[kevinloson]

I'm working on a house that has a hot tub. The breaker at the box is tripped and wont reset. I'm wondering if the breaker needs to be replaced. Its a double 60 amp breaker. The line to the hot tub runs under a deck that is not accessible without pulling up boards so I was hoping that switching out the breaker would solve the problem. Is that just wishful thinking?

 

[jbfan]

What kind of breaker?
A gfci or a standard breaker?

 

[joecaption]

One common problum is a burned out heating element.

 

[danpik]

A volt/OHM meter is your best friend when troubleshooting electrical problems. Start by disconnecting and measuring.

 

[paintdrying]

I read that 90% of the time the breaker is doing its job. I read it on a forum.

 

[CarpenterSFO]

It's worse than wishful thinking. The breaker is likely keeping you or the owner from getting electrocuted, and the thing to do is to find the short or what's causing the GFI to trip. The fact that you're doing that wishful thinking suggests to me that you aren't qualified to diagnose and fix the problem.

 

[gmarmalard]

Like the other posters are saying, it's most likely not a bad breaker. Twice I have had the heating element go bad on my HT which I replaced myself without any issues. It could be many other problems, but trying this is easy and you can test it without draining the tub. Get a multimeter and ensure the power is off. Remove the wires/connectors from the heating element screw terminals. Test the resistance (ohms) between one of the terminals for the element and the metal housing. Repeat with the other terminal. If you get any reading, it shows that current is flowing from the heating element, through the water to the metal housing. This condition would trip the GFCI breaker and indicates you need a new element.