merlemac Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 Our main 50A breaker has been tripping randomly. I isolated the problem to the heater and main pump circuit (they operate together) Heater tested fine. I believe it's the main pump. Heres a pic of the pump. See the beautiful rusted shaft. From observation, we definitely have had a leaking shaft seal. OK, Spa Experts, do you think it's the main pump causing the 50A breaker to trip? We bought the house a year ago and have no idea on any preventative maintenance on the hot tub. Hot tubs were not made to be user friendly for maintenance. They should have specific access panels. I guess that's why they are made so cheap and sold so expensive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted December 28, 2015 Report Share Posted December 28, 2015 "Heater tested fine." For the tests you were able to do. Very few, if any homeowners have the proper equipment to test for a ground fault. It's not uncommon for an older heater to have such a small hole, that it only shorts when hot (the heat causes the hole to expand to the point of allowing water to get in). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKM Posted December 29, 2015 Report Share Posted December 29, 2015 First, I'd call an electrician who has experience with spas. That being said, I'd rule out a faulty breaker by having it replaced. I recently had this issue come up and this fixed the problem. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlemac Posted December 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 "Heater tested fine." For the tests you were able to do. Very few, if any homeowners have the proper equipment to test for a ground fault. It's not uncommon for an older heater to have such a small hole, that it only shorts when hot (the heat causes the hole to expand to the point of allowing water to get in). It tested fine. As I teach my students, don't ever assume anything in life. Very few, if any, assumptions are ever 100% correct and you become the small person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted December 30, 2015 Report Share Posted December 30, 2015 Is your breaker a GFCI breaker? I'll risk internet embarrassment by you telling me it isn't. Either way, we need to know. I too would like to know how, exactly, you tested it. Don't get testy, people are trying to help you If you know how to test for current leakage down to 0.5 ma of current leakage, you should be able to determine exactly which component, if any, is leaking current. Can you not run the same test (current leakage) test on the pump? Are you not also assuming when you assume you know what you're doing, but it's possible you may not? It could be either one, or neither. Regardless, the leaky shaft seal needs to addressed. When does it trip? If water starts pouring into the motor, then it trips, good bet the shaft seal leak is the cause. Far more common in a bad heater. Less common is a different component, wiring issue, relay, bad breaker, over heated wiring, bugs crawling around, etc etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merlemac Posted April 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Main Breaker was failing intermittently. No electrician would've caught it unless it failed when they were testing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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