New GFCI to replace one that was in the subpanel of a hot tub

Question

I have a dedicated 50 amp 240 v circuit to a hot tub. Had it over 15 yrs no problems. Recently the GFCI that was in the sub panel would buzz and then trip or sometimes work just fine after resetting. The GFCI was an old one that had the 240 v wires running through a hole in the back...these are not used anymore. I bought a new one that goes into the main panel that feeds the sub panel. It has a center white ground wire that goes to the main ground. The circuit going to the hot tub has red, black, and white. In the main panel the white wire is connected to the main ground bus. When I connect the white from the new GFCI it trips the breaker. Is that because I need to take the white wire from the hot tub and connect it directly to the center lug in the new GFCI circuit breaker instead of the bus and then the pigtail from the GFCI to the ground bus? To me that makes sense and would stop the tripping. Please advise as these new GFCI are a bit different than 20 years ago.

Answer 1

Yes, you need to connect the white from the hot tub panel to the gfci breaker, and the pigtail from the breaker to the neutral bus.

Answer 2

Your white wire from the breaker goes to the panel neutral, not ground. The white wire from your hot tub gets connected to the breaker.

Answer 3

Thanks...After thinking about it I moved the white ground to the center lug of the breaker and then the pigtail to the ground bus. I just had to think how it works and it has to sense activity on the ground and to do that it has to pass through the back end of the breaker where the GFCI sensors are located. It was a light bulb goes on moment. Thanks