djmatte Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Hey all, I am encountering a new problem with my spa. For some background, I bought this house a year ago and the spa that came with was a 2005 Masterspa. We've run it for about a year now without a hitch until just now. The breaker box over the last few days has been randomly cutting off. I would go and flip the switch when I notice it and everything seems to run fine. Check later on and power is out again. I read around and seems like it could be a heating element. But when I went back to check this morning and flip the switch, now I get power to the main console, but no response from the pump. Any suggestions on what to check? Hate to think I have to replace the whole thing. Thanks in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny W Posted April 22, 2012 Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 There might be a fuse that has blown in the control box for the pump. Sometimes they are mounted on the circuit board and sometimes mounted in a fuse block. When the pump was running did it sound louder than normal, seemed hard to turn on? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatte Posted April 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2012 Hey Kenny. Thanks for the fast reply. Right now I have it open and the only place I can think the board could be located is the black waterproof box toward the right rear of the tub. There are wires that go up underneath it and an odd rubber area under one side of it...but no way I can find to open it up. Any suggestions? The pump didn't sound any louder and more or less seemed to be working fine overall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatte Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 So after finding the fuse and replacing it, everything seemed to work fine until the fuse suddenly blew again once the heater got around the 100 degree mark. The breaker isn't tripping anymore though. Just the fuse blowing. I did notice the 3 wires (two listed as hot) appeared as though the coatings looked like they were starting to melt or deteriorate right near where they screw into the board. Ithink they are the ones that come from the breaker box. Not sure if this could cause some overheating or if something else is causing it. Any thoughts on where to look next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmatte Posted April 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2012 I did notice my capacitor yesterday wasn't getting readings on my multimeter. I will also get this checked and swapped out tonight. Any other thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted April 26, 2012 Report Share Posted April 26, 2012 So after finding the fuse and replacing it, everything seemed to work fine until the fuse suddenly blew again once the heater got around the 100 degree mark. The breaker isn't tripping anymore though. Just the fuse blowing. I did notice the 3 wires (two listed as hot) appeared as though the coatings looked like they were starting to melt or deteriorate right near where they screw into the board. Ithink they are the ones that come from the breaker box. Not sure if this could cause some overheating or if something else is causing it. Any thoughts on where to look next? Corosion or oxidizing of the copper wire at the connections increases the wire's resistance which causes heat to be generated. This is why the insulation appears melted. You may have to replace the wires or cut them back to where they're good (If you can). A common cause of this is loose connections which can lead to arcing, which will trip the breaker. I'd also be suspicious of bad motor bearings and/or pump seals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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