Caldera serial numbers

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Figured I give this a go here this time around

Caldera Spas. There's a letter in the serial number that indicates the year of manufacture. Anyone have an idea which years are indicated by which letters?

Thanks

[Vanguard]

The first couple of letters indicate model.  Then, you'll see something like 1J2001.  The 1 is the quarter it was built, the J represents the year.  I can't remember the year indicator, though.  The 2001 is the sequence in which it was produced.

So, a Geneva would be something like GEB1J2001. 

Going back in my memory, so that may not be exactly correct.

Same with Hot Spring.  A Grandee would be GG1J2001

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

It's the year indicator I'm trying to figure out...figures.

the serial number I'm working with is OLHS4G3111

the OH is for the model - Olympia
HS - is for Highland Series
4 - I believe is the quarter produced
J - is the year of manufacture (AND WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT :-)
2001 - this number of this model of spa produced in that year/quarter

[Spatech_tuo]

OK, here is the year scoop I got for Hot Spring from '89 to present with Caldera mixed in from 2000 on when Watkins bought them. You'll see the letter "I" is skipped since it looks like a "1" just as you can expect to see it go from "N" to "P" and skip the "O" in a couple years.

1989   9
1990   0
1991   1
1992   2
1993   3
1994   4
1995   5
1996   6
1997   7
1998   8
1999   A
2000   B  This is when Caldera came in and from here on it pertains to both
2001   C
2002   D
2003   E
2004   F
2005   G
2006   H
2007   J
2008   K
2009   L

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Yup. I just got an email that confirms this... or does this confirm the email?

Thanks!

[Chas]

To further confirm - you have a 4th quarter 2005 spa. Note that there is no "I" in the sequence, as noted above it goes from H to J.

This same system is used on all Watkins products.

 

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

and there wont be an O (will go from N to P)

[scottkeen]

I was Googling to try and find out what spa I have, and came across this thread.

Please help me identify my spa. It was given to me by a friend, and it needs parts.

This much I know:
Caldera Spas Paradise Series
User manual revised 6/96
Spa Serial #: S069781184TAA
Equipment: Balboa 9715-LA
__Model #: 9715-LA-SP
__Catalog #: C9A300200Y-NC
__Serial #: 973892

[Chas]

What you have is a "Pre Watkins" Caldera. They have been around for well over 30 years, but Watkins purchased them around 2000. As such, it is very hard to track down dates prior to 2000.

Having said that, it is not tough to find parts - most of them are available from Balboa or other suppliers.

What, exactly, are you looking for ?

 

[scottkeen]

Thanks for the reply and info.

I'm finding I need parts as-I-go.

First, it was an impeller for the pump. Found that.

Now, I may or may not need the following. I'm still troubleshooting this spa and trying to get it to work right.

• Control Panel - The control panel is flaky. Keeps "jumping" erratically when pressing the buttons. If the temp is set at 98 and you want to drop it down to 97, when you press the down (cool) arrow button, it jumps to 97..95..94. Same thing with the light button, jets button, and Econo (#) button. The light is the worst, jumping between off-on-off-on-off-on. I can't find an exact match for the control panel. Does it just need to be taken apart and cleaned, or do I need to replace it?
• Pressure Switch - I'm getting a constant "FLO" error message sometimes. According to the manual, this indicates a faulty pressure switch. The weird thing is that this doesn't always happen. Sometimes after 1 hour, it will give a FLO error and shutdown. Other times, it will run all night and never give any errors. If I need to replace it, I need to know the replacement part number.
• Caldera Ozone Generator - Right now it's disconnected because if I connect it, after 15-20 seconds it trips the GFCI breaker. It's really not doing anything because the nipple fitting that's on the box which connects to the clear tubing is broken. I first need a new nipple fitting, but maybe it's more than that which is tripping the GFCI breaker. I don't know.
• Filter Cartridge - I imagine this should be fairly easy to figure out. I just haven't pulled it to see if I can find a model number
• who knows what else... maybe the circuit board is faulty... I'm having problems with it still, like the High speed setting on the jets cuts back to Low speed after 03:50-04:00 minutes. Don't know why this is happening

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

It was made in June of 1997

[Dr. Spa™ Ret.]

Any generic pressure switch of the same size will work.

Any aftermarket ozonator will work.

The filter cartridge can be determined by the exact size of what you have It's either a 50 [10-7/8" tall] or 75 [14-3/4" tall] square foot cartridge).

[scottkeen]

It was made in June of 1997

Thanks Dr. Spa. Is this determined by this part of the serial number?

S069781184TAA


Can you tell what model it is?

The owners manual date 6/96 says "Paradise Series".
In the manual under the Filter Cartridge Size section, it says the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Riviera spa models have a 75 sq ft filter cartridge, whereas the Aruba, Martinique models have a 50 sq ft filter cartridge. I have the larger 75 sq ft filter cartridge, so I believe I have the Hawaiian, Tahitian, or Riviera model.

The current configuration of the Tahitian model looks basically the same as what I have (6 person, 84"x84", lounger seat on control panel side, filter in corner to the right of control panel) so I suspect that I have a Caldera Spas 1997 Tahitian Paradise model. Based on the serial number, is this correct or do I have something else?

[newbiespaowner]

Please help😜 I purchased a Caldera Tahitian spa today. The previous owner said that this was the serial number C45W2J3083 can someone please tell me what this means. I would like to buy maintenance parts and chemicals but I do not know if the info the guy gave me is correct??? 2007 Caldera Tahitian is all I know...
Thank you so much!

[Soaking in WV]

I've just purchased a gently used Caldera Martinique spa; arriving today. I'm trying to figure out what year this is so I can get the right manual and begin to get to know this spa. The model number is MRA1C1071.  If I'm reading this thread correctly, that would mean this is a spa produced in the first quarter of 2001? (1C)  The serial number, on the other hand, is 51286-12200101170052 -- which seems a much longer serial number than the others I'm seeing in this post for Caldera tubs. So that has me confused. It also says the following on the serial number tag: "System 9800CP Caldera Millen 38984"

Can Vanguard or Dr. Spa or someone else confirm that I'm interpreting the model number properly before I start ordering parts for this? And does anyone know what all that other info on the S/N tag means?