GFCI problems, again...

[RobertN]

My spa is dead again. This happened last year during winter months. The breaker is tripped, and will not reset. I pulled the disconnect near the spa; the breaker still will not reset. This happened last year; replacing the GFCI breaker fixed everything or so I thought. Prior to that episode last year, the unit had worked fine since installation in April of '99.

The 40A GFCI breaker is in the main breaker panel. The main wire bundle goes through the garage attic, across the house attic, and down a wall. At the side of the house, it comes to a junction box. From there it switches to four seperate conductors and goes in conduit to the disconnect box. From the disconnect box it goes under the deck(in conduit), and to the spa. All wire is sized #8 for the 40A circuit.

Any ideas?

Last year, someone mentioned that the GFCI should be moved from the breaker panel to the disconnect box near the spa? Would that help?

 

[_RaT_]

Robert, both of my 240V GFCI's for my spa are in the service disconnect near the spa. The neutral can cause a ton of issues for the GFCI. If it is a long run, it makes the problems compound. Moisture can adversely affect the GFI. The longer the neutral run, the better chance to "loose" some electrons which basically the GFI is keeping track of via the neutral. Depending on the brand of the GFI's, you could get a 60 amp sub panel for the spa made by the GFI breaker manufactuer. You should already have a sub panel for a service disconnect near the spa.

 

[kenmac]

GFCI's are a pain in the ### that's for sure. Any small occurrence within the electrical system at any given time will cause these things to trip. Like Rat said, check for problems with the netural.

 

[RobertN]

If I put the breaker at the disconnect box, what do I put in the main breaker box?

Since it is wired for a 40A circuit, wouldn't putting a 60A breaker in be an issue?

The run is about 115'. The disconnect is 10' or so from the spa(it is set within the code spec, which I don't recall off hand). When we worked up the requirements from the code book, everything was within regs for wire size, breaker size ect. The Spa itself called for the 40A circuit.

 

[_RaT_]

You size the breaker for the wire. If you have #8 CU going from the panel to the disconnect, you can use a 40 amp max breaker. You can always undersize the breaker. The amp/wire size charts are a guide. There are instances where you will have a larger breaker on a wire then would normally be allowed. This is sometimes done on circuits like welders or AC compressors where there is either known duty cycle or where there is a high start up current and a known running current. In your case, I'm not sure what your spa is using with motor(s) running, light and heater. You do have to size your wire according to the charts for a spa. Heating elements are a constant and consistent draw.