New Caspain installed. Stone cold water?

[drewstar]

My new Tiger River Caspian was delivered yesterday and was placed on the backyard pad without incident.  

As the delivery crew was leaving, my electrician pulled down the driveway. - talk about timing. Within a few hours we had the new 20-30 breaker panel wired and the tub running.

However, it does not seem to be heating. Perhaps Chas or another Tiger River/Hotsprings dealer can shed some light on this.

I orginally set the temp for 85 degress. After a few hours I noticied the temp did not change at all from it's original 65.

I spoke to the dealer on the phone who recomended I set the temp for at least 90 (in oder for the chemicals to work correctly) and be patient. The circ pump should have the temp up within 12 hours.

This morning, now 15 hours later, the water temp is still 65.  

I bumped the thermostat up to 100 before leaving for work.  

What's going on here?  I am not running any of the jet pumps (I am led to belive thats not necessary).  Does the heater have a minimum set temp to turn on?

Additionaly,  I noticed the jet pumps do not work as described in the manual.  The manual states there are 2 settings for the jets. Push the button once and the footpod and half of the tub will be on. Push the button a second time and all the jest will be on.  

That's not happening. the first time I turn on the jets only 2 of the 6 foot pod jets turn on and a few jets in the first seat activate. The pump sounds like it is running on low.

Pushing the jet button a second time activates the complete foot pod and half the tub. Pushing the jet button a third time turns the complete tub on. Not sure if this is a problem, but it is not as described in the manual.

Any thouhts or help? I'll be calling the dealer later this morning, but was hopping to gain some insight here.

Thanks.  

[JcDenton]

Most tubs I understand heat the water at aprox. 4-6 degrees/hour - so I would think there is something wrong going on here. From a cold water start, you should be into hot water within 9-12 hours, depending on your starting temp. Our tub takes 9 hours typically.

Jc

[Chas]

The jet pumps work like this:

touch the button once, and you get pump one on low speed.
touch the button again and you get pump one on hi speed.
touch again and you add pump two, which has only a single speed.
touch again and pump one drops back to low speed.
touch again and pump one drops out.
touch again and pump two drops out.
It will make sense to you once you can enjoy sitting in the tub.

Check that the Power light is on steady, not flashing.

If it is flashing, simply turn off both breakers and wait a half a minute. Then turn on just the 30 amp breaker and go run the pumps for a few minutes. After that turn on the 20 amp breaker and within three or four hours you should note a large temp increase. By the way - if you turn on the 30 amp breaker (only) and the spa does not start up, call your electrician back because he has wired the spa incorrectly - or to be more precise, he wired it correctly for a different model tub than you happen to have.

If the power light is on and steady, then go check the breaker in the sub panel next. If the breakers are ok, then you need to open the motor compartment door: The heater has a reset button and it needs to be pushed.

If one of the breakers is not tripped and the power light is on steady, I would be willing to bet that your elelctrician turned both breakers on at the same time. When starting a brand new spa, you should turn on just the 30 breaker until the pumps have a chance to work out all the air. They are self priming and there is a system for the heater to purge itself of air, but often it heats up just a second or two before all the air is out and the water gets moving.

To fix: open the door and firmly press the reset button on the heater.  Look at your owner's manual to find the thing, it can be hard to press.

[drewstar]

Thanks Chas.  How  you described the pumps is what I am seeing. The docs didn't describe it that way (only 2 positions, not 3).

The power light is on steady and not flashing.

I checked the breakers and they were ok.

I bet you are right about the heater re-set. The electrician threw both of the breakers on at the same time.   I'll pop the panel open tonigt and re-set the heater.


Chas, please open a store in Central MA.   I'm begining to be a bit peeved at my dealer.  They are very nice, and seem customer centric, however I don't think she has the knoweldge. I would think when I called them yesterday, she would have asked the same questions as you,  and I'd be comming home tonight to a warm tub.  This is the second time I asked them a question and wasn't given the right answer.

[Chas]

Chas, please open a store in Central MA.  

Thanks, but doesn't it snow there?  

[drewstar]

Thanks, but doesn't it snow there?  

No, not really.  It hardly ever snows in New England in the summer time.  

[Chas]

Ah.

[drewstar]

My handy dandy wife opened the panel and reset the heater motor and flipped the breakers per Cha's notes .

Is there a quick way to see if this corrected the problem? On the Caspain there is a small inlet that flows into the filter cartridge area from the circ pump. After 20 minutes my wife is not feeling a temperature difference of the water comming off this outlet.  
Should she?

[shabba34]

My handy dandy wife opened the panel and reset the heater motor and flipped the breakers per Cha's notes .

Is there a quick way to see if this corrected the problem? On the Caspain there is a small inlet that flows into the filter cartridge area from the circ pump. After 20 minutes my wife is not feeling a temperature difference of the water comming off this outlet.  
  Should she?

Do you have ozone?  If you do, you will see the tiny bubbles coming from the heater return/floor drain.  This way, we know you have circulation.  That is precisely where she should feel for warm water.  If no circulation, then you have an air lock in the circ pump.  If that is the case, you can remove the filter, put a garden hose down the filter standpipe, and run the hose for a minute.  That would release any air lock you may have.  Make sure the breakers are wired properly, that is a HP unit not EE, so the wiring schematic is a little different.  Hope all goes well.

[drewstar]

No Ozone yet. Dealer is comming tomorrow to install that and do a little "Spa orientation". I had hoped to have a least spent a few minutes in the spa before having my orientation.

I just spoke to my wife and had her  stick her foot down near the drain and  she tells me that warmer water was flowing out.  

Ozone or not, the floor drain is where the heated water enters the tub, right? (if not, where?)

Thanks Pkud.  However, while my wife  is happy that we are starting to pump some heat,  she wasn't thrilled with sticking her leg into an ice cold spa. Oh well.

and thanks againto Chas for the quick diagnostic and clear instructions.

 

[Perk1]

Yes, Drewstar, with or without ozone the warm water will be returned through the floor drain.  If she is feeling warm water now, you should be in spatopia not too long after dinner.....Good luck and enjoy....we have all gone through these type of issues and although they are frustrating, they are correctable and you have a major manufacturer backing you so all will be good....

[shabba34]

Thanks Pkud.  However, while my wife  is happy that we are starting to pump some heat,  she wasn't thrilled with sticking her leg into an ice cold spa. Oh well.



   

 That will make her enjoy the warm water that much more.

[Chas]

Ozone or not, the floor drain is where the heated water enters the tub, right? (if not, where?)....  she wasn't thrilled with sticking her leg into an ice cold spa.    

My wife would never had been that game - she'd have waited for me or one of the kids, so be sure to do something nice for her.

But another way to see if the tub is heating is to simply go look at your power meter. If the little wheel is spinning like crazy, you are good to go.

[Lori]

No, not really.  It hardly ever snows in New England in the summer time.  

Good one, Drewstar!  I think you rendered him speechless!!

[r100rs]

Good one, Drewstar!  I think you rendered him speechless!!

I don't think that is possible.    

r100rs