breaker tripping

[teebone110]

Hi Everyone,

I am having a little dilemma here.

I thought that I would do a little spring cleaning with the hose, clean the skirting, cover, change water, etc.

Pulled the Protec step away from my Beachcomber and carefully blasted away some debris, with the hose

Now after I refilled my tub, the breaker trips.
At first the tub would run for a minute than trip, then I took my compressor and blew some air around the motor, etc.

Now it trips as soon as I hook the power up.

I have brought the motor in the house assuming that it somehow got wet, and maybe after a few days, I will hook things back up and see how it goes.

Any other suggestiions???

Thanks

Tyler

[Gary]

You may be on the right track. I have seen it many times where folks where cleaning the patio or deck with a water hose and got the equipment wet and had the same issue as you.

[wmccall]

This is a generic statement about motors, I've never looked closely as most spa pumps, but frequently they have small access hatches or doors and water can puddle in them If you see one, open it and let it drain. Also if you still have it in the house drying, stand it up on end, turn it end over end. You could have puddling that would take forever to try in one of the cavities.

[teebone110]

Well, after a few days in the house, I hooked the motor back up.

Everything looked dry, powered it up and YES, things were working fine for a few minutes....

Then I checked back, and the breaker tripped again. I am wondering if water somehow got into the controller??
I had this problem a few years ago, and my dealer replaced the seal under warranty.
I was thinking maybe it is leaking again?

Is there any way to inspect the controller unit for moisture?

Any other reasons why my breaker is all of a sudden tripping?

Thanks

[J._McD]

1.) is everything dry in the equipment area.  The seal he replaced would have been a pump seal.  Look at where the shaft of the electric motor goes into the wet end.  do you see any moisture, salts, crud or evidence of a pump seal leak?

2.) Unplug or disconnect each electrical item and power back up to see if the tripping stops.  It will when you disconnect the culprit.  Ozone, Blower, heater, in that sequence.  Something got wet or went bad.

[teebone110]

1)When looking at the motor, there was some brownish coloured crud just on the outside of the housing of the pump motor shaft. I dismissed it as dirt from past use. Could it be possible that this is a sign of the seal letting moisture go within the motor? How long do the seals last?

The seal that was replaced was the one between the controller unit and the shell of the tub.

2)In reponse to your other question...

There are three plugs:

1- stereo

2- pump

3- light

So would you recommend unplugging all three plugs, then turn the breaker ON.

Then go about plugging each one in until I find the culprit?

Thanks for your advice.

[HotTubMan]

Check your PM's. Many Beachcomber 5 series owners had an issue with 40A Federal Pioneer breakers. Investigate that angle is that is your brand of breaker.

[J._McD]

No offense, but if you didn't understand my post< I would prefer to have you call your dealer or a service tech.

I would doubt it if it was the stereo or light and if you unplug the motor your heater is not going to work either.

The concept of my post was to say "take them out of the circuit by disconnecting the component wires from the circuit board.  Re-energize and see if it holds."

When you disconnect the "function" that is tripping the breaker" it should hold.


Then again, it could be a bad breaker and maybe you should have the dealer look at it.

[hotubinn]

I have never seen a pump seal leak into the motor to cause a breaker trip, and I have seen some major pump seal leaks.  I would definately call my service tech.

[Gary]

I have never seen a pump seal leak into the motor to cause a breaker trip, and I have seen some major pump seal leaks.  I would definately call my service tech.

I have.

[teebone110]

Well, here is an update with my electrical problem...
Today, I had a spa repair tech come by and look at the box, he said that there is moisture coming out through the seals of the heating element.
We pulled the element out of the cylinder and replaced the seals. That seemed to fix things until moisture came through the seals again...
So we tightened the nuts a little more, still the breaker would eventually trip due to moisture getting past these seals.

I have tightened the nuts as much as possible, not to overtighten them, and still the breaker will trip, sometimes working for a half an hour or so.

Any tips? The heater element is in great condition, it is obviously the seals giving us the problem.

Thanks for your help,

[teebone110]

It is fixed! Just changed the heater element with another. Apparently there was a pinhole leak causing a short, making my breaker trip. Back to tubbin'

[Lori]

That is so great to know, Teebone!

Glad you are back in Spatopia!