GFCI Breaker Tripping New Wire Up Hot Tub How To Repair The Spa Guy 

I bought and with GREAT effort moved a swimspa from Va to Md & had electrician wire outside only. Used preexisting gfi but NO GO! Had power to spa and after 3 visits, it was determined something wrong with spa. It sat for 3 long weeks. Conctrete BIG pad poured just for it! Took SO much to move it out of guys garage. Tidalfit ep-14. I was in tears. My husband "wiped his hands" of it. I am not a quitter! I found 2 videos from THE SPA GUY and sent the videos along with pics of our gfi set up. My husband reluctantly switched the white wires you referred to and LOW & BEHOLD A SUPER HERO SPA GUY SAVED ME SO MUCH HEARTACHE and $ I dot have! Took every penny to get to this point. I can't thank you enough! You truly know your shiscabobs! Wish I had more green backs! Thank you for making your troubleshooting videos! If you sell filters and products for my artesian Tidalfit, you'll hear from me again!!!!! GOD BLESS YOU FOR BLESSING US!!!!

got it moved at 10pm, wired by 10:20, didn't work. I was pissed. Watched the first half of the vid, changed the faulty white wire wiring from the last electrician into the GFCI and it popped right on! Told my wife I'd get it going for the morning. This vid saved me. Thanks!!!!!!

Spa guy. Been working in electrical for 24 yrs. Don't do much spas. You helped me with gfci tripping. I has neutral on bus bar instead of breaker. Great video. Appreciate your time helping people out.

Thank you Spa guy I just googled how to hook up a GFCI breaker in a spa sub panel and found your video... Very helpful I new there was something I needed to understand when I saw two zinc screws and one silver along with the pig tail neutral wire attached to breaker now it makes since the breaker is already connected to the neutral with that pig tail so my neutral going to spa connects to breaker. I'm not a fortified electrician but thanks to Google I can play one on TV, lol I'm kidding I fully respect electricity and have spent numerous hours in the field with skilled electricians who have taught me through the years I know my humor scares people and rightly so but I'm 63 years of age and have worked on many different things so I'm well rounded as long as I ask questions I'm able to keep learning. When you let pride stop you from learning from people your missing out

Wow. Way to go. Mine had been wired the incorrect way for an entire year, and once it started tripping, I couldn’t figure out why - until I found this video. And it was installed by a professional electrician no less… Thanks for the video!

Thank you Spa Guy! My electrician had done it wrong, just like you said. I spent 90 minutes testing connections and unhooking wires at the tub, only to have this be the ticket. Took longer to watch the video than it did to fix. Can't wait to enjoy my new tub.

Thank you so much for the information, much appreciated. Wired just as you said most people mistake and it kept tripping instantly. Moved the neutral to the breaker and voila, worked like a charm and saved me a costly electrician visit. Thank you again for taking the time to help others.

I had an electrician miss this, a profesional spa repairman who returned my $90.00 service charge because he failed to get my "tub" up and running. Thank you Spa Guy for telling like it is ... I to will be ordering part from you.

Thanks, Spa Guy! My GFCI kept tripping and I could NOT figure it out. I was about to pull 85 feet of #8 out of conduit to find where it was grounding. Thank you so much!

Thank you for posting this video. My electrician did the exact wrong thing listed in the video by not having the white neutral wire plugged in directly to the GFCI breaker. Hot tub was tripping the breaker immediately after being turned on. I move the white wire to the breaker and everything now works!

This video saved me. I was about to sell my tub for cheap. $100 breaker and I am in business

Thank You!!! The neutral was still attached to the bus bar, causing the new GFCI breaker to trip immediately on the new spa. Like it had a direct short, but it was a 45 ohm load... Moved the neutral wire to the terminal on the new breaker, which was just waiting for it, and all is well. We will buy everything from you. Thank you again and we say mahalo nui loa to you.

This was a tremendous help bought a new hot tub couldn't get it to come on finally found this video and it's up and running thank you so much

Thanks for sharing! This Helped me troubleshoot a hot tub for a friend.

I never saw the neutral wire spot on the GFCI ! Thanks a million. I Wired it wrong and it's easy to do. Thanks to your video I was able to correct the problem. Thanks a million!

Thanks a million! Just purchased a used hot tub, and we saw it running, moved it to my house and the breaker wouldn’t set, my dad is an electrician, and he was at a loss. He’s never hooked up a hot tub before. Usually only works on major jobs. But thanks to this video, all we had to do was flip a wire and now our new addition is working like a champ!

Thank you so much!! Very helpful I've never seen a neutral set up like that before and we were stumped.

Thank you so much. Way overlooked the neutral wire on the gfci breaker.

Does a bonded neutral and ground bar make any difference to the GFCI breaker operation?

I did not expect to fix my problem from your video. Turns out the first 2 minutes was all I needed. Thanks!

OMG !! too funny , this was my issue. It's up and running now !! Thanks.

Great video, thanks. I was having this exact problem. We just bought a new spa-tub and I ran the service myself (#6 THHN in conduit). After hooking up, the breaker repeatedly tripped as soon as it was reset. I did some investigation, and the problem turned out to be a faulty (brand new) GFCI breaker. I replaced breaker and all is well!

I had this problem when installing shore power for my RV. This was great help!!

Great video. I have a 60 amp GF breaker with the white pigtail coming off of it but there are only 2 inputs on it to accept wiring. It does not have a third and it does not have one marked for a neutral wire in. Is there a way to use that breaker? It is a cutler hammer CH style 2 pole gf 60 amp breaker. Thank you.

If the gfci cannot be more than 15 feet from the tub, then would the cable to the gfci be protected by another breaker in the main panel? I have a new tub coming in a month and want to be on top of the situation. You have a very informative video saving many from headaches and other pains.

Great tutorial!!!! I am an electrician and have seen this more than once. Some people just need to read the directions. Keep it up Spa Guy!!

The info I have is that the ground and neutral should not be connected together in a sub panel. Is this correct?

Just tracked down an issue with my hottub. The original installer used a 60A breaker instead of a 50A breaker and I believe installed the incoming 3-wire connection wrong, based on your comments. I'll do some more research, but his mistakes has fried 2 control boards. The breaker should have been sized to 50A for a 48A max balboa board.

I recently purchased a new spa pack for my hot tub; but when I installed it the GFI trips. When testing the continuity between the hot and neutral I discovered the new spa pack has a dead short between the Red Hot and Neutral. This does not seam correct. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

The 30 amp 230v side of my hot tub does not have a neutral, the 20 amp circuit 120v does. Both breakers in the sub panel are GFCI. Question; will the GFCI breaker work without load neutral ?

Well I wish I found you about 2 days ago! the GFCI was wired incorrectly and has been driving me mad! good help is hard to find sometimes I guess! Thank you!!

The hot tub I am wiring has a red, blue and green #10's going to the 230v 30amp GFCI (no neutral) I have installed the GFCI breaker with it's curly white to the neutral bar. Another single pole 120v 20 amp GFCI breaker is also needed #12 blue and white from hot tub are going to this. (load neutral is possible in this case) Haven't electrified yet, not sure if the 30 amp is going to trip without load neutral.

This video worked like a charm, thanks so much!

I also have the Jacuzzi brand, will the GFI still work without the white wire hooked up? If not how would it be wired to work

hey Spa guy your videos are very helpful i have a question and how to hook up a 60amp non fuse quick connect ? thanks

Thank you so much this was my exact problem after moving my jacuzzi i wired it back wrong.

Thanks so much Spa Guy! Both enjoyed your video on Hot Tub Tripping GFI and was successful hooking up my new spa last year. The spa worked perfectly until a new mysterious development. My spa GFI feeds from a 100 amp circuit box in my garage. Recently I put an old refrigerator in my garage on a separate circuit breaker in that same 100 amp box. It seems when the refrigerator powers on, it trips the breaker in the spa’s GFI box (but doesn’t trip the circuit breaker for the refrigerator itself in the 100 amp box). Is that explainable???

Do you think it is the heater that is causing the issue for a breaker tripping even if the red and black 240V cables are not connected? I am not able to get the breaker to stay shut even when the neutrals are both connected as you showed and with the input powers disconnected on the load side of the breaker. There is 9VAC on the load side of the breaker to ground/neutral when the breaker is open. The hot tub has been working for awhile so it is not a wiring issue. I'm leaning towards replacing the breaker. I'll let you know what the problem was whenever I figure it out.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Saved me a ton of frustrations and curse words!

THANK YOU SO MUCH, we had fresh install and a completely a disappointed family. Managed to cancel my spa service call after this one (and fix the wiring issue), thank you!

Great video but I have a question. I have a brand new Viking spa it is a double pump with ozonator. I am having a problem with the spa randomly flipping my gfci breaker. It will run for a while then just shut off. The thing is that it only does this in warm weather. In cold weather it will not act up. I checked my wiring and all is as you show. So what do you think is happening. It's hooked up to a 50amp gfci. Also it will trip during these conditions with or with out the jets on full. So even when it's just circulating it will do this when it's warm outside.

Can I just use the GFCI breaker in my main box and run it to the hot tub? No sub box. I just had an electrician over and he said that would be preferred. I'm skeptical. I've wired breakers before but not GFCI with that little pig tail.

Hello there Mr. Spa Guy. We just bought a swim spa and I really appreciate your videos. I would like to do this disconnect myself but on my packet from the dealer it says that I need a licensed electrician to do it. Is this true? I live in Nevada

Thank you for your video, the box I bough came with a 60Amsps breaker; can I use that one?

I had exactly this problem. Thank you ! Very much appreciated.

Thank you very much for this video. It helped me a lot. I did the same common mistake, meaning that the Neutral from the tech cable was connected to the panel Neutral. As soon as I corrected wiring, it started working. Thank you again for the helpful clip.

If the breaker sets but doesn't trip when the test button is pressed does that indicate it needs replacing? I have no power to my spa that has ran for years with no issue.

Thank you. What a huge save this video was for me.

This is 100% what I just did!!! ThNk you x100000 for your help

Thank you so much this was my exact problem after moving my hot tub

Spa Guy, I installed a walk in tub for my Mother about a year ago. As recommended its on a single pole 30 amp GFCI breaker. Recently this GFCI breaker started tripping for no reason. I can get it to trip after about 10 minutes of the tub PUMP motor running. But sometimes it will also trip when the tub is not even in use. It's baffling me. Ive triple checked my wiring and alls good. I suppose I may just have a defective GFCI breaker but I would like to be sure before installing another one.

I want to replace a double pole breaker for my pool equipment, the pumps run on the split phase 2x120vac, there is no neutral wire going to the existing breaker although timers and so on must run on 1x120 cycling back to neutral. So I am not sure yet how to hook up the gfci...

I'm wiring a 240V/50A Jucuzzi hot tub which requires 3 conductors; one of these conductors is ground. No neutral is run to the tub. That said, I'll have a red, black, and green running to the hot tub from the spa GFCI disconnect panel. How would the GFCI panel be wired.

Hello, I have been tried moving the neutral like you said because it was wired wrong but it still trips. Is it an issue that it is too far away from the jacuzzi? Could a long run be the cause of it tripping?

#1 The wiring SHOWN in the video is correct, tie in your load side cable in that manner #2 If your tub requires a neutral, you must run a neutral in the feeder cable as well as as from the loadside of the GFI, not rebond the neutral and carry it's current on the ground as described in the video. (installing that little bar) #3 If your tub does not require a neutral, you simply tie the while pigtail wire from the breaker to the neutral bus. Do not install the neutral bonding bar. The GFI breaker will function without a neutral in either the feed or load side cable. (As long as the load does not require a neutral.) #4 If disconnecting your ground causes your GFI to trip, you have other wiring issues. Most likely an issue with the neutral not being properly connected. It could cause it not to trip however; due to improper bonding of non current carrying tub components. #5 GFI devices do not rely on a ground reference to function. This is why we retrofit homes without a ground wire in the cabling using them. They simply measure the current leaving and returning to the device, and ensure they do not differ from one another by more than a small amount (usually 5mA), which would indicate a leak to ground. Similar to placing a clamp-on ammeter around a non-metallic sheathed cable, clamped around all wires at the same time. The ammeter should read zero, no matter how much current is being drawn through the cable, unless some current is leaking to ground somewhere. No more complicated than that. #6 I am in Canada and our codes may differ a little; but I highly doubt you re-bond your neutral in a hot tub kit. #7 I happen to be an electrician, as well as an electrical engineer but this doesn't mean I'm right, please correct me if I am not, I'm always looking to learn something new #8 Great vid, thanks!

Used you tip and we are hot tub in, thank you from Winnipeg Canada, I’ll be buying some product from you in the future

How do you wire a hot tub that only has 3 wires, L1 & L2 and a ground wire and no neutral. No neutral wire that you can wire to the neutral lug on the Eaton 60 amp GFI breaker?

Hi Spa Guy I need two breaker for my hot tube which is for seven person, and it has jet, one for the heat, and one for the jet?

Maybe my dilemma can be figure it out. We installed a hot tub but oddly enough when our air conditioner to the house kicks on it trips the hot tub breaker.

thanks for the info had a new spa and was tripping beaker when you show that the neutral wire that goes to the tub needs to be on the breaker my breaker didnt look like there was a sopt for the nutral once i took the breaker off i saw where it went but hard to see . THANKS !!! that was great help

Saved my life! Thanks buddy.

How does the hot tub work

What do you do if the GFCI breaker does not have a spot for the white neutral wire? It has the pigtail but no second spot to put the neutral.

Good info for those that don't know but the way you have the box wired would not pass code in my area because the ground is not insulated which it should be in and around wet conditions. Wire should be THWN OR THWN-2

Good stuff. Stupid me put the neutral to the bar not to the breaker. Now its up an running, thank you.

My neutral was not on the correct spot. Thanks for helping me realize to connect it to breaker. Fixed my problem. It's funny though because how did the last hot tub run that was removed 1 day prior? Lol

My new Caldera will have 6 wires, instead of 4 wires. Did you make a video for an 6-wire configuration? 🙏

Help! Bought a Sundance Altimar one month ago. This is a 3 wire tub. No neutral run to the hot tub but neutral from main panel and neutral from 50 amp breaker are hooked up like you describe to the neutral bar in the gfi box. My problem...tub works great but 3-4 times a week it trips the gfi. It always happens at night apparently during an auto cycle. Breaker never fails to reset and it runs again for another 1-3 days without problems. I manually load up the tub by turning everything on, pumps, bubbler, heater, lights, everything and can’t get breaker to trip! Then at night the spa gremlin appears and trips my breaker! Breaker is brand new 50 amp square-D gfi labeled for hot tubs. The dealer that sold it said it’s not throwing any codes, they can’t duplicate, and they insist it’s not the hot tub. Help please. I need a Superhero to get my Gremlin! Thanks

I have it wired the way you said ground wires together on the ground bus and neutral into the breaker. It is on a used hot tub we got for free. Any other ideas?

Can somebody plz answer this: My hottub gfi breaker keeps tripping. I completely unplug red and black (hot) wire IN the hot tub, so i check gfi circuit breaker, it still trips. So is it the gfi circuit breaker broken or bad wire to the hot tub?

Your hand was in the way.Can you show on a 3 wire hook-up?

Great video by the way. So, I've had my tub for about a year & one night my whole house lost power. Turns out my tub breaker kept tripping the main. I noticed a connection on on of the relays was burnt looking so I stripped it back & put a new connection on it. No Joy. I reset the GFI & could see the arc come off that relay from my basement window. Doh! Do you think my board is bad or should I still assess the heater like you suggested in this video?

What if the spa pack uses 3 wires only ( 2 hot , 1 ground , no neutral wire)???

I tried to branch off a 120V plug from a 240V receptacle that is protected by a 240V GFCI (by just sing one side of the 240V line) and discovered that you cannot do it. When you use the 120V outlet for something, it trips the 240V GFCI breaker.

Good stuff. Thanks spa guy

I have a new Jacuzzi that is tripping the breaker every time. I have the GFCI wired as you describe here however there is not place to use the white wire on the Jacuzzi.. so what do you do with the white wire on the Jacuzzi side? I did read the other posts but do not see where anyone mentioned what they actually did with the white on the Jacuzzi side.

Thank you!

Spa Guy DO YOU HAVE TUTORIAL VIDEO ON HOW TO WIRED THE SWIMMING POOL WITH GFCI???

I change my capasitor still lowbspeed dont work

Putting the neutral to the bus bar rather than the GFCI was exactly what I did! It was on the very bottom of the GFCI and I had to pull it out to see it.

Thanks for the info

Could you tell me why only when I plug my jacuzzi into a GFI plug it trips the GFI? So the jacuzzi cord has a GFI breaker built in. If I plug it into another regular outlet it runs fine. Only when I plug it into another GFI outlet it trips the GFI I plug it into. Should you not plug two GFI outlets together?

Thank you for this video and info! Will definitly be buying any parts for my tub I can from you!

The electrician has installed the GFI breaker incorrectly. Problem now solved! Thank-you!

The statement about using the grounding lug bar into the neutral buss bar (6:20) to ground the box is wrong. Bonding the neutral to the ground bus bar directly together is prohibited by code for remote sub panels from the main panel. The enclosure is grounded through the dedicated ground wire that comes from the main panel. By connecting the neutral and ground bus bars together at the sub panel, there is no way to isolate how the neutral current is carried back to the main panel. When separated, neutral currents will ONLY flow through the neutral wire. Any stray currents on the ground wire greater than 6mA (i think) should trip the GFCI. Also a short circuit to ground would be the other reason ground flows through the ground conductor that would cause the breaker to trip.

Corrected the breaker neutral to spa neutral, and its functional. THANK YOU! Also, Midwest provides instructions but are inclusive in their diagrams. Perhaps you should take over that department :-) Eric.

Thanks 🙏 I appreciate it 👍

Hello Spa Guy my name is Frank and I would like to know if you can refer me to an electrician in the area of Richton Park, IL. I been looking but to no help have I found anyone, thank you

Informative information. However with all electrical presentations please use a pointer! Keep hands out of the box and this also will allow better viewing of the components!

What if my electrician installed a gfci without a screw for the neutral? He says it's not needed and the manufacturer don't make these anymore(with 3 load screws). Obviously my spa doesn't work out otherwise i wouldn't be here.

Yes! Thank you! I am not an electrician and have never seen this. I just wired it up like Everything else. I should have read the directions better!

Well the spa guy strikes again! my electrician installed a new service to a used hot tub i purchased an it kept tripping the gfi breaker. i was flustrated because i had it checked before i bought it.long story short gfi pigtail was wired to the neutral not to a ground like the spa guy video instructs! all good now ant the electrician knows how to do the next one! win! win!

I just wired up a second hand tub that worked at last location but won’t work at my house. The breaker does not trip BUT once I connect to the tub my red- neutral(white) reads 257. Black to neutral also reads 257. OUTSIDE the tub red to neutral reads 120 (correct obviously) and black to neutral also reads 120. What is going on here? Spa guy and electrician scratching their heads…

NOTE- after NEC 2008 the neutral must NEVER be bonded to gnd or the box in a sub panel, the old installs were grandfathered but anything AFTER 2008 you MUST have 4 wire pwr to a sub panel, and no bonding there, only in main panel. sadly its true that elects do mess this up alot- But- if you follow current code, the tub mfgr instructions, this wont happen, its not some hot tub special secret garbage, its just proper installation. isolated grounding for this equipment is fully covered in code whether its tubs, pools or saunas and has been around since gfci breaker was put in use. A common problem I find in sub panels is the mixing of gnds and neutrals or a bonding jumper from the neutral bus to ground in the sub panel. super cheap electricians usually are for a reason, keeping up with training as well as the nec is a must, its really sad that Spa guy has to present this info because of crappy electricians and somebody's brother in laws friends cousin whos an ' electrician" when hes not selling fertilizer at the coop.--

My Jacuzzi 470 (240V) doesn't have a connection for White/common wire. It only has Red, Black and Ground. So, it could be a bit alarming if you opened up the panel and didn't see the White wire connected to anything on the hot tub side. But if you look in the installation instructions its actually correct.

Just on the stupid people comment, i would come work for you FREE...Great videos

I just hooked my cal spa up just like you say and it wont come on.

the neutral wire GOING to the hot-tub, get that attached to the middle terminal on the GFCI - boom - Jacuzzi time folks!

Never use an Eaton BR GFCI breaker for motor loads. Use Siemens QF when possible.

Thank you that was problem also