kwrohde Posted July 25, 2021 Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 My spa runs on 110V and is plugged into an exterior weather protected GFCI outlet. I was having no functional issues with my hot tub before I recently drained, cleaned and refilled the hot tub. I started the spa, but after about 3 minutes of running the GFCI outlet tripped. I started trouble shooting by disconnecting components one by one from the main board. First I disconnected the top side control panel, but it still tripped. Second I disconnected the ozone, but it still tripped. Then I disconnected the light, and it seemed to run a bit longer, but it still tripped. As my spa runs on 110V and the heater is disengaged when I put the jets on full, I tested the heater by putting the jets on full. When I put the jets on full the GFCI does not trip. When the high jet cycle ends, the GFCI trips about a minute later. I am guessing now that the issue is with the heater element. Where do I go from here? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 25, 2021 Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 Post some photos of the spa pack, circuit board, Heater and schematic on inside cover of the spa pack if there is one so we know what you have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwrohde Posted July 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 6 minutes ago, CanadianSpaTech said: Post some photos of the spa pack, circuit board, Heater and schematic on inside cover of the spa pack if there is one so we know what you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 25, 2021 Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 You have one of 2 problems. 1) Bad heater element. Disconnect the heater element from the circuit board following the attached directions. Lift the copper tabs up so they won't touch anything. When you power the spa back up let it run through it's normal start up and wait until the heat indicator light stops flickering and goes solid then test the copper tabs for 120V using a multi meter. If you get 120V replace the heater element... Or the GFCI plug is weak and failing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwrohde Posted July 25, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 25, 2021 If I leave the heater leads connected to the board, reset the GFCI and power up the spa, it seems to trip as soon as the heater should become engaged. So I am not getting any reading on voltage across the heater leads in this scenario but I do get about 9 ohms. If I disconnect the tabs from the leads on heater, push them out of the way of the heater leads, the heater reads the same 9 ohms. Where I turn the tub on the leads on the board read 0, but when the board attempts to engage the heater it reads 110v. When I disconnected the tabs I found some white powdery corrosion. I cleaned up the corrosion, reconnected everything and it still trips right as the heater is engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 26, 2021 Report Share Posted July 26, 2021 Select 4KW... https://www.spadepot.com/Universal-Flo-Thru-Spa-Heater-Element-10in-P772 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwrohde Posted July 29, 2021 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 Is the long life titanium worth it for extra $15? What are the flexible heater cables for an extra $6.95? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 1 hour ago, kwrohde said: What are the flexible heater cables for an extra $6.95? wire with eyelets instead of copper tabs. Nothing wrong with copper tabs IMO 1 hour ago, kwrohde said: Is the long life titanium worth it for extra $15? sometimes...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted July 29, 2021 Report Share Posted July 29, 2021 14 hours ago, kwrohde said: Is the long life titanium worth it for extra $15? Yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 30, 2021 Report Share Posted July 30, 2021 12 hours ago, RDspaguy said: Yes. Unless your a poor service tech and replacing a general service heater element every 4-6 years puts tires on Daddy's Harley...lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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