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Three or four years ago, I was hired to do the painting, staining, and wallpaper on a major bedroom/bathroom remodel. Since then, that customer has had me do a lot of stuff for him. Awhile back, his spa tub (installed during that remodel) stopped working. He called George,the guy he bought if from. George says that the motor might be burned out and the panal at the end of the tub will have to come off to check it. George said he’d send out the guy that installed the tub. Time goes by and no one’s been out, so the customer calls me and tells me all of the above and that he wants me to remove the end panel.
The end of the tub had been finished without regard to the need for future access and before the tile and thick carpeting. A half hour later I’ve got all the trim and the panel off, undamaged. The customer and I are looking at the motor (I guess we we’re waiting for it to speak up and explain the problem!) It hits me that maybe there is no power to the (now visible) outlet the motor is plugged into. I check it. Sure enough it is dead. We check the circuit breaker. It is on. I take the cover off and check that there is power after the breaker. There is. Back to the outlet and pull it from its box to see if those wires are live. Nope.
Hmmm. Wire is live in the main box, dead in the outlet. This was a new circuit put in for the tub. So I figure the problem is in the crawl space (an animal chewed the wires?). Down I go. I trace the wire the full length of the ranch. Just before the end it runs up into a wall and back down.
OK. The problem is in the outlet box in that wall. Up I go. There are two outlets, so I open them both and pull them out. I check the wires for power. Sure enough, the top wires on the second outlet are dead. DUH!!! It is a GFCI outlet!!! I’m laughing while I put it back together. I put the panel on the end of the tub and put all of the trim back (with more of an eye for need for future access). All done.
Then I remember that I didn’t plug the motor back into the outlet.
Rich Beckman
Replies
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Nah....it should take at least two or three times before ya learn anything! Jeff
*Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of...Rich Beckman
*You mean that this isn't the way we are SUPPOSED to do things?If I had a nickle for everytime I did something like that, I could buy a .....a new....um....well probably at least a gallon of milk. (incidentally, that is a lot of nickles).Pete
*Rich - Don't worry, once it's working the motor will trip out the GFCI again and you'll be called for another visit (motors should not be on GFCI circuits).How come you get to have so much fun?Jeff
*Great story Rich, especially the ending. There's something I don't like about running multiple outlets of one gfi, and that's part of it. I prefer a gfi breaker at the panel, or a gfi at every location. I've wasted my share of time looking for those buggers.
*You mean im not the only one things like that happen to.
*Great story. All this time I thought it was CRS!
*Rich, right after I read your post I painted my basement floor with a water based epoxy. No, I didn't paint myself in a corner. I left the lid to the can and the cordless phone on a desk in the middle of the floor.A basketball works as a temporary lid and my wife has to wait another two hours to wonder around and talk on the phone.Is this a epidemic you have unleashed?
*I was moving some paint cans and just spilled a quart of white acrylic enamel all over my garage floor. I think its catching :)
*FWIW - We specify a GFCI switch (not an outlet) mounted in an easily accessible location (Like on the wall next to the regular GFCI outlet). Motors on whirlpool tubs are required to be protected (per our electrician) and on their own dedicated circuit. I don't know if this arrangement is any better or worse than just installing a GFCI breaker but it certainly saves about 2/3rds in material costs.Only made that hidden GFCI outlet mistake once. It is a pain to take everything apart.
*Hey,guys!! Thanks. I learned something from all this. About to wire up a new house for a future hot tub. Now I know what NOT to do. I had a dose of doing it twice yesterday when I put an aluminum brick mould together without the sealing foam at the mitre. Yeah,I had to take it all apart to put it in. Maybe it's being spread by the same mosquitoes that have brought the West Nile Virus to GA.Don
*You know that story is really funny to me and I'll tell you why. Often times when wiring tub circuits in new houses, I have wondered how many people go through what you have described. Around here its standard procedure for these GFI's to be placed in the master bedroom closet. The GFI for the recessed light over the tub or shower is usualy put there as well. I did have one lady friend tell me that her light over her tub was out. I'm really glad that I didn't go to fix it because when it was all said and done it turns out that the electrician had caught the shower light off of the GFI for the attached garage. It would have been a very long time before I would have looked in the garage for the culprit. Probably after sawzalling apart a wall or two.
*Rich,Just like those GFIs you should press the "TEST" button on the back of your head every once and a while.
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Three or four years ago, I was hired to do the painting, staining, and wallpaper on a major bedroom/bathroom remodel. Since then, that customer has had me do a lot of stuff for him. Awhile back, his spa tub (installed during that remodel) stopped working. He called George,the guy he bought if from. George says that the motor might be burned out and the panal at the end of the tub will have to come off to check it. George said he'd send out the guy that installed the tub. Time goes by and no one's been out, so the customer calls me and tells me all of the above and that he wants me to remove the end panel.
The end of the tub had been finished without regard to the need for future access and before the tile and thick carpeting. A half hour later I've got all the trim and the panel off, undamaged. The customer and I are looking at the motor (I guess we we're waiting for it to speak up and explain the problem!) It hits me that maybe there is no power to the (now visible) outlet the motor is plugged into. I check it. Sure enough it is dead. We check the circuit breaker. It is on. I take the cover off and check that there is power after the breaker. There is. Back to the outlet and pull it from its box to see if those wires are live. Nope.
Hmmm. Wire is live in the main box, dead in the outlet. This was a new circuit put in for the tub. So I figure the problem is in the crawl space (an animal chewed the wires?). Down I go. I trace the wire the full length of the ranch. Just before the end it runs up into a wall and back down.
OK. The problem is in the outlet box in that wall. Up I go. There are two outlets, so I open them both and pull them out. I check the wires for power. Sure enough, the top wires on the second outlet are dead. DUH!!! It is a GFCI outlet!!! I'm laughing while I put it back together. I put the panel on the end of the tub and put all of the trim back (with more of an eye for need for future access). All done.
Then I remember that I didn't plug the motor back into the outlet.
Rich Beckman