, so this suggests that you have a real fault condition, but only a mild one since it trips infrequently. It's still dangerous though and the problem needs to be tracked down and fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBoar Posted August 5, 2010 Report Share Posted August 5, 2010 Did you ever find out what was causing this? I have the same problem and cant isolate it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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