Hello,

I was recently given a dimension one hot tub from a friend, and have started wiring it up. When I disconnected it from his house, the electric job seemed very nice. There was 8 gauge THHN going to the disconnect/GFCI box, and 6 gauge from there to the main panel. What was weird, though, is that there were only three wires-black, white, and green. The control panel in the tub showed me that there was a connection block for a ground, but it wasn't being used.

Since I brought the tub to my house, I purchased 130' each of green, black, and white THHN that I plan on running through conduit underground until I get into my house.

I am unclear on two things... first, why was there no ground on the previous installation? Do I need to purchase another ground wire to run along to the main panel, or is that not necessary for some reason I am missing? If so, does it also need to be 6 gauge?

Second question is, once I am in my house, does code still require conduit, or can I bundle the wires together and secure them to the beams in my basement ceiling?

Thanks!

http://www.d1spas.com/images/documents/01513-281E.pdf
http://www.d1spas.com/images/documents/2004D1ConsumerPlanningGuidewnewcover.pdf
Hot Tub, Hot Tubs and Spas Dimension One Spas and Hot Tubs (http://www.d1spas.com/downloads.asp) This has previous yr to 1998

Most of them here look like they they are 240v systems.
They also have international sheets here. If not in the US it "may" be possible that you have to connected differently on the control pack pending on jumper placments on the board.

Code once it is inside the house, conduit? I think that would be best ask to the electrical https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/electrical-lighting/
130' is quit the distance, I would also ask if the #6 would handle that.

But I would state where you are located.



ALZ1

I'm confused. No Ground? Green is normally ground.
The conduit can act as ground.
120V or 240 V Hot tub. Seems like 120 with white/black/green.
THNN must be protected. No stapling in the rafters.

If everything is 240, you could have black hot, white the other hot, and green ground. If you have both 120 and 240, you could depend on metallic conduit for the ground, but the green couldn't be either the neutral or the other hot.

Oh, you can't count on the way it was being right.

Thanks for the responses.

I am in NY, and the model is the Chairman II, I believe the 1999 Model. The way it was hooked up before, Green and Black were hots, white was neutral. Nothing was touching the ground at all.

No stapling in rafters.. that means I need to run conduit inside, I assume?

I am using PVC conduit, so that's no good for ground. What about a grounding rod?

Thanks again for the replies... I will check in the electrical forum about the distance of the wiring... although I already bought the 6 gauge and as it is it cost me a small fortune...

You can't tuck THNN in the rafters, but you can run your conduit to a junction box and run NMB the rest of the way.

So, does this mean it's a 4-wire 240 V system: L1 (Blk), L2(Red), N(Wht) and Gnd(green) or a 3 wire 240V system L1(Blk), L2(Red), Gnd(Green) or a 120V system L(Blk), N(Wht), Gnd(Green)?

Remember that you can tape the ends of the wire the effective color of the wire.

It's definitely a 240V system... I didn't know that it could be only three wires, though... I know the tub's control system has space for four wires.. but does that mean it needs them?

If I switch to NMB the rest of the way, how do I deal with the ground? Would the smaller gauge ground wire that comes bundled in the NMB be sufficient?

If there is a space for 4, it's probably 4. The tub's controls are probably 120 volts and you need a neutral for the 120 volt stuff to operate.

Here is an example spa wiring: http://barefootspas.com/pdf/WiringDiagramSiemens.pdf

Ground is not supposed to carry current and therefore it can be a thinner wire than the current carrying conductors. Neutral only carries the difference of the L1 and L2 currents, but I don't know if N can be re-sized in this application.

As an example: Suppose the controls are 1 amp @ 120 V and the 240 volt heaters are 39A. L1 might be 40 A, L2 39 A and Neutral would be 1 AMP. Ground would be zero AMPS unless there was a fault.

http://www.d1spas.com/images/documents/99D1Manual.pdf

On page 51-52 does yours look like either of these?


And most all of them call for 3wire+ground



ALZ1

Yes... my tub has all four just like that, in that order. Hot, Neutral, Ground Hot from top to bottom.

As far as the ground being able to be thinner... how thin can I go? 8? 10?

Thanks,

David

In the electrical forum, there is a sticky that will allow you to browse the NEC.

Ask there for specific recommendations with anything on the nameplate, breaker size and wiring distance.

I'll bet, it's the name plate amps, 80% de-rated (multiply by 1.25) and then determine the wire size that gives you < 3% voltage drop for the distance (130' * 2) since the wire length is 2x the distance. A 260' length is long. I don't think green can be taped a different color.

Ask for ground gage recommendations there as well.

Also on that same page with the electrical block there, page 19 is instructions to check how the jumper pins are set to verify the board is set for 50amp circuit.


As a side note
I always suggest to people here buy one of those weather stations that have the remote part you can sit outside, put it under the tub by some jets away from the heater or pumps.. If for some reason it trips a breaker in the dead of NY winter you can see what temp it is under your tub. Some even have where you can set an alarm to go off at a certain temp.
Frozen pipes are the worse, you could be chasing leaks for months.



Ph and alkilinity**** it will eat up an element in nothing flat if it gets acidic.

ALZ1