Water Pressure Switch diagnosis ?

[Keats]

19 Jun 11,
Does anyone know if a faulty water pressure switch ( Balboa # 30408) can cause the GFCI to trip? If it's bad,
is tripping the GFCI the way it protects the spa? I guess that would make sense because there is no other
way to reset the power except via the GFCI at the sub panel.

I ran continuity checks on the switch and get continuity if I blow into the very small opening on the switch.
I can hear a clicking noise from the relay I suppose and I believe that this is caused by the diaphragm moving
when I blow into the switch and cause the diaphragm to move. I shook out some rusty looking water from the
switch before I ran my tests.

I also checked the heater (Balboa # 50096 ) and has 11 ohms across the element posts. I checked for a short
by looking for continuity between an element post and the metal tube that houses the heating element. I did
not have continuity from wither post indicating that the element was not running to ground anywhere. I filled
the tube with water and tried it that way too and it was still O.K.
My spa kept tripping the GFCI until I disconnected the heater and pulled the water pressure switch from the circuit board.
Then it ran fine except it could not heat the water anymore..

I'm open to suggestions. Do I change out the switch or the heater assembly or both of them?

Thanks,
Keats
Arizona

[VTXMAN]

Generally the pressure will not cause the GFCI to trip, most Balboa systems do not send any voltage through it so no voltage to leak to cause the trip.

The switch can leak water and that water touching the wrong thing can cause it.


On your system though is sounds like you have a bad heater.


The ohms value has nothing to why a GFCI would trip so that is why what would appear ok.

[Keats]

Monday A.M.
Thank you for the response.
I'm sure that the switch is intact. If not, then the diaphragm would allow air to leak when I blow into it and it would not move the plastic rod enough to make the electrical switch function.

Water never comes into contact with electricity via the switch. I just thought that perhaps if it failed, then it may signal the circuit board to "ground" somehow and that in turn would cause
the GFCI to trip and therefore protect the spa.
When I checked the heater element, everything checked out good. No shorts, and sufficient ohms so I really don't know why it would be bad. The element looks good. No burning apparent which would indicate dry burning.

I'm at a loss. I really did not want to simply replace parts until it ran right. That's not the right way to fix things. After having read many many forum posts and web site troubleshooting areas, most point
to the heater as being the cause of the trips. I guess I'll just have to give in and replace the heater assembly/ pressure switch and see if that works. Oh Well...

Thanks again.
Keats
Arizona

[VTXMAN]

The reason a heater trips a GFCI has nothing to do with ohms and actually it has nothing to with the heater itself. The issue is the heater element sheath, that is the part we see and it only takes a pinhole to cause the breaker to trip. When the GFCI is working the way it was intended the heater sheath will still look pretty good.

[Keats]

I agree that your right. I only mentioned the Ohms part because that test would indicate that the element was still showing sufficient ohms with in it's designed range. I know that the amount of Ohms would not trip the GFCI. I do believe that your right about a possible pin hole somewhere in the insulator. That being the case, it would allow water to bridge the pinhole gap and effectively ground the heater causing the GFCI to trip.

On a side note,  I tried a standard 60 amp breaker (not GFCI) to see if I had a bad GFCI breaker in the sub panel. The spa ran very well. I removed the standard breaker and replaced it with a new GFCI 50 amp breaker and it tripped immediately. That's what a GFCI should do. They are far more sensitive to grounds than a standard breaker. So a tiny leak with a very weak ground would be sufficient to trip the GFCI breaker.

I am ordering a new heater assy today. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is the problem. I would hate to go thru the labor and expense of replacing the heater assy and find out that the problem persisted.

I do appreciate your replys, Thank you..

Keats
Arizona

[Jacuzzi Jim]

Did you disconnect the heater at the leads then turn the breaker back on to see if it trips?   if it doesn't trip your heater is prolly still good, then disconnect main pump. repeat process.   
 

[sorebikr]

Just a thought, from another site:

Unfortunately, conventional load centers often perform unreliably with hot tubs due to the phenomenon called errant tripping. This false tripping is a great frustration to homeowners and electricians alike, often incorrectly attributed to a problem with the spa, when no problem exists.

Because of the reactive loads that spa motors present and the fact that parts of the spa including ozonators may run on 120V, common GFCI breakers sometimes react to a normal spa condition as if it were a ground fault. They can be very unreliable.

[jhest]

hey keats i also have the same equipment as you and having the same problem. what did you do to fix the issue?