Please Help ! Hot Springs Grandee Trips My Gfci After 30 Seconds

[Petelpg]

Just want to say advice anyone can give me will be greatly appreciated.

I have a 2002 Hot Springs Grandee which I bought used and damaged 2 years ago and I rebuilt the tub, replaced everything but control board so pretty much know my way around this tub. I found the red light blinking on my spa today, reset the GFCI and the tub ran for 30 seconds and shut off. I checked the filters then took out filters to see if tub would run, as soon as I turned on the jets it tripped out again after 30 seconds and red light flashes. Any advice on trouble shooting again would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks Laird

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Have you checked the heater? How about making sure water is not backing into the ozone, and check the pump seals. That would be my first steps. Is it a 110 with a GFCI in the cord? i would check that too. Do you have a meter?

[gnfishin]

It's probably the Weir gate. The gate is not dropping or dropping far enough when you turn on the jets and, as a result, the water level in the filter compartment is too low. That causes the jets to suck in air and the pumps shut down to protect them from burning out. Remove the filter cover and turn on the jets. If the Weir gate does not drop, you will see the water level go way down in the filter compartment. You can manually push the gate down a bit as a temporary fix, but, as soon as someone gets out of the spa (causing the water level to go down) you will have to do it again.

I have a four and a half year old Vista model (same as yours with a different seating arrangement). I am about to replace the Weir gate assembly for the second time. After a time, the gate just stops dropping automatically. I do not know what causes it. It could have to do with a mineral build up, over time, on the gate or gate channel, is my guess. I have six months left on my warranty so this one is free. I am going to try and get the service rep to let me keep the old one so I can experiment with making it smoother. Under the warranty, they just replace the entire gate assembly, which can be done without emptying the spa.

[Petelpg]

Have you checked the heater? How about making sure water is not backing into the ozone, and check the pump seals. That would be my first steps. Is it a 110 with a GFCI in the cord? i would check that too. Do you have a meter?

Thanks Hillbilly Hot Tub I'll check this when I refill the Hot Tub.

[Petelpg]

Have you checked the heater? How about making sure water is not backing into the ozone, and check the pump seals. That would be my first steps. Is it a 110 with a GFCI in the cord? i would check that too. Do you have a meter?

Thanks Hillbilly Hot Tub I'll check this when I refill the Hot Tub.

I filled the tub and weir gate is working ok it's still tripping the GFcI any advice on where to go from here.

Thanks

[PFC5]

If you just filled it, did you prime the pump and fill through the filter inlet pipe to avoid an airlock?

[PoolSpaGuy30]

If you just filled it, did you prime the pump and fill through the filter inlet pipe to avoid an airlock?

this is not a pool pump, there is nothing to prime, just place to hose in the filter compartment when filling to avoid an air lock

[Petelpg]

If you just filled it, did you prime the pump and fill through the filter inlet pipe to avoid an airlock?

this is not a pool pump, there is nothing to prime, just place to hose in the filter compartment when filling to avoid an air lock

2002 Hot springs Grandee runs for 30 seconds then stops and red light flashes. Only way I can restart spa is to switch breaker off and back on at GFCI.

(When the spa shuts down it Does NOT trip GFCI breaker. These are troubleshooting steps I've taken so far (In order.)

1. Made sure weir gate leading to filter area was opening properly, it was

2. Removed filters and tried to run spa, still shut down after 30 sec.

3. Unhooked black and white wire to circulation pump, still shut down after 30 seconds.

4. Completely drained tub, cleaned, and refilled, still shut down after 30 seconds.

5. Checked seals on all pumps no leaks visible.

(should be noted I have replaced both main pumps, circulation pump and heater within last 2 years myself with no problems until now.)

I have to Thank all of you for taking the time to try and help me with my spa problem it's much appreciated.

If anyone has another idea please let me know.

Cheers Laird

[PFC5]

If you just filled it, did you prime the pump and fill through the filter inlet pipe to avoid an airlock?

this is not a pool pump, there is nothing to prime, just place to hose in the filter compartment when filling to avoid an air lock

My spa with Balboa 300F controls does have a PRIMING function when you first add power back to it. The manual says to turn jets on and off until no air comes out of the jets to prime it and remove air from the pipes. I assumed all spas had this type of function.

[hot_water]

All pumps need to be primed. Some are better self-primers than others, and jogging the pumps to prime, as PFC5 notes his controller does, will work although I believe it's very tough on the equipment. If you get an airlock (bubble) at the pump inlet it won't pump, and this is why it will need priming. You just need to get the air bubble out. Some pumps have a screw fitting on the pump housing that you can unscrew to let the air out, and with some you have to loosen the union... if there's a bubble in there, you'll hear some hissing and them water will start to leak out.

Laird, if you didn't do anything to introduce an airlock, I would disconnect the power to the heater and see if that's it. If it still trips, disconnect power to the ozone if you have one. Make sure your leads can't touch each other or anything else while disconnected or you can fry something.

[Petelpg]

All pumps need to be primed. Some are better self-primers than others, and jogging the pumps to prime, as PFC5 notes his controller does, will work although I believe it's very tough on the equipment. If you get an airlock (bubble) at the pump inlet it won't pump, and this is why it will need priming. You just need to get the air bubble out. Some pumps have a screw fitting on the pump housing that you can unscrew to let the air out, and with some you have to loosen the union... if there's a bubble in there, you'll hear some hissing and them water will start to leak out.

Laird, if you didn't do anything to introduce an airlock, I would disconnect the power to the heater and see if that's it. If it still trips, disconnect power to the ozone if you have one. Make sure your leads can't touch each other or anything else while disconnected or you can fry something.

[/quo

I disconnected heater and it still shuts down after 30 seconds, the troubleshooting goes on. I have no airlock in system if anyone is wondering. Thanks for taking the time to reply Hot tub affectionado. Laird

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

ok, now you are saying it does not trip the GFCI, it just shuts down, what do you mean? Shuts off jet pumps or shuts off circ pump...both?

[DaveR]

ok, now you are saying it does not trip the GFCI, it just shuts down, what do you mean? Shuts off jet pumps or shuts off circ pump...both?

Yep need more info. If the breakers aren't tripping but after 30 seconds nothing works. Then you flip the breakers and you are up for 30 seconds - then down again even if you don't run the jet pumps?

The heater is a PDR (Power Down to Reset) model. but I don't know if the heater circuit trips how that impacts the rest of the circuits in that tub. You mentioned the heater is only 2 years old did you replace the control & highlimit thermistors?

Dave

[Roger]

ok, now you are saying it does not trip the GFCI, it just shuts down, what do you mean? Shuts off jet pumps or shuts off circ pump...both?

Yep need more info. If the breakers aren't tripping but after 30 seconds nothing works. Then you flip the breakers and you are up for 30 seconds - then down again even if you don't run the jet pumps?

The heater is a PDR (Power Down to Reset) model. but I don't know if the heater circuit trips how that impacts the rest of the circuits in that tub. You mentioned the heater is only 2 years old did you replace the control & highlimit thermistors?

Dave

Thats what I would say check the 2 sensors next if the dissconnecting of the Heater and Ozone didn't do it.

[Brosquatch]

I have owned a Hotspring for a long time, the spa must be filled up through the grey stand pipe to prime the circulation pump, if this was not done it is air locked. The next thing it would be would be the heater hi-limit or flo-switch.

[d1dennis2009]

hot springs has a special 30/20 breaker. not a straight 50. so make sure you have that. also. run it without the filters. dirty or old filters will do that. sounds simple. but i would say 80% of the time thats it.

He ran it without the filter in, and the issue wasw not resolved.

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

hot springs has a special 30/20 breaker. not a straight 50. so make sure you have that. also. run it without the filters. dirty or old filters will do that. sounds simple. but i would say 80% of the time thats it.

He ran it without the filter in, and the issue wasw not resolved.

I replied in another thread but we haven't heard anything back yet. The problem was happening before the hottub was drained and refilled and still happening after. First thing is to confirm flow from the circulation pump. Could be an airlock but since it was happening before the drain/refill, probably not.

Most likely just need a new circulation pump. If it's not coming on or moving water, nothing will work and the power light will flash.

[Petelpg]

hot springs has a special 30/20 breaker. not a straight 50. so make sure you have that. also. run it without the filters. dirty or old filters will do that. sounds simple. but i would say 80% of the time thats it.

He ran it without the filter in, and the issue wasw not resolved.

I replied in another thread but we haven't heard anything back yet. The problem was happening before the hottub was drained and refilled and still happening after. First thing is to confirm flow from the circulation pump. Could be an airlock but since it was happening before the drain/refill, probably not.

Most likely just need a new circulation pump. If it's not coming on or moving water, nothing will work and the power light will flash.

Sorry I took so long to reply back, been trying to fix the hot tub between working 14 hr days. I ran into another problem trying to disconnect the heater to see if the spa would still kick out after 30 seconds. when I tried to disconnect heater the black heater wire prong where is connects onto the circuit board was brown from overheating and prong won't come off looks to be melted on, I think this is probably the problem won't know for sure until I'm able to get the prong off without breaking solder on circuit board, but now trying to figure out what could have caused it, any suggestions? I want to THANK EVERYONE for taking the time to respond to my post I really appreciate it. Laird

[DaveR]

Sorry I took so long to reply back, been trying to fix the hot tub between working 14 hr days. I ran into another problem trying to disconnect the heater to see if the spa would still kick out after 30 seconds. when I tried to disconnect heater the black heater wire prong where is connects onto the circuit board was brown from overheating and prong won't come off looks to be melted on, I think this is probably the problem won't know for sure until I'm able to get the prong off without breaking solder on circuit board, but now trying to figure out what could have caused it, any suggestions? I want to THANK EVERYONE for taking the time to respond to my post I really appreciate it. Laird

Loose connections/wires can cause overheating and eventually fried wires like you describe.

[endorfin]

Dumb question maybe - but if the problem is that the GFCI keeps tripping, how do you know it isn't the GFCI breaker itself?

I assume you have a GFCI near the tub at the disconnect and another breaker in your main circuit panel.

You can try bypassing the GFCI panel temporarily (or have an electrician test your GFCI).

If it stays up, then your GFCI is bad or you have a ground fault.

If it trips the main breaker, you have a load issue / short.

But don't go into the tub with the GFCI bypassed - this is just for diagnostics.

[Kallie]

Hi Laird:

I don't know if you still receive emails, but wondered what you did to fix the problem. I also have a 2002 Grandee GC (Canadian model) and the exact same thing keeps happening...breaker doesn't trip in the sub panel but something trips out on the circuit board somewhere, no jets work, light doesn't work, display goes dead, but ready light flashes. We had it hooked up wrong originally because the electrician only hooked up the 20 amp and was confused by the 30 amp, so when the heater wasn't hooked up, there were no issues. Jets would run, nothing would trip, but the tub wouldn't heat (obviously because the heater didn't have power). Now that the heater has power, we hear a sizzling sound, part of the heater gets so hot then after about 30 seconds everything goes dead. I think it might be low flow out of the circulation pump, but the technician took off the hoses to make sure there wasn't an air lock. Unless the pump isn't working at all, and the buzz is coming from the ozonater? I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but there is a stream of water that pours back into the filter compartment, maybe this is back flow?

Anyway, I hope someone still monitors this thread because I don't know what to do to fix the tub and I don't want to start replacing every part to find out it's something simple.

Thanks.

[PreservedSwine]

Kalie, it sure sounds like your circ pump is not flowing. Ensuring there's no air-lock is nice, but just because it has a prime doesn't mean it's going to work if it's broken or worn out. Your spa is 10 years old- that's a pretty good run for the circ pump.

Remove the filters, and see if the circ pump works. If so, you may just have alot of calcium or hardness buildup inside the heater. You can feel the circ pump vibrate when it's working. If it's sitting there like a rock, replace it. Also- starting a new thread may be a good idea instead of piggybacking on a 6-month old one, with a different problem (GFCI trip vs High limit trip)

[Kallie]

I actually did start my own thread but no one replied to it, then I came across this thread, and this is the exact same problem I am having. From his original post, it didn't trip the GFCI breaker at the sub-panel, just stopped everything from working, jets, light, display, heater, etc. I believe this pump and heater were already replaced a few years ago. We had a technician look at it, he checked for air locks at the pump, heater, drains, but couldnt' find one. We did remove the filters, and the pump is humming so there is some water flow, maybe not enough. At this point, it could be many things and I'm open to suggestions to narrowing it down.

Thanks.

[PreservedSwine]

Do you have problems with hardness or scale? I would suggest calling a qualified tech. Your problem is a cinch to troubleshoot, and anyone that knows what they're doing would be able to tell you what the issue is in just a few minutes- whether it be a bad circ pump, clogged line or hardness in heater, air bubble,thermistor, etc...

The heater sounding like popcorn usually means water is boiling because there's little to no flow. That happens if the circ pump is broken, clogged, or if there's a blockage somewhere else. With just a few feet of kynar tubing and a couple of clamps, you can pinpoint where a blockage exists (if one exists) in just a few minutes. You can visually inspect the circ pump impellor to see if its free of debri and spinning, you can put an amp clamp on it to see if the motor is pulling the correct amount of amps- you can pop on a new circ pump to see if the old one is broken... These are things the tech should be prepared to do.

Calling a tech, then having him leave with no answers or solution isn't acceptable. I cannot tell you what the specific problem is based on a paragraph. But I can tell you you called the wrong guy.

I tried searching your posts, but couldn't find your thread? I found your thread asking why no heat- (The electrician hadn't wired the heater circuit, but you didn't respond to my reply there), but not one about a tripping high limit- loss of power. Might want to start another- there are several other members with great Hot Spring knowledge and service records that can help as well.

[Kallie]

Thanks for the reply. I just saw your reply to that post today. For some reason, I thought that I would have received an email indicating that someone replied to my email. My apologies...it must have been another forum where I mentioned the same problem.

I will start a new thread and start from there...

In reply to your post above, what threw him off was the fact that it wasn't wired right, and when it was wired without the heater hooked up, we didn't have this problem. Now that it is wired correctly, I want to find out what is wrong with it before calling him (or another technician) back. Thank you for all of your suggestions...Starting new thread now...