Possible incorrect GFCI for jacuzzi tub
7/5/2018 at 12:42:44 PM
We recently bought a home with an old jacuzzi tub. It is wired to a 15 amp circuit breaker, but in between the circuit breaker and the tub is a 20 amp GFCI receptacle and a 20 amp timer switch. The gauge of the wire from the circuit breaker to the receptacle is also thicker than other wiring in the house, but then the gauge of the wire from the gfci to the switch, and then on to the tub, is the same as other wiring in the house.
I have no idea whether the tub is wired incorrectly - i.e. it needs a 20 amp circuit breaker and needs proper gauge wiring from the receptacle to the tub, or if the wiring is correct (or at least there is no issue with it) and the receptacle and switch are simply the wrong amperage. My understanding is that the amperage on the circuit breaker and the amperage on the GFCI should line up. As a starting point, would I be creating any issues if I replaced the 20 amp GFCI with a 15 amp GFCI?
Thanks
7/5/2018 at 1:33:26 PM
It is OK for a circuit to have larger gauge wire than the breaker but not OK for the receptacle to be rated higher than the breaker. Initially replacing the 20 with a 15 amp GFCI is a good start but you should check the total amperage draw of the tub to see if 15 amps is enough.
7/5/2018 at 5:02:30 PM
Leave it be. The internals of the 20 amp gfci is heavier duty than the 15 and sometimes the motors will burn out the 15 amp receptacle. They make blank face gfci protection that SHOULD be installed, because the gfci you have is actually adding a receptacle to what should be a dedicated circuit for the tub. But no one wants to spend the extra $25 to do it 100% correctly, plus when it was installed, they likely didn't have faceless gfci devices...
7/6/2018 at 7:37:59 AM
It's fine ,
Thicker wire is always a good idea .
7/9/2018 at 9:10:13 PM
Thanks for the posts. I'm going to get a reading of the amperage draw and go from there. Will look into the blank gfci's as well. I don't need the receptacles, and they're in an unusable spot in the room anyway.
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