[CPARSONS54]

I have a hot tub which has a 30amp and 20 amp gfci breaker located in sub panel. All have worked perfectly for over a year without any issue until yesterday when my 30 amp gfci tripped and would not reset. Went thru all the steps to isolate each component to determine which one was the issue. As it turns out no issues with components but had water in my conduit (schedule 40 grey) from sprinkler system leakage. I broke apart the conduit, drained all water out (15' run). I then took my compressor and blew air thru the line to dry it all out. Came out this AM and breaker still will not reset (12 hrs later). Obviously there is a nick in casing in one of the wires I pulled (all 6 wires are shielded). Do I need to pull wire out and replace? Or push more air thru the line with say a shop vac? I would of thought that draining line and running compressed air thru line would have dried it out enough to stop any short. Any suggestions as to my next step? I really did not water to start over and rewire with new but that's an option.

Thanks,
Casey

 

[ServiceCall]

First disconnect the wiring on the tripping breaker to see if that stops the issue. If it still trips with no load wiring attached, the breaker is defective.

If it works, then reconnect the wires to the breaker and disconnect and isolate the wiring in the control box in the spa to see if the breaker holds then.

 

[CPARSONS54]

Sorry I should of listed that as things I had previously done. Yes I did disconnect wires and breaker did reset. I even went as far as wiring up 30amp breaker wires to the 20 amp breaker and it tripped as well. So I'm pretty sure breaker is okay.

 

[ServiceCall]

The 30 amp breaker is probably for the heater. I would unplug the heater from the control box and then check that. The heaters are notorious for having a ground fault after years of service.

 

[ServiceCall]

Sorry I should of listed that as things I had previously done. Yes I did disconnect wires and breaker did reset. I even went as far as wiring up 30amp breaker wires to the 20 amp breaker and it tripped as well. So I'm pretty sure breaker is okay.

Did you disconnect them in the controller and try that as well. If it still trips, then you have an issue with the wiring to the spa.

 

[rjniles]

Drying out the conduit will not fix your issue. Buried conduit is a wet location and will always have water in it (condensation). If the wire is nicked it needs to be replaced. Is the wire used rated for a wet location?

 

[CPARSONS54]

Conduit is above grade in all areas, water just entered from sprinkler drip system leakage near the conduit. Looks like water was entering at LB junction cover. At this point the nick in the wire will be difficult to determine I'm guessing so probably better to replace all of the wires correct?

 

[CPARSONS54]

As far as the heater is concerned it's run by the 20 amp breaker on this tub. And I did actually unplug heater from board to verify that was not the culprit. I went as far to unhook everything from board so nothing was connected. Still tripped the breaker so I'm thinking moisture still in line is causing the trip.

 

[rjniles]

Conduit outside is still a wet location and you will always get condensation. Unless it is an exceeding long run (expensive) I would replace them all.

 

[J. V.]

As far as the heater is concerned it's run by the 20 amp breaker on this tub. And I did actually unplug heater from board to verify that was not the culprit. I went as far to unhook everything from board so nothing was connected. Still tripped the breaker so I'm thinking moisture still in line is causing the trip.

Remove the wires at the tub. The feed wires. Cap them off and see if the breaker/breakers will reset.
If it will reset its not the wires in the conduit. If it will not reset its the wires in the conduit.
Sounds like you are doing this the right way. Taking things out of the equation one at a time.
Eliminate the wires or the tub devices and you are on your way to a fix.
Replacing wires with conduit is better than having to replace a cable.
So you do have that going for you.
Good luck and stay safe.

 

[seharper]

I have a hot tub which has a 30amp and 20 amp gfci breaker located in sub panel. ......... As it turns out no issues with components but had water in my conduit (schedule 40 grey) from sprinkler system leakage. I broke apart the conduit, drained all water out (15' run). I then took my compressor and blew air thru the line to dry it all out.

Outdoor conduit *is supposed to be* full of water. If it's not full of water, fill it with water. Seriously. Just put it out of your mind that water in the conduit is some sort of problem. It's not. It's normal.

Obviously, that forces you to think about wires that are rated for 24x7 water contact. Like THWN or XHHW types. Also, because it's a tub area and harsh chemicals are used to purify the water like chlorine, your choice of wires must account for that too.


Once you have disconnected the loads at the far ends, if it still trips, then disconnect wires one at a time from the tripping breaker. That should identify the wire that is tripping it. Now it'll be time to pull (all) the wires out of the pipe (use the wires to pull in a rope) and manually inspect the length of the troublesome one. If you find a flaw, replace the wire. If the wire(s) are the wrong type, replace with the right type.