A call came into the office stating that a customer’s Jacuzzi hot tub was tripping as soon as they turned their power on at the rotary isolation switch. So, we may have a poorly hot tub in need of a visit from one of our engineers.
When on site one of the first things we need to determine is whether the Jacuzzi hot tub is tripping the MCB or the RCD at the consumer unit. On this occasion the customer showed me the ‘breaker’ which was going down, this was the RCD. With this in mind I am now expecting something causing an insulation fault which leads to the trip of the RCD.
After removing the cabinet off the Jacuzzi hot tub, the first area to hone in on is the control box. Once the cover had been removed from the control box, we can start to gain a bigger picture of what is going on in the Jacuzzi hot tub. A quick inspection of the PCB told me that there is nothing to see here… however as I have seen hundreds if not thousands of hot tubs in my time, I know that you shouldn’t see corrosion perforating up through the top of the heating element in the heater tube. So, let’s have a closer look at that! A quick way to see if I can get the hot tub up and running is to disconnect the heater from the PCB and turn the hot tub back on at the rotary isolation switch. Shock! The hot tub sprung into life and ran its priming cycle… no tripping?! Brilliant. One thing needed to listen out for was the relay for the heater engaging to ensure that it would energize if the power was directed toward it.
Now we can use every function on the hot tub with out the heater connected, we can safely assume that there is an insulation fault on the heater causing the Jacuzzi hot tub to trip at the consumer unit. So, drain down into my reservoir get started fitting the new heater. One thing I always change when replacing a heater is the heater seals. As these seem to live a hard life and are usual culprits for degrading and springing a leak. Once fitted I then pump the water back in from the reservoir and have the Jacuzzi hot tub back up and running. A good look at the heater unions to ensure we have an appropriate seal, test the amperage draw of the new heater to ensure its working correctly and button up the hot tub. This repair was carried out in Abbots Bromley, Staffordshire.
