Coast Spa tub not working

[Spot9]

I went out and the display was blank. The breaker was bad and the test button was stuck in. I replaced the breaker and the tub still won't turn on. There is power going to the tub and the fuses seem okay. When I test the lines going from the board to the heater there is no power. There is power going to the pumps ( I think). It's a pretty old tub (2000) with a TPSA-1 Gecko Spa Pack. Any ideas on what I should be checking? Thanks!!

[bud16415]

So your GFCI breaker the one near the tub was faulty and you shut off the power at the main panel in the house and replaced the GFCI breaker. When you turned the power back on and reset the GFCI, it did not trip again? Did you try the test button o the new one?

You are getting 240V to the tub now where the power connections are made?

You mentioned fuses seemed ok. They will look the same if they are blown or not. I would start by checking the fuses. It sounds like you have lost one leg of your 240V and fuses would be the likely thing to look at first.   

[Spot9]

Thank for the reply. I will retest all the fuses. Last time I had a fuse blow, I still had power to the display at least with an error code.

[Spot9]

Okay, so I took the heater out and tested the resistence and it checked out okay. I cleaned all my contacts. I first reset the breaker with nothing attached and it didn't trip. I plugged the pumps and everything back in. Reset the breaker and it didn't trip. I filled the tub and reset the breaker and it was running okay, I even tired both pumps on low and high. So I went out for the evening and cam home for a nice soak with a cold beer and the tub was off. The breaker tripped and now it won't reset again???

Weird electrical problem?

[bud16415]

Okay, so I took the heater out and tested the resistence and it checked out okay. I cleaned all my contacts. I first reset the breaker with nothing attached and it didn't trip. I plugged the pumps and everything back in. Reset the breaker and it didn't trip. I filled the tub and reset the breaker and it was running okay, I even tired both pumps on low and high. So I went out for the evening and cam home for a nice soak with a cold beer and the tub was off. The breaker tripped and now it won't reset again???

Weird electrical problem?

This is just a guess. When a GFCI protects anything it shuts down as soon as it sees 5ma of fault. If you didn’t have it in you would see a meltdown of something like a heater as that 5ma would quickly grow and grow and meltdown until the 50a main breaker was reached.

What goes in a heater is I’m told is a little bit of water weeps between where the heater is sealed from the water. This slight short is enough to trip the GFCI before any damage can happen to you or the tub from the 240v.

Taking the heater out and drying it off and measuring resistance will show that the heating coil is still good because it was never overloaded enough to fail. So the heater will test good still as it didn’t burnout just that it shorted the 5ma.

You would have to look for a slight current path between the metal and the two hot connections or look for any signs of weeping or such that could be causing a short path.

If you unhook the power to the heater and the GFCI resets and the tub works or you get a open heater message it would lead me back to the heater. Make sure you tape those wires off before testing that.

Again just some Guessing on my part and I’m just a tub owner not a service person.   

[Spot9]

Thanks!!  I just tested the resistence and it is reading 15ohms. I believe it should read between 9-14ohms. 15ohms should be acceptable?

[bud16415]

That I don't know. It depends on how sensitive your GFCI is and how accurate your meter is etc. You could do the math and get an idea how much current would pass. In another thread not to long ago we talked about using a megger tester set to 500v to test the insulation breakdown on a heater. If you do some google searches on heaters and megger and insulation you will find a couple vids on how to test with a megger. 

[Spot9]

Thanks Bud16415. So I was about to take the board off to see if I had a bad solder on the back and found a bit of water on one of the heater terminals. I dried it off and the breaker didn't trip. So, looks like water is somehow coming up through the heater,

[bud16415]

Thanks Bud16415. So I was about to take the board off to see if I had a bad solder on the back and found a bit of water on one of the heater terminals. I dried it off and the breaker didn't trip. So, looks like water is somehow coming up through the heater,

Sounds like you solved the problem. Before I bought our tub I wanted to know how hard it would be to do my own repairs and also how safe it would be sitting in 400 gallons of water with 240v heating the water. I watched a bunch of vids on heaters and one showed this weeping condition you are seeing. He then eliminated the GFCI and let a normal fault happen and it is a good reminder why we all want a working GFCI, and why we should test them once a month.

If that’s the original heater I would say 19 years is a good life span. 

[Spot9]

No, I have replace the heater at least twice and the pump twice since I took over the tub. I moved here in 2012 and the tub was bought in 2000. I put in a titanium heater this time because I am using a salt chlorinator

[bud16415]

Oh ok. I’m running salt in my water also without a chlorine generator yet. I don’t think salt should affect the stainless steel but who knows what grade they are made from especially aftermarket products. They are subject to a lot of thermal cycles and welds are only as good as the process. There is also planned obsolescence.

If I can ask what type of salt gen are you using? I love the feel of the salt in the water and thinking of buying a saltron-mini.   

[Spot9]

I am using a ControlOMatic TechniChlor Hot Tub and Spa Saltwater System Chorine Generator with Boost Mode

[Spatech_tuo]

Oh ok. I’m running salt in my water also without a chlorine generator yet. I don’t think salt should affect the stainless steel but who knows what grade they are made from especially aftermarket products. They are subject to a lot of thermal cycles and welds are only as good as the process. There is also planned obsolescence.

If I can ask what type of salt gen are you using? I love the feel of the salt in the water and thinking of buying a saltron-mini.   

I hate to state the obvious but if you're not using a chlorine generator with the salt then you're not creating any chlorine and therefore just have salty water.

In order for the salt alone to have any effect (other than feel) you'd have to have VERY salty water (many, many times what is used with a salt generator) and even then it will only help so much. If you do that you will be subjecting your metals to corrosion so you really need to limit how much salt you add and in that case it won't be effective from a sanitizing standpoint though you may prefer the feel of it.

[Spot9]

Thanks Mr. Mom.   

[Spot9]

New update. The spa stays on but if I turn on the jets, it will run for about 5 minutes and then trips the breaker. Pump over heating?