Arctic Spa tripping breaker

[Tilo]

My 2007 Arctic spa hot tub is equipped with n.xm platform and IN.THERM-H4.0 Gecko AEWARE heater. The small output connector for the heater (heater communication cable) keeps tripping the breaker. The other connector (power cable) doesn’t. I replaced the breaker but with the same results.When unplugged I get the a communication problem error (RH-NC). Can this be fixed or do I have to replace the heater? How do I test it? Any help will be much appreciated.  

 

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

So if you disconnect the heater cable but leave the communication cable connected, does the breaker trip?

 

[Tilo]

Hi ScubaDave and thanks for the reply....Yes the breaker trips only when I connect the comm. cable with or without the main heater electrical cable connected. Even when all other cables (pumps etc) are connected or disconnected.

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

Is this a "new" used spa you just installed?  If so, your neutral circuit may be improperly wired.  If the spa has been working in it's current installation, then read on.

I'm assuming with the heater power cable and communications cable both disconnected, the breaker doesn't trip?

Aside from checking that the pins on the cable aren't bent, there's not a lot you can do. 

You can check the heater for continuity with your ohm meter, but a short circuiting heater can still have continuity.  You can check the individual pins to see if you get continuity between the heater power pins and the tub ground, which would indicate a possible short circuit in the heater (except for the ground pin, of course).  If the tub is still tripping the breaker and you've troubleshot the problem to that cable, there's not a lot you can do.

The communications cable is attached to the sensors in the heater, and those sensors aren't individually replaceable.  I doubt the cable itself is the issue, but it's not replaceable anyway.

A new heater is a lot less expensive than a new XM pack. 

There is an Arctic Spa dealer who routinely posts here; maybe if you resubmit your original post only title it 'Arctic Spa tripping breaker" you'll get their attention and they can offer some additional advice.

 

[Tilo]

Thank you ScubaDave for the valuable inputs....I think I was able to test continuity between the heater power pins and it failed compare to other cable pins (Pumps). Don't know what it means though!  I have retitled the post as you wisely suggested. Thank you again.

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

There should be 3 pins on the heater power cable for the in.therm.  Each of those pins corresponds to a plug on the Rh connector on the xm pack.  If the XM pack is outputing the proper voltage, two of those pins carry 115VAC and one is a neutral. 

So, with power turned on, check the XM pack output by putting your voltmeter across the plugs the correspond to both line pins.  Not sure which is line and which is neutral?  No problem, going from line to neutral, you'll see 115VAC.  If you go across both line pins, you'll see 230 VAC.  By doing this you verify that the xm pack is providing the proper voltage to the heater.  If you see 220VAC or 240 VAC, that's okay.

This next step you do with the in.therm disconnected from the pack.  In other words, there is no power to it.  Now that you see which plug on the XM pack is line and which is neutral, go to the in.therm and check continuity across the two line pins.  If you do not get continuity across the two line pins, the heater element is broken.  You'll need to replace the in.therm.

Of course, the communication error you're getting may be related to the sensors and not the heating element.   However, since the in.therm is a sealed unit, your choice is really replace the heater or the pack.  Since the heater is a third of the cost of the pack, that would be my first recommendation.  Also, heaters tend to go bad more often than packs.

Regardless of which you replace, you will have to cycle the pack through Learning Mode to adjust it to the new heater you put on.  If you replace the pack, you'll have to do a low level programming first, then go through learning mode, then set your breaker capacity.  Before you remove your existing pack, go into the low level programming menu's to see what it's set for, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a photo of your spaside.  That way you can verify the low level programming has been done correctly and that all your components have been recognized.

I know it sounds a little more complex than just swapping parts, but with an XM pack, there's more than just swapping parts.  (That's why there are spa repair companies.)  You're going to have to decide whether or not you're up to it.  It's not brain surgery, but it has to be done properly or your spa won't work as expected.

 

 

 

 

[Tilo]

Dear ScubaDave

Thank you so much for all the support and valuable inputs. I have followed your detailed steps and I think I found the problem thanks to you. After checking continuity It turns out that the ozonator was the main problem. I removed it and plugged the cables and system and pumps work with no breaker tripping! Hurray !.... Can't explain why this affected the heater comm. cable but what's important is that it works now...I registered all readings for ozonator replacement. I hope this will be the end of problem. Again...Thank you ScubaDave  

 

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

Guess I have tunnel vision, I was following your questions without asking the most basic questions first.

We always try disconnecting all the accessories, one at a time, to see if a pump, blower or ozonator is causing the circuit breaker to trip.

Glad you found the problem and didn't buy a new pack.

[Cusser]

Wednesday my own 1988 CalSpa was colder than normal; I tried breaker switch, kept tripping the GFCI breaker I had installed inside the cabinet about 20 years ago, didn't originally have one (apparently code did not require that back then, read about adding that in Popular Mechanics). Thursday I flipped the breaker, disconnected the two leads to the heating element, and then spa stayed running.  I measured about ohms resistance across the heating element which is int "OK" range, but figured that the GFCI was doing its job, and installed new heating element.  All fixed.

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

You have the GFCI breaker mounted inside the spa cabinet?  

[Cusser]

21 hours ago, ScubaDave said:

You have the GFCI breaker mounted inside the spa cabinet?  

Yes, I attached it to the control panel.  It's about 12 inches above the bottom, no chance of it getting wet, and it's inside a metal electrical box.  The electricity also shuts off completely when either of the two spa doors are open. The circuit breaker on the other side of the house for this is a 40 amp traditional breaker, know the spa is 40-amp, not 50 amp.  The GCFI that I installed was 40-amp, somewhat tough to find.

 

When I bought the spa new in 1988, only the spa light was under GFCI, its own; the pump, heater, basin, etc., had none.

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

8 hours ago, Cusser said:

Yes, I attached it to the control panel.  It's about 12 inches above the bottom, no chance of it getting wet, and it's inside a metal electrical box.  The electricity also shuts off completely when either of the two spa doors are open. The circuit breaker on the other side of the house for this is a 40 amp traditional breaker, know the spa is 40-amp, not 50 amp.  The GCFI that I installed was 40-amp, somewhat tough to find.

 

When I bought the spa new in 1988, only the spa light was under GFCI, its own; the pump, heater, basin, etc., had none.

I don't know if the circuit breaker inside the hot tub is any more of an issue than a control box in a hot tub, after all the control box has plenty of wires that could get wet.  It seems a little unusual to put the protection device (GFCI) in the middle of the hazard (a 400 gallon tub of water).  Being 12 inches above the bottom doesn't eliminate the chance of your GFCI getting wet, it just reduces the chance of it getting flooded.  A crack in the tub shell, a leaking hose, a broken PVC connection or a failed seal in a pump spraying water inside the cabinet could all find their way to your GFCI.

I'm not an electrician, but I do know some of the National Electrical Code as it applies to hot tubs.  There's supposed to be a disconnect in a line of sight from the hot tub, a minimum of 5 feet away.  I'd be afraid of working on your tub, because if I turned the breaker off, there would still be live wires inside the tub.  I realize you could still turn off the main panel, but I personally wouldn't trust it.  A well meaning family member or neighbor could see a breaker turned off and reset it.  I know that's "way out there" in the realm of probability, but that's the definition of an accident.

 

[Cusser]

16 hours ago, ScubaDave said:

I'm not an electrician, but I do know some of the National Electrical Code as it applies to hot tubs.  There's supposed to be a disconnect in a line of sight from the hot tub, a minimum of 5 feet away. 

 

All I know is that I bought the CalSpa from a legitimate CalSpa dealer in fall 1988.  Utility company's partner company installed the new breaker in the circuit box, ran 100 feet of heavy wires up through conduit into the attic, across the house, down (enclosed in conduit) and wired up the CalSpa. If there was a code provision then, I'd hope they would've known about that.

Let's just say that I believe I have more protection in that Spa than in fall 1988.  If there was a big leak, water would run out the cabinet doors to the yard, they don't seal well.  I do understand what you're saying though; when we had a bathtub installed a decade ago, the light fixture that had been on the wall above it (and theoretically accessible while standing in the tub) had to be removed and the wall repaired.

[Cusser]

16 hours ago, ScubaDave said:

I'm not an electrician, but I do know some of the National Electrical Code as it applies to hot tubs.  There's supposed to be a disconnect in a line of sight from the hot tub, a minimum of 5 feet away.  I'd be afraid of working on your tub, because if I turned the breaker off, there would still be live wires inside the tub.  I realize you could still turn off the main panel, but I personally wouldn't trust it.  A well meaning family member or neighbor could see a breaker turned off and reset it.  I know that's "way out there" in the realm of probability, but that's the definition of an accident.

 

Actually, I have a padlock on the circuit breaker box 24/7, so I lock the cover with the desired circuit breaker off if I have to do such electrical work.  At work, such stuff is called "Lock out, Tag out".  And I do that faithfully.

There are no live wires in the spa before that inside breaker box, the conduit goes directly into it.  I did a decent job.

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

32 minutes ago, Cusser said:

Let's just say that I believe I have more protection in that Spa than in fall 1988.  If there was a big leak, water would run out the cabinet doors to the yard, they don't seal well.  I do understand what you're saying though; when we had a bathtub installed a decade ago, the light fixture that had been on the wall above it (and theoretically accessible while standing in the tub) had to be removed and the wall repaired.

We had a service call last week - the spa was tripping the breaker, but ONLY when someone was inside it.  Before calling us, the customer replaced his breakers and cleaned all his ground wires.  He would turn on all the pumps and run the tub for hours and it would be fine.  But when he got into it, it shorted out within 5 minutes.

Turned out there was a crack in the tub shell on the step  inside the tub.  He would climb down into the tub and his weight would open the crack, water would drip into the pump directly underneath, and short it out.  Point being, the pump is on a plywood board 4 inches over the ground, so you'd think it was out of water's way.  As long as the water comes from below and not above, that is.

I'm not saying you should rewire your hot tub, I'm just sharing what I've seen.

[Cusser]

Understand.  Last night I was in the spa, and for 28 years there has been a patio light on the block wall that is theoretically accessible from someone standing inside the spa.  So that might be against code as well, definitely not 5 feet away.  So maybe the electricians I had back then weren't so versed on code even though they were partners with Arizona Public Service.....

So note to self: never change out such patio bulb while standing in spa water !!!  As if that would ever occur to anyone...