Seems to be a lot of posts on here regarding tripping breakers, but I did not find any issues identical to mine so I'll ask away...


I have a Marquis Spa. I think it is the SS500 (Marquis Sport Spa), but I'm not exactly sure. The spa is 7.5 years old. Has worked well, I replaced the high speed pump a year ago but otherwise the rest is original. I have a standard 50A breaker inside the house and a GFCI 50A outside the house near the hot tub. 220.

Last week I went out to the tub after heavy rain and found the breaker had tripped. I figured it was a fluke or maybe a spider had shorted itself between a couple wires in the control box or breaker box...I reset the breaker, it all worked fine. Happened again this weekend but this time the breaker blows every time, so something is likely wrong. It did rain again, but I'm not sure it is related.

I have unplugged all components from the control box (both bumps, LED, & ozone) and the breaker still trips.
I removed the main bus fuse from the circuit board and as expected the GFCI does not trip. (so I reinstalled)
I disconnected one of the wires that goes from the control circuit board to the heater and the breaker will stay on and the tub powers up. So I then tried plugging the other components back in. Everything worked fine except for the 2 speed pump.
When I power on the hot tub (heater disconnected, I think) the pump comes on low, runs for 5-10 seconds and then the GFCI trips. I'm not sure if the pump is attempting to switch to high or if the circuit board is turning on something else after 5 seconds that causes the breaker to trip.
I can unplug Pump1 and run Pump2 w/o issues (w/o heater).

The circuit board is clean. No debris, cob webs, or black marks that would indicate a spark. Doesn't smell like anything is fried.

It looks like the heater is attached/integrated to the control box on the Marquis spa. Might be removeable, but seems like it was at least installed as a unit.

Is this typical behavior for a heater that has gone bad or should I be looking for any other causes?
Does a bad GFCI circuit breaker behave in this way or would it either work or not? (as opposed to being sensitive to a certain current draw)

Naturally, if there is something I can replace I'd rather do so than paying for the service, but I'll pay for service if it is too intrusive or the troubleshooting is extensive.

Thanks for any tips,
-todd

I was told by Marquis and my local shop that both wires connected to the heater are hot. I had assumed the red one was hot and the other was ground. But, it turns out in a 220 tub there are two sides to the heater and one side is always on... (or something like that)

Anyway, I disconnected both wires and now the tub works fine and does not blow the breaker. So I have been told that this means I have a bad heater. Part has been ordered.

Figured I'd post an update for anyone else who may find this thread in the future.