How to wire a GFCI diagram, 3 & 4 wire set up

NewEnglandSpaGuy · **Joined:** Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:55 pm **Posts:** 31

I would upgrade your wire first thing 14g is very thin to run a hot tub on. Yeah I think we all feel your pain on the high price of copper. However if you do a quick search on google for discount wire, I am sure you will find a better price then your local home depot or lowes prices.

The diagram above is pritty simple, I suggest to anyone who can not make sence of it to contact a professional to do it for you cause you can cause major harm to your home, tub, and yourself if you do not know what to do.

I know how everyone does not want to spend money if they dont have to but its well worth it when it comes to electricity in your home and you.

To the guy using a grounding rod, OMFG!! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? you need to go through your whole wiring system and check everything, cause the grounding rod is not fixing the problum but only putting a small bandaid over a deep cut! that is a very dangerous situation you have there and I would not use the tub untill you fix the problum, is this a NEW issue? or has it always been there? I would check your wiring from breakers to GFCI to Tub control box. EVERYTHING. and look for anything obvious, If you can not find the problum hire a pro to come in and search it out cause you are just sending the current to the ground outside of your tub and your could possibly get electrocuted stepping out of your tub and touching the ground..

kbnorth · **Joined:** Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:45 pm **Posts:** 2

I am reconnecting a spa after moving to a different house. I originally wired the spa to the gfci panel I removed from the old house. The breaker "popped" and was ruined. I purchased a new Square D panel/breaker unit. I wire the new unit exactly as your diagram shows but I was getting very strange voltage readings. "Upstream" of the breaker I had normal readings but "downstream" of the breaker I read 220 volts between one pole and the common but between the other pole and the common I read 20 volts. Across the two poles I read 240 volts. Have you ever seen this before? Where did I go wrong?

Goofball · **Joined:** Sat Jan 24, 2009 4:29 pm **Posts:** 2

kbnorth wrote:

I am reconnecting a spa after moving to a different house. I originally wired the spa to the gfci panel I removed from the old house. The breaker "popped" and was ruined. I purchased a new Square D panel/breaker unit. I wire the new unit exactly as your diagram shows but I was getting very strange voltage readings. "Upstream" of the breaker I had normal readings but "downstream" of the breaker I read 220 volts between one pole and the common but between the other pole and the common I read 20 volts. Across the two poles I read 240 volts. Have you ever seen this before? Where did I go wrong?

With a voltmeter at the house breaker panel, the GFCI panel and the tub you should get:

BLACK to RED: ~230V
BLACK or RED to WHITE: ~115V
BLACK or RED to GROUND: ~115V

You should never get 230V to common (WHITE). You have something wired wrong or possibly a short somewhere in your Square D sub panel. Make sure that you didn't accidentally swap or double up a wire in bottom of the breaker. There are 3 positions as noted in the top right of the diagram in the first post of this thread.

If you aren't able to quickly find and repair the problem with simple diagnostics and double checking your previous work stop what you are doing and hire a qualified electrician to sort it out. It isn't worth burning your house down or electrocuting yourself to death to save a few $.

kbnorth · **Joined:** Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:45 pm **Posts:** 2

Goofball wrote:

With a voltmeter at the house breaker panel, the GFCI panel and the tub you should get:

BLACK to RED: ~230V
BLACK or RED to WHITE: ~115V
BLACK or RED to GROUND: ~115V

You should never get 230V to common (WHITE). You have something wired wrong or possibly a short somewhere in your Square D sub panel. Make sure that you didn't accidentally swap or double up a wire in bottom of the breaker. There are 3 positions as noted in the top right of the diagram in the first post of this thread.

If you aren't able to quickly find and repair the problem with simple diagnostics and double checking your previous work stop what you are doing and hire a qualified electrician to sort it out. It isn't worth burning your house down or electrocuting yourself to death to save a few $.

I agree. I like my house. All of the readings I took were at the GFCI breaker. Here is the really weird part. I get these readings only when the spa is connected. When the spa is not connected the readings are normal. Does that change the approach any?

Cworthy · **Joined:** Tue Apr 21, 2009 9:48 pm **Posts:** 2

Hi, folks!

The old tub I plan to install has a heater which indicates 48 amps on the label. The pump indicates 50 amps. Can both of these run through the same GFCI or will I need two?

Also, is it good to run 6/3 through conduit, or should it be 3 separate wires?

Many thanks, and have a great weekend!

paddy coldtub · **Joined:** Tue May 05, 2009 1:53 pm **Posts:** 3

hi all-
im hoping to find a genius among you-
i bought a beachcomber hot tub direct from canada -problem im having is its a 4 wire 240v(2x 110 hot wires) and here in ireland its 3 wire 230 v 50hz - iv asked a couple of electricians but there not 100% sure and so obviously dont want to take a chance on it for safety reasons-
is there anything we can do

spaman1 · **Joined:** Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:42 pm **Posts:** 3

jeffz wrote:

There seems to be quite a bit of confusion on how to wire a GFCI. Here is a diagram for 3 and 4 wire connections, I hope it will help.

I know this is an old post so, I hope you are still here... I just installed my hot tub & wired it exactly like your diagram.. It seems no matter how I wire it, the test button on the GFI won't trip. I was given the 50 a GFI & it looks new... Could it be bad ?? It is a seimens brand.. Any way to test it with volt meter to know if it's bad ??

Thanks

Peteyboy · **Joined:** Sat Nov 15, 2008 4:11 pm **Posts:** 418

The GFI should trip if you have the panel wired correctly. Hot to Hot 2 legs and Neutral to neutral. If this is correct you have a bad breaker.
Some breakers only trip halfway when you push the test button.

spaman1 · **Joined:** Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:42 pm **Posts:** 3

Peteyboy wrote:

The GFI should trip if you have the panel wired correctly. Hot to Hot 2 legs and Neutral to neutral. If this is correct you have a bad breaker.
Some breakers only trip halfway when you push the test button.

Thanks.. that's what I'am thinking bad breaker.. It is wired just like the diagram at the start of this thread... Looks like I'am going to buy a new breaker... As a new spa owner.... I'am glad I found this forum

spaman1 · **Joined:** Thu Jul 23, 2009 1:42 pm **Posts:** 3

update.....Replaced breaker..... GFI now works

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How to wire a GFCI diagram, 3 & 4 wire set up

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