Caldera spa tripping break

Dec 1, 2017
7
Gardners
I have a caldera Hawaiian model. Last year it started tripping the breaker on occasion, reset it and everything worked fine, it seemed to do it when it was cold and the heater was running. So I replaced the heater but i'm still having the same problem with the breaker tripping. When it trips I lose power to the whole tub. Any idea what could possibly be the problem, or where to even start?
 
x,

Welcome to TFP... a great resource for all your spa and pool questions.

Well, the heater would have been my guess also.. Your spa should have two GFCI breakers.. A 20amp and a 30 amp. I suspect that one goes to the heaters and the other to the pumps, but I'm just guessing. Knowing which circuit breaker popped, might help one of our other members point you in the right direction.

Since it was not the heater, then I would have to assume one of the motors. If you have two jet motors, you could disconnect one at a time as see if the problem can be isolated to just one of them.

Thanks for posting,

Jim R.
 
Thanks for the reply. I do have two breakers, but I i'm not sure which of the two is tripping. When it trips though I lose power to the entire tub including the heater and circulation pump, I had to drain and winterize it last year due it tripping and freezing up. I just replaced one of the two jet pumps, so I can narrow it down to possibly one jet pump. I've never had it trip the breaker when any of the jets or air was running. Last night it threw the breaker shortly after I shut the jets off. I will try unplugging the old jet pump and see if it still throws the breaker.
 
It is the 30 amp breaker that is tripping. So far it has ran all night and into today without tripping again, I put spa flush in yesterday and it bubbled over, I had the compartment open and i'm wondering if some moisture just got near the control board and caused the breaker to kick. I will continue to keep my eye on it to see what happens. Before it was tripping every single day.
 
x,

Moisture will certainly cause a trip, but the control board and connections are usually in a plastic box of some type???

I would run it a couple of days and if no more trips, I would reconnect the pump and see if it goes back to tripping...

Thanks,

Jim R.
 
Yes the circuit board is in a plastic box, however I know how sensitive gfi breakers can be, and i'm hoping that the bubbles that overflowed from the spa flush is what caused it to trip. Like I said, it went all last night and half the day today with no trip, which i'm hoping is a sign in the right direction. If it trips again, I will unhook my pump and see if it makes a difference.
 
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