Spa with circuit for detecting excessive ground current
First Claim
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1. A spa ground current detector comprising:
- a heater assembly including a heater manifold and heater elements inside the heater manifold for heating a flow of water through the heater manifold;
at least one current collector residing in the center of the flow of water and comprising a three dimensional helix both spiraling out radially from the center of the heater manifold and stretching axially as it spirals outward;
a control circuit electrically connected to the heater assembly;
a current sensing circuit in the control circuit, the current sensing circuit measuring a ground current collected from the flow of water by the at least one current collector;
a comparing circuit comparing the measurement of the ground current to a first threshold for detecting an excessive ground current.
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Abstract
A spa heater/control includes sensors and processors to monitor and display indicia of common failures. The heater/control includes voltage sensors and processing to measure proper power connections to the heater/control. The spa heater/control further monitors various voltages, currents, flow rates, and temperatures within the spa to provide diagnostic information which is easily obtained by a spa owner to provide to a spa dealer to reduce the time and cost of spa repairs.
10 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A spa ground current detector comprising:
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a heater assembly including a heater manifold and heater elements inside the heater manifold for heating a flow of water through the heater manifold; at least one current collector residing in the center of the flow of water and comprising a three dimensional helix both spiraling out radially from the center of the heater manifold and stretching axially as it spirals outward; a control circuit electrically connected to the heater assembly; a current sensing circuit in the control circuit, the current sensing circuit measuring a ground current collected from the flow of water by the at least one current collector; a comparing circuit comparing the measurement of the ground current to a first threshold for detecting an excessive ground current.
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2. A method for controlling a spa heater, the method comprising:
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measuring a ground current collected by a current collector in a flow of water through a heater, the current collector spiraling radially out from the center of the flow of water; comparing the ground current measurement to a first threshold; and removing power from heater elements in the heater if the ground current measurement exceeds the threshold before a system Ground Fault Isolator (GFI) removes power from a water circulation pump providing circulation of water through the heater. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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4. A spa ground current detector comprising:
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a spa Ground Fault Isolator (GFI) circuit for comparing current in a hot wire with current in a neutral wire to detect ground faults and shut down the spa; a heater assembly including a heater manifold and heater elements inside the heater manifold for heating a flow of water through the heater manifold; at least one current collector independent of the spa GFI circuit and residing in the flow of water; a control circuit electrically connected to the heater assembly; a current sensing circuit in the control circuit, the current sensing circuit measuring a ground current collected from the flow of water by the at least one current collector; a comparing circuit comparing the measurement of the ground current to a ground current threshold for detecting an excessive ground current for shutting down the heater assembly before the GFI shuts down the spa. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method for controlling a spa heater, the method comprising:
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measuring a current difference between a first current on a hot wire and a second current on a neutral wire using a Ground Fault Isolator (GFI); tripping the GFI when the current difference exceeds a GFI threshold thereby turning off a spa pump; heating a flow of water through an electric spa heater; measuring a ground current collected by a current collector in the flow of water; comparing the ground current measurement to a ground current threshold; and removing power from heater elements in the heater if the ground current measurement exceeds the ground current threshold before the GFI removes power from the spa pump. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification