Sundance refill Watchdog problem

[ASAP]

Hello,

Problem: Watchdog (_ _ _ _) symbol on control panel after routine refill on 2006 Sundance Optima.

Tub was working perfectly fine before refill.

I’m pretty sure I caused the problem by filling it directly in the tub and not through the filter bucket as indicated in the manual (I RTFMed) after the problem occurred.

I’ve had the tub since 2007, have always filled it with the garden hose in the tub and have never encountered a problem before. I guess I was just lucky all these years.

The manual (p.14) states that neglecting to fill through filter bucket may cause air to be trapped in either pump, preventing the pump from circulating water.

How can I check if trapped air is the problem, and if so how do I fix it.

Would emptying and refilling again through filter bucket help?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide : )

[fdegree]

Your problem may be a bad control board.  I had the same problem a few months ago.  The service tech tried replacing a bad fuse, that temporarily corrected the problem.  But, a few weeks later, it went into the Watchdog mode again...the board was then replaced and seems to have solved the problem.  Fortunately, the board was still under warranty.

Here is a link to my post on this problem:
http://www.whatsthebest-hottub.com/forum/index.php/topic,13295.msg161444.html

[ASAP]

Thanks for the link to your post fdegree.

I'll start my investigation this morning and post back when I know more.

[SerjicalStrike]

As was said before, it is probably a bad board.  If it is under warranty, they will just replace the board.  If it is NOT under warranty, it probably just needs the capacitors replaced.

[ejf The Spa Guy]

but it vould be an error lock, code came up after the refill , i have seen it before happen many times,,, could it be the board ,,sure, but its a coincidance that it happened after the refill,,, i would first check for air in the line from the circ pump, bleed the pump, then you can eliminate that as the problem,

[dax]

but it vould be an error lock, code came up after the refill , i have seen it before happen many times,,, could it be the board ,,sure, but its a coincidance that it happened after the refill,,, i would first check for air in the line from the circ pump, bleed the pump, then you can eliminate that as the problem,

I had the problem back in January after a drain and refill.  According to the dealer, Sundance has seen a lot of these problems lately and it usually occurs after a drain and refill.  It's typical for electronics to go bad upon power down and power up, which is what you do during a refill.  As was said, if it's under warranty, the dealer will replace the board.

[SerjicalStrike]

but it vould be an error lock, code came up after the refill , i have seen it before happen many times,,, could it be the board ,,sure, but its a coincidance that it happened after the refill,,, i would first check for air in the line from the circ pump, bleed the pump, then you can eliminate that as the problem,

air lock does not cause the problem described.  If there was an air lock, there would be a flashing "FLO" error message.  Most cases of blown caps I have seen have only been noticed after a power outage or after the customer has shut off the spa and tried to turn it back on.