Has my breaker gone bad?

[dave48103]

 I went to add some chemicals this morning to my hot tub and noticed there was no power  to the tub. My first thought was the breaker tripped, so I reset the breaker. Still no power. The display is not even trying to start so I'm thinking the hot tub is not getting any power. Called the dealer, he said if it kept tripping that would be one issue with the hot tub, but if it's not getting power to even start the tub then it's more likely a breaker issue. I also noticed that the "test" button was not working on the breaker. Do these go bad?   It's a 50 amp panel dedicated circuit thinking I might just have to call an electrician to test/replace the breaker. Thoughts?

[Jacuzzi Jim]

 Most likely a blown fuse on the circuit board.  A volt meter would help of course, if not available change the fuse before the breaker!

[dave48103]

That was my first thought. Checked the circuit breakers, they are on, and I even reset them.

[Beck0101]

Did you check your breaker inside the house as well?

[dave48103]

Did you check your breaker inside the house as well?

Yes, the house breaker never tripped. But while the power is connected to the hot tub, I can't even reset the disconnect breaker unless the house panel breaker is turned off. But as soon as I flip back on the house breaker, the disconnect breaker trips. The spa power never comes on, even for an instance . Just to go a step further, I disconnected the power to the tub and checked the wires with a voltmeter.  When disconnected, the breaker does not trip and the wires have power to them.  So it's either the  hot tub that is making the breaker trip as soon as hooked up, or it's a faulty breaker that trips as soon as there is any load on it. 

[Jacuzzi Jim]

  It's the spa, unhook the heater at the connections and turn the breaker on.  If it doesn't trip and starts running, kill power hook heater back up, if it trips again most likely a bad heater.   You could also try unhooking the ozonator if there is one before doing the heater test.     After all that, if it is still tripping, start unhooking things till it stops tripping.  Worse case it's a bad circuit board.   But eliminate the ozone, heater then pumps one at a time. 

   I am going with a bad heater at this point.   

[Tman122]

  It's the spa, unhook the heater at the connections and turn the breaker on.  If it doesn't trip and starts running, kill power hook heater back up, if it trips again most likely a bad heater.   You could also try unhooking the ozonator if there is one before doing the heater test.     After all that, if it is still tripping, start unhooking things till it stops tripping.  Worse case it's a bad circuit board.   But eliminate the ozone, heater then pumps one at a time. 

   I am going with a bad heater at this point.   

Concur. Be careful, it's easy to forget to turn the power off between steps when your in a hurry.

[dave48103]

  It's the spa, unhook the heater at the connections and turn the breaker on.  If it doesn't trip and starts running, kill power hook heater back up, if it trips again most likely a bad heater.   You could also try unhooking the ozonator if there is one before doing the heater test.     After all that, if it is still tripping, start unhooking things till it stops tripping.  Worse case it's a bad circuit board.   But eliminate the ozone, heater then pumps one at a time. 

   I am going with a bad heater at this point.   

Concur. Be careful, it's easy to forget to turn the power off between steps when your in a hurry.

Agreed!  Thankfully fully covered under warranty. Called today, service technician coming Wednesday. I'm thankful we're in the middle of a heat wave here in Michigan

[dave48103]

 Service technician came out today. It was the ozonator. He also showed me the steps to determine this in the future. Also, On our tub, the ozonator and UV are the same unit so if I don't see UV light, that also lets me know the ozonator is bad.   Back up and running before the cold weather hits us again. Thanks for all your help