30 Amp Breaker Keeps Flipping On Hot Spring Envoy

[hottub63]

I just bought a 2007 Hot Spring Envoy Hot Tub. Everything was working perfect on it when I bought it yesterday. The electrician came out today and hooked it all up, but the 30 amp breaker kept flipping. Any ideas?

By the way, the person I bought it from had a 2 wires coming from his sub panel. I believe one went to the hot tub and the other was a ground rod (I believe.) Does that sound right? Do I need a ground rod? The electrician didn't have one installed yet, he said he was going to make sure it all was working first, that wouldn't have anything to do with the breaking flipping would it?

Any thoughts or things he could look for when he comes back tomorrow? 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

The ONLY place a grounding rod should be installed in a residential home is at the MAIN electrical panel. The intention of such it to protect the utility companies system from surges and lightening strikes.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

The ONLY place a grounding rod should be installed in a residential home is at the MAIN electrical panel. The intention of such it to protect the utility companies system from surges and lightening strikes. Dirt, is a terrible conductor of electricity under 600 volts and installing a second grounding rod elsewhere can create a possible electrocution hazard.

[hottub63]

Wow..the guy I bought the hot tub from paid a company a lot of money to have the hot tube installed and they had one going in to the ground I believe. There were two pipes coming out of his sub panel box....one was a thing wire..they others went to the hot tub..The movers said one was a grounding rod...I wonder if they were wrong.

Would there be any other reason two pipes with cables in them would be coming out of the control panel box?

[hottub63]

I just checked with the movers and they said that second pipe coming out of the sub panel box was a common (green) going to a copper grounding rod.

Sounds like it was hooked up wrong? The sub panel box (which I got) also had a bar or something that a wire was hooked up to from the hot tub...the hot springs guy told me there shouldn't be a bar, but the wire should go to some screw. Any idea what he's talking aobut?

[PrecisionPoolMA]

Ya grounds should be going to the main panel never seen a grounding rod on a hot tub install. This is why it is imperative to hire an electrician who has hooked up spas before.

Also with the Envoy that is a 2 dual speed pump set up. I would always recommend a 50 amp breaker for a 2 speed spa, only go down to 30amp on 1 pump models.

[hottub63]

I am using a 50 amp breaker. I guess I should have said the 30 amp breaker.

My electrician has hooked up spas before but not a hot spring. He said they aren't like all tbt other ones he has hooked up.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Sounds like a BONDING lug.

Grounding through a grounding rod has its limitations. Grounding (earthing) of electrical equipment doesn't provide a low-impedance fault-current path to clear ground faults (translation: "lower" voltages don't travel well, or freely, through the surface of the earth). In fact, according to the NEC, code prohibits the use of the earth (a grounding rod) as the sole return path because it's a poor conductor of current at voltage levels below 600V [250.4(A)(5) and 250.45(B)(4)]. In reality what this could do is potentially electrify the ground around the spa and has the potential of ELECTROCUTING you. If you were to be standing on the ground and touch something that IS properly grounded you could be fatally electrocuted (electricity in the electrified ground travels up through you and out to what your touching, which is properly grounded). There's actually a documented case of this happen at a fish farm in the UK. The little fishies were periodically being electrocuted from an improperly grounded/bonded power line TWO MILES AWAY.

[hottub63]

Turns out there was just a simple problem with the white grounding wire. All is well now!

[Chas]

Sorry I didn't see this in time - I bet he ran the neutral wire from the tub to the neutral buss in the sub panel. That happens a lot when electricians have not see a HotSpring before. The neutral wire needs to go from the spa to the 30A breaker itself. I post this for others who might end up in the same situation.



 

[Hollywood]

Sorry I didn't see this in time - I bet he ran the neutral wire from the tub to the neutral buss in the sub panel. That happens a lot when electricians have not see a HotSpring before. The neutral wire needs to go from th 8)e spa to the 30A breaker itself. I post this for others who might end up in the same situation.

To be clear it goes to the GFCI breaker.

[Chas]

Correct: Non-GFCI breakers do not have a neutral lug to connect to.