As part of a landscaping project, I moved my hot tub from one end of the yard to another. I used that as an opportunity to put in a sub-panel at the new end and to wire the tub in directly.
So, I have a subpanel with a 20 AMP GFCI breaker in it, running to a switch, then with three wires (hot/neutral/ground) in conduit under the ground, and up into the tub.
Hooked everything up, flipped the switch, and the breaker tripped. Checked everything, pulled the GFCI neutral sense wire, and the tub started, and I’ve left it connected this way to heat up.
It’s been really cold and wet around here, and my hope is that after everything is hot for a week ago, the leakage current will go away and I can re-hook the neutral sense up again.
Does that seem like a reasonable plan? I’ve pulled all the boxes apart, and everything looks fine.
Replies
What do you mean by "neutral sense wire"? If this is a 120V breaker in a standard panel there are two terminals and a neutral wire. The neutral wire is connected to the neutral bus, and the hot and neutral from the cable is connected to the two terminals on the breaker. The neutral from the cable should not be connected to any other neutral.
A 240V breaker is similar except that there are three terminals on the breaker -- two hots and a neutral.
happy?
Sorry I wasn't clearer.
On the cable to the spa:
* Neutral is connected to the neutral bus (not bonded to ground because it's a subpanel)* Ground is connected to the ground bus* Hot is connected to the breaker
Additionally, the white neutral wire from the GFCI breaker is connected to the neutral bus.
The breaker is 120V.
I think you have defined your problem: "Neutral is connected to the neutral bus (not bonded to ground because it's a subpanel)
* Ground is connected to the ground bus
* Hot is connected to the breaker"The white wire that is part of the GFI gets connected to the neutral bus, that the neutral at the subpanel is not directly connected to the ground isn't an issue. The hot going to the tub gets connected to the GFI.The neutral from the tub gets connected to the GFI at a terminal typically underneath the hot terminal.The ground wire from the tub gets connected to the ground bar within the subpanel. Which is connected to the ground from the main panel and the subpanel's enclosure.
Methinks you have nailed the problem again.
That's how I read the description of existing connections also.
The neutral connection on a GFCI breaker has baffled more than one person.
Jim
Never underestimate the value of a sharp pencil or good light.
Thanks, all. You are, of course, correct.
After I posted, I was sitting in bed last night and I realized that it was pretty hard for the GFCI to work if it couldn't measure the neutral current, which it obviously couldn't. I almost got up at 3AM to fix it, but decided to wait until this morning.
There's something about making your mistake public that makes it easier to figure out.
That is a common mistake. Seen it a few times. Your certainly not the first to make it and likely you won't be the last. So getting it on the forum may save someone trouble in the future. More than once I have seen people who called themselves electrician who hooked them up wrong. Once saw a situation where, faced with the piece of coiled white wire hanging off the GFI breaker, he just cut it off flush and slapped a piece of tape over the nub. Cost him a reinspection fee and the cost of two new GFI breakers.Glad it worked out for you.For really scary situations in playing with circuit breakers you have to find a live delta breaker. There are still a few out there.Let's be careful out there.