New Pool Build - TX
- Thread starter Twolabs
- Start date
Well my freeze protection kicked on last night. Talk about some surprised night animals probably, just hanging out it the quiet backyard and then three 3HP pumps kick on and the waterfall starts.
EXCEPT, that it didn't. I had the same problem Ryno had (he detailed in another thread). The three pumps kicking on at once threw the breaker in the house. Good thing I discovered it before it got really cold. For some odd reason, they come from the factory at freeze protection to kick on at 38 degrees. So I'll get that down.
PB wants me to double check the breaker amperage when I get back home. He sounded pretty confused as to why that was happening since he said they put a 70 amp breaker in and the 3 pumps shouldn't be generating more than 60 (perhaps they create more at initial start up?).
On another note, we tried out the spa last night for the first time and it was a blast. It took around 80-90 minutes to get from 59 degrees to 100 degrees. Ambient air temperature was around 50 by the time we got in. The expression on my 3 year old's face made it all worth it, along with her comment "Oh it's PINK! It's BEAUTIFUL!".
EXCEPT, that it didn't. I had the same problem Ryno had (he detailed in another thread). The three pumps kicking on at once threw the breaker in the house. Good thing I discovered it before it got really cold. For some odd reason, they come from the factory at freeze protection to kick on at 38 degrees. So I'll get that down.
PB wants me to double check the breaker amperage when I get back home. He sounded pretty confused as to why that was happening since he said they put a 70 amp breaker in and the 3 pumps shouldn't be generating more than 60 (perhaps they create more at initial start up?).
On another note, we tried out the spa last night for the first time and it was a blast. It took around 80-90 minutes to get from 59 degrees to 100 degrees. Ambient air temperature was around 50 by the time we got in. The expression on my 3 year old's face made it all worth it, along with her comment "Oh it's PINK! It's BEAUTIFUL!".
Glock
0
The starter on the pumps pull max amps at startup. 60 of 70 amps is not good. Breakers usually only handle 80% of their rating as a constant load. Any excess can cause it to flip. They are designed that way.
That's frustrating about the breaker. Knock on wood, I haven't had any more issues since bumping up to the 70A breaker. I'm a bit confused too, because I have a smaller 2 hp waterfall pump away from the equipment pad in addition to my three 3 HP pumps on the pad, and ALL of that is on the 70A breaker. In the meantime before it's fixed, if you set up your timer to run the main pump at night when it's going to freeze, you will probably get the remainder of the pumps to kick on without throwing the breaker.
Well when I brought it up to him (after you PM), he was like "Ahhh we're not worried about that because he had more pumps than you." Well when it flipped (it flipped again last night), I texted him and he called. He said he thought they put a 70 on there but wanted me to check, well when I got back home after work..sure enough it was a 60 amp. So hopefully that will solve our problem as well.
I'm surprised all 4 of your pumps on that one breaker don't trip it.
You will need to check the wire size and make sure it is rated for 70amps before just changing the breaker.
Did they pull wire from the panel to your pool equipment or was something already there?
Do you know what size pipe they ran?
Did they pull wire from the panel to your pool equipment or was something already there?
Do you know what size pipe they ran?
I don't know what size pipe or wire, but they did make a new run to the panel.
If you look at your sub panel ( the one that powers your equipment) you may be able to see the pipe and wire size as it enters the panel. Generally the connector will be marked with size.3/4", 1", or 1 1/2". This will have dictated what size wire can be fit into it. The wire itself will have markings on it too. Awg is American wire gauge. Lower numbers mean bigger wire. If he pulled #6 which would be max in a 3/4" pipe for example you would have to change the pipe to change the wire to change the breaker. 60 amps would basically be the max sized circuit breaker for a 3/4" conduit. Hopefully it is larger. At least 1" conduit.
See if you can figure out the conduit size first and then we can move on from there. Hope this helps clear it up a little.
See if you can figure out the conduit size first and then we can move on from there. Hope this helps clear it up a little.