plug in spa has electrified water

[KKinder]

Our plug & play CalSpa model Balboa 2516-L seems to have electrified water. If you touch the water, when barefooted, you get a shock to the hand. When we opened the housing, there seems to be a ground wire coming from the pump that doesn't connect to anything.(just free floating).

Open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks, Kris K

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kris,

Is this Spa new or used? Has it been working fine and now it does not? I suggest that you do not get in the spa until it is fixed.

I suspect that if you connect the pump ground wire to the ground inside the spa, the GFCI breaker will pop.

How about when the sun is up, posting a couple of pics of the inside of the pump area showing the unconnected wire..

Is your spa run off of 240 volts or 120 volts? Is the spa connected to a GFCI breaker box or outlet.

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[KKinder]

Kris,

Is this Spa new or used? Has it been working fine and now it does not? I suggest that you do not get in the spa until it is fixed.

I suspect that if you connect the pump ground wire to the ground inside the spa, the GFCI breaker will pop.

How about when the sun is up, posting a couple of pics of the inside of the pump area showing the unconnected wire..

Is your spa run off of 240 volts or 120 volts? Is the spa connected to a GFCI breaker box or outlet.

Thanks,

Jim R.

Thanks for getting back to me Jim. The spa was new to us, about 5 years old I think. It is a plug and play, plugged into a 120volt exterior outlet. I have attached some photos.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks, Kris K.

 

[borjis]

It looks to me that your bonding wire was cut. That bare copper wire. (or is that indeed a ground in hot tubs? I don't know much about tubs)


So that would be two issues to solve before you get in again. re-attaching the bonding wire
to the block and then figuring out where the power is leaking from.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kris,

In theory, all exterior outlets are supposed to be GFCI... Do you know for sure the outlet you are using is GFCI?

The first thing that goes on most hot tubs is the heater.. It starts by leaking a little electricity through the water. This generally pops the GFCI..

I suspect that the pump has a black, white and green wire... The green is the actual ground wire. If the pump also has bare copper wire, that normally goes to a bonding system that is installed around most pools and pool decks..

I could not find a manual for your specific system.

If this were my spa, with the power off I would disconnect the heater and make sure the connections are not touching anything and power it back up. I would not get back in, but you should be able to tell if the tingle is still there. If the tingle is gone, that is a pretty good indication that you heater is bad. You might want to make sure the tingle is there first before disconnecting anything.

It the spa on a concrete deck or wood deck or ???

Thanks,

Jim R.

 

[KKinder]

Hi Jim,

The spa sits on a redwood deck. The outlet has a GFCI test button, but I don't think it's resetting. I try to move the button but it seems stuck. Maybe that outlet needs replacing.
When you are talking about the heater and the pump, those are two separate components, correct? I apologize for my dumb questions. Thanks for your your help and patience.

Kris K.

 

[Jimrahbe]

Kris,

The very first thing I would do is make sure the GFCI outlet shuts off when you push the test button. If you can't get the test button to work, you should replace the outlet..

Yes, you should have a pump, that moves the water from the skimmer/filter, through the pump, and then through the heater and then back to the tub.

The heater should looks something like this..... Cal Spas Heaters

I am not saying the heater is bad, so don't go buying one until you know what is causing the problem.. I used the link just for the picture.

Thanks,

Jim R.