supermanotorious Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 My tub has been running great for months. I shut it down this morning, drained it to the opposite side of the yard. I filled it back up and turned it on, it started the priming cycle. I set the temp and walked away, came to check a few hours later and its dead. The breaker is tripping immediately. I panicked and bought a new breaker ($100) but this one trips immediately too. I disconnected the motors but it still trips. I then went in and disconnected everything but one at a time and it still trips. What the heck happened?? It's a KeysBackyard with Balboa circuitry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted February 27, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 ah well, turns out the heater is tripping it, why would that sucker up and die over nothing??? I followed the testing steps from this and it checks out so I'm surprised it's still trippin http://www.spadepot.com/spacyclopedia/spa-heater-element.htm The coil is good and there is no short to ground, however I do not know where the thermostat or high temp shut off are the board is Balboa 54344 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted February 27, 2016 Report Share Posted February 27, 2016 Acceptable Resistance does NOT indicate whether or not there's a short to ground. The short to ground is so minuscule, most people don't have the equipment to properly test for it. (FYI, this needs to be tested while still installed and water in the spa) the heater element was old, worn out and on the verge of going out. Changing the water cause a temp shock (with the new cold water), and possible air in the system at start up jarred the element enough to cause what you're seeing onow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted February 28, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 good points, thank you. I'll do just a little more testing but will likely order a new heater. that really sucks because I got this spa for free from Craigslist and have only had to replace some small, inexpensive parts so far that being said I found no continuity between the terminals and ground, maybe you're saying the short could be so small it wouldn't register under continuity? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted February 28, 2016 Report Share Posted February 28, 2016 It would be grounding out to the water...and it would only have to be a "micro" ground to trip the GFCI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted March 3, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2016 I just ordered the heater but I'm really concerned about what I'm registering here. The pump is NOT on, one of the terminal outputs from the circuit board is putting out 120V and the other is not. Is there supposed to be any voltage on one of these terminals when the spa is in economy mode and pump is not running? Could this be a circuit board issue instead? I know it may be difficult to see, the positive (red) probe is on the left stud on the circuit board. The copper connecting plates are NOT connected to the heating element. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted March 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 I cancelled the order, was hoping to get an opinion before I commit to it, is the board malfunctioning? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Spa Posted March 8, 2016 Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 "The pump is NOT on, one of the terminal outputs from the circuit board is putting out 120V and the other is not. Is there supposed to be any voltage on one of these terminals when the spa is in economy mode and pump is not running?" This may be normal (or not). You only have to break one leg of 220, going to a heater to "turn off" the heater. Some cheaper older spas did exactly this. It was less expensive to do it this way, than breaking both legs. It also may not be normal in your case, and could be a fault in the circuit board. HOWEVER, that would not be causing your GFCI to trip...it would simply be a secondary unrelated issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted March 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2016 Most excellent, thank you for the response, I've re-ordered the heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supermanotorious Posted March 12, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 The heater arrived just in time as my mom will house sit for us as we go on a week long vacation and she was looking forward to using the tub. I swapped it out in 20-30 minutes and the worst of it was cleaning the old o-ring gaskets out of the fittings as they just wanted to crumble. I coated the new o-rings in pool and spa lube that I use on the pool pump and we're heating now! Dr. Spa- you are a splendid human being, thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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