I have a 2003 Sundance Hot Tub with a SBSG 240 volt 50 amp disconnect (model LC220-D). After refilling, the GFCI keeps tripping. Nothing on the tub ever powers up. The refill was uneventful, no water splashed on any electronics. I suspect the GFCI in the disconnect is bad. Any suggestions on things I should investigate, or where I can purchase a new GFCI for this disconnect?

You can unhook the heater and see if the GFI stays reset.

use this advice at your own risk

Pete
http://www.makesmeshutter.com
http://www.floridahotspring.com

Pete:

Unhooked the heater, GFCI still trips. Next I unhook the load side inside the disconnect and the GFCI still trips. Does this mean the GFCI is bad? Any other way to test? Where can I get a new one GFCI?

If you unhooked all the load wires (the wires to the spa) from the breaker and it still trips it should be bad. Where to get one depends on what brand you have. Usually Lowe's or The Home Depot has 50 amp GFI breakers.

Good Luck

Pete
http://www.makesmeshutter.com
http://www.floridahotspring.com

Pete:

I took the GFCI out of the disconnect. It's a Leviton 20 amp 125v dead face unit. I found one place online with a similar GFCI:

http://www.poolsupplyworld.com/spagfci/gfcis-5-10-0032/?cmpid=GBE30638


It's $70 plus shipping. Seems overpriced. Four wires come off the contactor and feed the GFCI.

Before I spend money for a high priced interrupter, I thought about hard wiring the tub to pull disconnect block. If the tub activates, I'll know for sure it's the GFCI. I'll keep it connected just long enough to see if it works. Any thoughts?

There must be some 110 volt loads in the spa. The link you included shows a 220 volt GFI - you need to make sure which one you have.

Pete

Pete:

The disconnect is 240v 50amp disconnect. The GFCI inside is a 120v ground fault detector. I called SBSG and an engineer said its uncommon for the GFCI in these units to go bad, not impossible, but unlikely. He said they had problems with tripping when contacts become loose, particularly as wires become compressed as the cover plate was attached. So I loosely reconnected the GFCI back into the disconnect, but NOT inside the box screwed down. The hot tub instantly activated. Next I reassembled the GFCI back into the box, screwed it down and it instantly tripped out. After several rearrangements of the #6wire, I got the connection needed and the problems was solved. Hope this helps anyone else with the mysterious trip-out. Thanks for your assistance.

Glad you got it going!
I'm still confused about the disconnect. Does it have a 50 amp BREAKER in it or is it a straight pull out disconnect with that 110V GFI in it? Or, are you possibly confusing a disconnect box with a spa control box? A disconnect is a sub-panel w/ a breaker or a pull out disconnect box, both mounted outside the spa.

Thanks for any info

Pete:

Disconnect has a straight pull, a gfci, and a contactor. Its a subpanel between and house the spa.http://www.sbsg-equipment.com/sbsg/LC_installation1-4.pdfThanks again for your feedback.