Spa trips the GFCI breaker immediately or within seconds of turning it on
Safety Warning
This repair may involve working with high voltage components or water connections. Always unplug the appliance before removing any panels.
If you are not confident in your ability to perform this repair safely, we strongly recommend contacting a professional technician.
Possible Causes
How to Fix / Troubleshooting
Critical safety: Repeated GFCI tripping indicates a potentially dangerous fault. Do not bypass or replace the GFCI with a non-GFCI breaker.
- Visual inspection: With power OFF, open the equipment bay and look for obvious signs of water leaks, burned components, or melted wires.
- Isolate components (advanced): A technician can unplug pumps, blower, ozonator, and heater one at a time from the control pack, then restore power to see when the GFCI stops tripping. This identifies the faulty component.
- Common culprit – heater: If disconnecting the heater stops the tripping, the heater element is likely grounded and must be replaced.
- Address leaks: If water is present on or around electrical components, locate and repair the leak (pump seals, unions, plumbing) before restoring power.
Due to shock risk, GFCI troubleshooting is best handled by a qualified spa technician or electrician.
Repair Difficulty
Required Part
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