circuit breaker wont set

[splendid1319]

I went to make sure my hot tub was hot before my husband came home and noticed that it didn't have power.  I checked the circuit breaker and tried to reset it but it wont set.  I know nothing about electricity except that it is powerful and i cant see it.  
Is it possible that something shorted out in the hot tub motor that is preventing me from getting the circuit breaker to stay on???  
I NEED MY HOT TUB FOR THE WINTER!!!!
Do I call an electrician or the Hot Tub Guy?

[J._McD]

First things first, call the Hot Tub guy and then let's see if we can find out more about this before he calls back.  What kind of tub is this and how long has it been in service?

Secondly, if the breaker won't reset, something is either wet or has a problem.

Your are absolutely right, electric is a powerful source that you cannot see so if you prefer, we should wait for the Hot Tub guy.  Unless of course, someone is electrically savvy enough to power down the spa and unplug a few things, like the ozonator, or the blower and power it up again to see if the breaker holds.

By the process of elimination, you can determine what is tripping the breaker, disconnect it and keep the spa up and going.  I don't know about you, but it is 28° outside tonight and the snow is piling up, so things can freeze and that could be a bigger problem.  

Let us know some of these answers and let's continue on from there.

[Brewman]

Did you try shutting the breaker off before trying to turn it back to on?  
When breakers trip most of the ones I've seen put the switch in the middle, and they must be turned to fully off before they'll reset.  I'm assuming you did this, but in case you didn't give it a try.  
Even if the breaker does reset this way, you'd still want to find out why it tripped in the first place.  
Pretty common cause is bad heater.  Breakers are also known to go bad, but it's not very common from what I've seen.

[Anoroc]

breakers do go bad.  If the breakers is snapping back into the off position it could be a bad breaker.

I would let the Hot Tub guys take a look at things first.  I assume since it is winter they will stop on quickly.

[IBinit4fun]

Which is your scenario:

A circuit breaker in your home electrical panel and a seperate GFCI near the tub

or

A GFCI circuit breaker in your home electrical panel and a disconnect near the tub?

Which is tripping, the circuit breaker or the GFCI?

[splendid1319]

By process of elimination it is my pump!    I am trying to find one on the internet.  Do I just get the same HP that I have?
The hot tub came with our house. (2 years ago)  I have no idea the age of my hot tub.  It is a Cal Spa.
Thanks for everyone's help on this one...
I have drained the tub completely because without my pump the heater won't work.  

[st18901]

Bad news about the pump.

Good news is that you can just replace the  motor. However, make sure that the impeller and other things are in good working order on the pump. You might as well buy a twenty dollar rebuild kit and rebuild the pump while you replace the motor. Don't worry, it's easy.

http://www.spasupport.com/seq/werep/index.html


Yes, get the same HP as before. Also, if it's a two speed pump make sure to get a two speed pump or conversely with a single speed pump.

I highly recommend checking this site out for help. It was invaluable to me when I rebuilt and restored my classic HS Spa.

[Cjsansom]

I know this is an old thread, but it was one of the resources I found when trying to track down why my GFCI would not reset. I thought it was worth adding to this thread to help anyone else facing this issue in the future. This post was very helpful, and I was convinced I must have a pump or heater or some other sneak circuit in the hot tub that was causing the issue. Shutting off main power before the disconnect allowed the GFCI disconnect to reset, so I figured the problem wasn't with the GFCI itself.

After a lot of checking I noticed that back up at the main power box that a viney weed had snaked its way up to my meter and had actually entered the meter box. Removing the shield plate I could see it had wound itself all around the live wires and was causing enough of a problem to trip the GFCI. Using a plastic shim I scrapped and cleaned out all of the pieces of the weed I could see and put the panel back together.

FINALLY, my GFCI would reset and the hot tub turned back on.

[wmccall]

I know this is an old thread, but it was one of the resources I found when trying to track down

Welcome to the forum. Thanks for letting us know this was helpful.