I have some electrical hook up questions. I am working on my son's spa that was left at his house when he purchased it. The spa is not on a GFI breaker. The Spa is 220 volts. I know we need to add a GFI breaker to the hookup for protection. Below is a diagram of the tub, deck and house. This is an older house, 3 wire service. The main panel is an older panel There is an electrical disconnect box at the spot marked X. This box has a pull disconnect along with fuses. This box is on the house. The deck is elevated and the steps are on the opposite side of the hot tub. The deck is about 4" high on the side where the hot tub is. The main panel is an older one and I can not find any GFI breakers for it. I was wondering if we could leave the current, non-GFI breaker for the spa in the main panel and add a GFI breaker in an enclosure into the wiring. I did find the following post on the site here.

“I have found that installations with seperate devices ...standard breaker in the house load center panel and another GFCI interrupter with manual disconnect mounted near the spa (not closer than 5"...consult your local code) cause far less nuisance trippings. ....yes, it's more money.”

I was wanting to verify that is OK. Are there any issues with amp ratings when doing this. Say we have a 60 amp breaker in the main panel, can we have a 50 amp GFI breaker in the added panel, or do they need to be the same rating.

Would a separate panel with a GFI breaker in it also pass also as the disconnect device, or does the wiring have to have a pull type disconnect in it?

Next question, the current disconnect is on the side of the house (at the spot marked X) and it is lower than where the tub is. I am also wondering if the current disconnect meets the NEC code requirements. It is within line of site of the hot tub, you can see it, but it is on a different level than the tub and would require someone getting off of the deck and walking around the deck to the disconnect. If that is not good, one option would be put the GFI panel where the disconnect is now and move the current disconnect onto the house where you can get to it while you are on the deck, perhaps spot N, since it has to be at least 5' away from the tub. (opposite side of the french door, left of where the toliet is sitting) Hmmm, if some form of disconnect is needed on the deck level, and the disconnect could be the GFI panel, perhaps I could leave the current disconnect in it's spot and add the GFI panel on the deck level. What would be the best option?

Also attached is a pic of the house and deck with the spa on it.


Oh, an in the pic, that was taken when we were remodling, The toliet has been reinstalled in the house, LOL. Allthough there are times I wish I had one on a deck, along with an outside shower.



.....................................................Main Panel
………………….………………………… ---------------------------------
………………………………………………|
………..……………………………………|
………………………….………………….|
…………………………………………..X|
……………………………………………..|
……………………………………………..|
………………………………………………|
…………….-------------------------------
…………….|………………………………….. |
…………….|……------------------……....|
…………….|…..|…………………….|……..|
…………….|…..|……HOT….…….|……..|
…………….|…..|……TUB…….….|……..|
…………….|…..|…………………….|……..|
…………….|…..------------------………..|
…..……….|…………………………………..---|
…..……….|……………………………………….|
…..……….|……………………………………….| French Door
…..……….|……………………………………….|
…..……….|…………………………………..---|
…..……….|………………………………….. |
…..……….|………………………………….. |
…..……….|………………………………….N|
…..……….|………………………………….. |

Well you've basically posted more information (and asked more questions) than necessary,
but if you install one of these

http://spapartsnet.com/Electrical-Parts ... 2_0_1.html
where your present disconnect is, you'll be fine.