40A breaker?

[gregtub]

My Sundance Maxxus arrived today!  Previous to that I had a Vita Spa Elan which ran fine off of the 40A breaker/6 gauge wire.

The manual for the Sundance indicates the heater will not operate while while both jet pumps are running if wired to anything less than a 60A breaker.

To my knowledge a breaker is either off or on; no inbetween.  Can I try running the tub with the 40A, and see if it trips or should I go with a bigger breaker from the start?  How would the tub know what breaker it is hooked up to, besides the actual breaker tripping?

-Greg

[hottub.pool_boy]

sure!, only thing that could happen is when both jet pumps are on and it calls for heat, if the amp draw of the spa exceeds 90%-100% of the breaker capacity it will trip.
Replace the breaker 40amp breaker with the 60amp.

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

The purpose of a circuit breaker is to protect the wires running from it from overheating and possibly causing a fire. If your wires aren't rated for 60 amps, changing the 40a breaker could very well cause a fire.

[Cola]

Let's start out by finding out how long the wire is from the main breaker box to the GFI box and then from the GFI panel to the tub.  Please post and I will calculate the wires rating for you.

[Brewman]

Take Cola up on his offer to check your wire length for voltage drop.  If your wire can safely handle a 60 amp breaker, then put one in or you might be getting a lot of nusinace trips.  If the wire isn't up for 60 amp breaker (Long wire run) don't replace that breaker and either have the dealer set the jumper for a lower draw, or upgrade the wire.  If you have a relatively short or moderate run, you are probably ok.  6 gauge wire is rated for up to 60 amps.

[Vinny]

Greg,

Quite honestly, with the question you asked, even when you give cola the info - hire a professional electrician.

Electricity is not something to play with if you don't have a clue about it's dangers!

[Hubjeep]

If you have a relatively short or moderate run, you are probably ok.  6 gauge wire is rated for up to 60 amps.

I am curious, what is considered a short or moderate run in terms of length?

[SerjicalStrike]

The Maxxus draws 48 amps on full load when setup for 60amp mode.  It draws 40 when set up for 50 amps.  

A 40 amp breaker will definitely not work.

[Brewman]

I am curious, what is considered a short or moderate run in terms of length?

I have my 6 gauge running from a sub panel I installed in my basement, to the shutoff next to the spa.  I'd say that run is maybe 40' long, and I didn't have to derate the wire.  
That was for THWN wire in 3/4" PVC electrical conduit.  I'd consider this length short to moderate.  
I can't remember exactly the limits I was working with, but I'm thinking that even if I exceeded 100' I'd still have been ok.  
I just did the research for my spa wiring project, so I'd have to check my sources to see at what length for my application I'd need to go up a size to account for voltage drop.

[Brewman]

To my knowledge a breaker is either off or on; no inbetween.  Can I try running the tub with the 40A, and see if it trips or should I go with a bigger breaker from the start?  How would the tub know what breaker it is hooked up to, besides the actual breaker tripping?

-Greg

You are correct.  There is only tripped or not tripped.
And the spa itself can't know what size the breaker is, or if there even is a breaker.  
Current is drawn, not pushed.  If you power up the Maxxus and it draws enough current, the breaker will trip.  
Don't go with the 40 amp breaker unless you have the jumper on your spa set for a 40 amp.  Not sure if the Maxxus has that option or not.  My Optima can be set for a 60, 50, and either a 30 or 40 amper.  
All you'll do is constantly trip the breaker if you leave in that 40, especially if you turn on a pump or two and the heater kicks in.  The jumper setting on you spa prevent those things from all going on at once to accomodate smaller wiring breaker combos.

[Chas]

You should find out the actual length of wire you have, and then look at the National Electrical Code to find out whether or not you SHOULD run a 60 amp breaker before you try.

Call most any electrician and ask them to come check it out - but be sure they know you want them to show it to you in the book.

I have run into two types of problems with undersized wires: burned up componants due to undervoltage, and melted or burned up wires.

Friends don't let friends undersize their wire.....

[Brookenstein]

Can I hijack this post for a second for something kinda sorta off topic??

Reading this wiring stuff has me a bit worried for when I had my AC unit installed a few months back.  The guys pulled off the old breaker (a 30A I think) and replaced it with a 40A.  Should I be concerned about the wiring being able to handle the difference?  They assured me at the time it was fine, but now I'm wondering if it was a cost cutting measure and if I need to have an electrician check it out.

[Brewman]

Similar thing happened to me when we built the house we currently live in.  We paid the builder for an a/c electrical rough in, intending to do the actual a/c unit on our own (it was cheaper for a way better unit).
When the installers put in the a/c compressor, they noted that my builders electrician put in a 30 amp breaker, and the recommended breaker was 40 amps, which I installed myself.  For the few bucks the breaker cost, I didn't bother the builder to fix it.  
Anyway, the wire installed for my a/c was rated for the 40 amps, so no problem with the larger breaker.

Do you know what size wire was installed?  
You can use 10 gauge for up to 30 amps, but 40 amps needs 8 gauge.  That's for copper wire.  

[Brookenstein]

Do you know what size wire was installed?  
 You can use 10 gauge for up to 30 amps, but 40 amps needs 8 gauge.  That's for copper wire.  

I have no clue.  Are they color coded by guage?  Or is there some dummy proof way for me to tell by looking at it?

[Brewman]

I checked my wiring by reading the cable sheathing, which I had to remove the cover for my breaker panel to do.  If they used romex cable (Several individually insulated wires contained in a plastic sheathing) on your a/c, it should say on the sheathing the type of wire, like "8/2 w/ground or AWG" or similar.  The 8 part of the number is the gauge.  For the 40 amps you want 8.  If it says 10/2, then you have 10 gauge.

If you can't read the sheathing, or if you have individual wires in a conduit instead of romex, it's harder to tell, and you'd have to have someone who know their wire to look at it.