I am seeing a possible problem with the circulation pump on my Hot Spring Vanguard, purchased November of 2006. (I believe its a 2005 model but not sure). The circ pump has been replaced once (around 2 years ago).
I began noticing more "grit" in the bottom of the tub that didn't seem to be getting picked up in the normal daily circulation. Lately, when I run the main pumps for a while, then shut them off, the circ pump seems to lose "prime", stops pumping (ie no bubbles coming out, heater light flashing) , and you can hear it trying to reset. It has taken up to 5 or 6 times that I can count to reset. Occasionally it will trip the 20 AMP breaker but this is only about 10% of the time.
The last water change, after the tub was filled and turned back on, it showed this same behavior, as I could hear the circ pump stopping and restarting until bubbles finally flowed and the lights quit flashing. Last, when I turn on the water feature, the bubbles coming up from the heater vent are greatly reduced, and when I shut off the water feature they increase again to normal.
Are these symptoms of a circ pump ready to fail or down on performance? I've put in freshly cleaned filters which didn't seem to make a difference, not sure else what to check so I thought I would check with experts before calling for the repair man.
Thanks for any direction you can provide.
