GFCI/Spa Panel overheating! Help!!

[eskoenig34]

I've had my electric system running for over 2 years now without problems, but lately my 50A spa panel overheats and shuts off on me. If I open the door and blow a fan on it, no problem.

I've tightened all the connections and haven't otherwise made any changes to the system in two years. Does anyone have a guess as to what's going on?

Eric

 

[WI_Wino]

What do you mean by shuts off? The spa gfci breaker trips?

 

[eskoenig34]

Yes, that's correct. The GFCI trips. After a cooling-down period, I can turn it back on, and the overheating cycle continues.

 

[itsnotrequired]

did you simply tighten the connections? try removing them entirely, inspecting them for any corrosion/discoloration. check the terminals as well. if all good, crank 'er back down. if still overheating, could be a bad breaker.

 

[CascadeOK]

I agree, remove ALL connections to that spa panel, inspect and redo as if it was a new install. Being very careful, I might out of curiosity use my infrared thermometer on the wire terminals & the circuit breaker at room temp, under load after x mins a few times) to see where the heat build up was occurring. If the breaker itself was getting quite hot and all my terminals looked ok I'd replace that breaker.

 

[eskoenig34]

Great advice. I'll redo the connections and test the temps. I've also noticed that the boil kettle contactor heats up quite a bit during a brew, but not the HLT one. The connection may be an issue as well for that.

 

[WI_Wino]

Is your system 50 A based? or are you running a 30 A system and only using the spa panel for GFCI protection? If a 30 A system, does the 30 A breaker ever trip?

 

[eskoenig34]

It's 50A-based, and I only run one element at a time.

 

[BrunDog]

What part is overheating... The breaker? Then replace the breaker!

Edit: Saw CascadeOK posted same before me. So +1 to that!

 

[BREWBYRD]

Heat is usually a result of undersized wiring. And the fact that its 2 years old now supports the idea. Are you feeding the 50 amp spa panel with #6 wire? If its #8 or 10 there is your problem. you can change the breaker, but 2 years down the line may see the same issues.

 

[BrunDog]

Not sure how the age affects undersized wire. If the connections are corroding, then yes, but still not a wire issue.

 

[Bobby_M]

I would use a clamp on ammeter on one of the hot wires to see what kind of current you are actually pulling. You may have an element that is shorting which pulls high current.

 

[eskoenig34]

Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions. I check and tightened all connections (no change), checked the current with a clamp-on meter (everything was fine), then swapped out the breaker--this seemed to solve the problem.

Thanks again all!!