Caldera Geneva Disconnect Box?

[Spayedkitty]

Hello,

Can someone tell me the size of the disconnect box that comes with the Geneva?  Also where/how the holes are for the wires?  We are running conduit this weekend.  The dealer told us not to buy a disconnect box because it comes with one.  My husband said different boxes can vary in size and such.  My husband is using #8 wires, 4 colors.  It's rated for gasoline since the breaker box is in our garage.  Also my husband said the box needs to be 5 feet away from the tub.  If this is not right, please advise.

Thank you,
Shauna

[bud16415]

The box is not huge and the dealer should have given it to you when you ordered the tub. At least mine had a pile of them there. It is a slide up front panel and the box is I’m guessing 8x8 x 12 high. It needs to be located in line of sight of the tub and is not allowed to be closer than 5’ of the water’s edge. That’s code. The idea is they don’t want it under a deck or down in the bushes. They also don’t want you if it trips to be trying to reset it without getting out of the water. They want it where it is obvious it belongs with the tub.

The box has knockouts on the back and both sides and the bottom for conduits in and out.

#8 wire should be ok if your distance of the run is under 100 feet I think they said. I wired mine with #6. Inside the structure you don’t need conduit you could have run 8-3 with ground. From the GFCI panel to the tub you will need more wires. I ran (7) I believe and I ran #8. The instructions I think show a mix of #10 and #8 if I remember correct. If you go to the Caldera web site you can down load the PDF manual and it will show all the wires and where they go. From the panel I ran seal-tite 1” x 25’ under the deck and into the tub. 

[Spayedkitty]

The box is not huge and the dealer should have given it to you when you ordered the tub. At least mine had a pile of them there. It is a slide up front panel and the box is I’m guessing 8x8 x 12 high. It needs to be located in line of sight of the tub and is not allowed to be closer than 5’ of the water’s edge. That’s code. The idea is they don’t want it under a deck or down in the bushes. They also don’t want you if it trips to be trying to reset it without getting out of the water. They want it where it is obvious it belongs with the tub.

The box has knockouts on the back and both sides and the bottom for conduits in and out.

#8 wire should be ok if your distance of the run is under 100 feet I think they said. I wired mine with #6. Inside the structure you don’t need conduit you could have run 8-3 with ground. From the GFCI panel to the tub you will need more wires. I ran (7) I believe and I ran #8. The instructions I think show a mix of #10 and #8 if I remember correct. If you go to the Caldera web site you can down load the PDF manual and it will show all the wires and where they go. From the panel I ran seal-tite 1” x 25’ under the deck and into the tub.

Ok, thanks!  I will show this to hubby when he gets home.  Hubby is using conduit because of our dogs and chip monks. I told the dealer we were using conduit, he said that is correct that we should. 

The dealer said the tub comes with the rest of the wires.  I had sticker shock when I went to purchase the wires today!

Hubby wants the conduit to look professional, that is the reason he wanted the box size.  The dealer didn't have any extra boxes on hand.  I asked about that.  Hubby was just going to buy a box but I talked him out if since the tub is coming with one.  This is already costing so much, no need to pay for an extra box.

This is becoming a big headache, I hope it's worth it.  We had to take up our existing paver patio because the Geneva warranty says it must be on a deck or concrete 4 inch pad.  We are putting in a 6 inch pad and replacing the rest of the patio with new Holland pavers around the hot tub.

We are doing the work ourselves to save on cost.  Right now we have a big mud hole.  The dealer said it would take 4 weeks for the tub to arrive, possibly 5.  We hope we are finished in time.  If not he said he would just keep it until we are ready.

Thanks Again!

[bud16415]

Sounds like you are having fun. If he is running in a conduit he needs to by code use single conductor wire made for inside a conduit. Sounds like that is what you bought and yes the price of copper is right up there.

Its good he didn’t buy a regular hot tub GFCI breaker box as the one for the Geneva is different than all the rest. Most have a single 50a GFCI breaker inside and the one you will get has a 30a and a 20a inside. The 20 is for the heater only and the 30 is the rest of the tub. That’s why he will need more than the 4 wires running between the tub and the box.

It is great if the dealer is supplying those wires and conduit. Are they doing that part of the install? With the tub on the pad you will have that conduit underground I suspect?

I think it would have been fine on the pavers also but if they say you need a pad I guess you have to go with that.

Once you get in your Geneva you will forget about all the messing around. Summer is a good time to get a tub so you can learn about taking care of it before winter that is if you live in the north. We are in ours every night and love it as much as we did 2 years ago when we got it. 

[Spayedkitty]

Sounds like you are having fun. If he is running in a conduit he needs to by code use single conductor wire made for inside a conduit. Sounds like that is what you bought and yes the price of copper is right up there.

Its good he didn’t buy a regular hot tub GFCI breaker box as the one for the Geneva is different than all the rest. Most have a single 50a GFCI breaker inside and the one you will get has a 30a and a 20a inside. The 20 is for the heater only and the 30 is the rest of the tub. That’s why he will need more than the 4 wires running between the tub and the box.

It is great if the dealer is supplying those wires and conduit. Are they doing that part of the install? With the tub on the pad you will have that conduit underground I suspect?

I think it would have been fine on the pavers also but if they say you need a pad I guess you have to go with that.

Once you get in your Geneva you will forget about all the messing around. Summer is a good time to get a tub so you can learn about taking care of it before winter that is if you live in the north. We are in ours every night and love it as much as we did 2 years ago when we got it.

Yes. we are running the conduit underground.  My husband is certified in HVAC and is good with electrical, that's his profession.  The hot tub stuff is new, he's never worked on those. 

As for the pavers, we really wanted to put the tub on the pavers.  The dealer didn't tell us it would void our warranty.  I get the impression dealers will over look that sort of thing, if it could risk losing a sale.  The dealer did tell us over time, we could have problems with the pavers.  I did read it in the warranty though, pavers void warranty.  We don't want to risk our tub being damaged since it's such an expensive and labor intensive investment.

We are in North Central Indiana.  Can people generally get away long term using pavers in this climate? 

I can't wait to get the tub.  I hope it's everything we want it to be.  Very thankful for this site, the information and advice.  I'm sure we will continue to have questions.

Thanks!

[bud16415]

To me pavers and frost may move at different rates when the ground freezes. Under the center of the tub the ground is insulated from the cold and what could happen is the outer ring of pavers could heave and the center stay down and the tub wouldn’t be supported in the middle. I guess that could cause a problem. A slab will sometimes crack though and that could cause the same issue or in my case one of my deck posts could sink or move etc. I think you will be more than fine with your thick slab.

If your husband does that for a living he wont have any problems with this wiring and I’m sure he is up on code. You are saving a nice chunk of money by doing the work yourselves.

Who is going to be the chemist once the tub is filled?