Techie assistance

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I installed the new PCB heater relay,which in turn allowed me to run spa.   Everything works(can run everything at the same time,without circuits tripping)except...... when it goes into the automatic cleaning cycle,it runs the blower for 1 minute,then kicks off blower,and proceeds to run pump 1. After 20 seconds,the cleaning cycle shuts down,and trips the 30 amp GFCI breaker. After resetting breaker,it does this same thing,when it goes into cleaning cycle   Spa is a 2003 Caldera Geneva Utopia.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

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Not 1 person here has some helpful insight/guidance??

[stuart]

Well I've thought about it and have several ideas. Often when you mess with the board on a component level without an oscilloscope you create odd problems.

You could have messed with the software in the chip with static; you could have a trace line shorting or even another component internally damaged from the solder gun heat. If you used a non-professional solder gun you potentially got everything around the relay too hot (typically they don’t heat as quick and precise so you heat the area all around what you soldering).

At this point your best bet is to take the board to an electronics repair place and have them troubleshoot the components or just replace the board.

As a tech I would have to get the values of the other resistors and relays and test them with a meter to see whats up.

[tomsem]

Hi autoplay,

I am not a spa tech but am an electronics tech.  Without a circuit diagram it is only a guess to know what they are doing. You say you can run everything manually. That indicates to me that the components are functioning individually. When the auto cycle is used, the breaker trips. I am guessing something isn't connecting the way it is meant to in the auto cycle.  A tripping circuit breaker would indicate a major fault in a component or something hooked up wrong with a major current draw. Often you can see or smell the burnt component in a component failure. In a connection problem, often the fuse or breaker will trip too fast to damage the components. These are only generalizations, of course. There are always exceptions.

Did you replace the relay on a circuit board or the board as well?  Was soldering involved or was the relay screwed to the board with wires attached to wire terminals?  If wires were involved, are you sure you kept the proper wire connections? If soldering was involved, are you sure no solder leaked across and made a "bridge" between connections? 

In my instructions, it says the auto cycle moves from the air pump for 1 minute,  to pump 2 for 1 minute, and then to pump 1 for 8 minutes for a total of 10 minutes. It looks as though it is popping on the pump 2 cycle. The fact you can run pump 2 manually makes me think they are using a different circuit path for auto then for manual and there is a connection problem in that circuit.

 

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Agree with your last paragraph Tom!   As I can run everything at 1 time,and nothing trips,it's telling me there's a prob in the cleaning cycle circuit.

I replaced the heater board.  There was no soldering involved,just put the wires back where they were.

I'm wondering,if a relay etc in the cleaning circuit fried,on the main board,which is an IQ 2020 board?

[stuart]

The other thing to consider is what caused the heater board to fail in the first place. It could be that your heater is just kicking on (or off) at the same time as a motor causing a spike. I would put a meter on it and watch what happens in those cycles.

The other thing that could be happening is there could be a spike when pump 1 and pump 2 are changing. We had a problem for awhile on Marquis where both pumps kicked up a speed at the same time causing a spike.

[Spatech_tuo]

Agree with your last paragraph Tom!   As I can run everything at 1 time,and nothing trips,it's telling me there's a prob in the cleaning cycle circuit.

I replaced the heater board.  There was no soldering involved,just put the wires back where they were.

I'm wondering,if a relay etc in the cleaning circuit fried,on the main board,which is an IQ 2020 board?

That doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine everything running fine separately but tripping the breaker in the clean cycle only. The clean cycle is a software program to run the hardware.

It sounds like you have an issue with a pump now. BTW, I believe that when the spa is in a clean cycle you can disrupt it at any time by simply turning on one of the pumps or turning off the blower when it is on so you can then turn it on separately.

[tomsem]

That doesn't make sense to me. I can't imagine everything running fine separately but tripping the breaker in the clean cycle only. The clean cycle is a software program to run the hardware.

It makes no sense to me either, knowing that switching is controlled by software and the same circuitry is used. It seems a bad pump would have to have good timing though, to only pop a breaker as described with it only in auto cycle and as repeatable as it sounded.

The pump switchover issue sounds plausible with two pumps drawing a higher current and set timing. Maybe you could simulate this in manual mode by turning one pump on as you are turning one off. I have seen heaters in other equipment cause strange issues and the heater board did need to be replaced. From what my dealer told me, the 30 amp breaker is the pump breaker and the 20 amp breaker is for the heater.  Not sure if this is totally separated, but if it is and the 30 is popping, it would seem like a pump issue. Without diagrams and without being there, it is tuff.

I am sure the spa techs can help you more than I can.  This is a strange one.  Let us know what you find when you get it fixed. Good luck!

[stuart]

I would agree other than it sounds like it worked before...you might try switching pumps and see what happens. It might be as easy as switching plugs...I still wonder what caused the relay to burn....