electrical requirments

[rutten]

I am new to the board and this may be a silly question.  Just purchased my first hot tub.  It is a Hot springs soveriegn.  The electrical requirments call for a 50 amp breaker in the main panel.  I have a 40 amp that is in the panal that is not in use.  Guess I am wondering if a 40 amp will work OK or do I pull it out and buy a 50 to replace it.  Work with a electrician that says 40 amp breaker is plenty and will work but at times I question his opinion.

[Brewman]

You might get away with the 40.  It's possible that you may have nuissance tripping when you're running the spa at full speed- heater on and all pumps working.  

 If you're having an electrician do your spa wiring, install that 50 amp breaker now.  
Way cheaper to have it done now vs making a return trip after all the big work is complete.

If this is something you can do yourself, you can try the 40 and put in the 50 later if you have trouble.  

 Never put in a breaker rated higher than the recommendation.  Lower won't hurt except for the wear and tear from nuisance tripping, if any.

If you question your electrician's opinion, why do you use him?

[rutten]

Brewman,  Thanks for the response.  I will be doing my own wiring on the hot tub. The electrician is a friend of mine but will not be doing the work for me.  

[countryboy]

Not to be a jerk but if you don't know if the 40 will work when a 50 is called for by the manufacturer, maybe you shouldn't be doing the work?

[Steve]

You might get away with the 40.  It's possible that you may have nuissance tripping when you're running the spa at full speed- heater on and all pumps working.  

 If you're having an electrician do your spa wiring, install that 50 amp breaker now.  
Way cheaper to have it done now vs making a return trip after all the big work is complete.

If this is something you can do yourself, you can try the 40 and put in the 50 later if you have trouble.  

 Never put in a breaker rated higher than the recommendation.  Lower won't hurt except for the wear and tear from nuisance tripping, if any.

If you question your electrician's opinion, why do you use him?


 

Go with the 50 but the other aspect to consider is the gauge of wire. Often, with a 40, they will use #8 wire but a 50 or 60 amp will require #6 wire.

A smaller amp breaker will cause problems with overloading and tripping. You reqire an 80% leway for your breaker to function properly and it's why my understanding has always been that it's no problem to go larger than need be. A 40amp tub will run perfectly fine on a 60 amp breaker for example. I can't think of why it wouldn't Brewman?

Steve

[loosenupspas]

wire it according to the warranty specifications....otherwise you could void the warranty.

[Brewman]

Go with the 50 but the other aspect to consider is the gauge of wire. Often, with a 40, they will use #8 wire but a 50 or 60 amp will require #6 wire.

A smaller amp breaker will cause problems with overloading and tripping. You reqire an 80% leway for your breaker to function properly and it's why my understanding has always been that it's no problem to go larger than need be. A 40amp tub will run perfectly fine on a 60 amp breaker for example. I can't think of why it wouldn't Brewman?

Steve

Sure, the 40 amp tub in your example would run fine on a 60 amp breaker.  But you'd have to have #6 wire on the circuit.  In most cases, I'd expect a tub rated at 40 amps to have #8 wire, which can only have a 40 amp maximum breaker.
The breaker size is dictated by the wire gauge used.  
If this 40 amp spa was wired with #6, you could put up to a 60 amp breaker on it.  I'm not really sure if there is a risk to the spa or not- I'd be more inclined to put the size breaker on that the spa maker recommends.  

[rutten]

Made it simple!  Just bought a 50 Amp breaker and wired it in.

[Brewman]

Not to be a jerk but if you don't know if the 40 will work when a 50 is called for by the manufacturer, maybe you shouldn't be doing the work?

Not to be a jerk, but if you don't understand the validity of his question  (and it is a valid question).......................