Caldera heater problem? Brand new!

[PackerPaul]

  Well we finally got to fill our new Caldera Niagra today. We had it delivered 3-months ago and have been in the process of building a 3-season room around it.
     I filled it this morning and turned the breakers on and all seemed well. The pumps went through there start-up sequence per the manual and the temp said 61 degrees (cold well water). Well 5-6 hours later the temp is only up to 68 degrees and the water coming out of the circulation pump is cold, not warm.
      I pulled off the front panels and felt the pipe coming out of the heater and it was pretty cool.
      I put my meter across the white & black wires that go to the heater and was reading 120 volts.....shouldn't this be 240 volts???
      Should I call my dealer or my electrician?

      Thanks for any & all advice.

[Vanguard]

Call your dealer first!  One thing a lot of electricians do is wire Watkins products incorrectly.  Their wiring is a bit different than most others.  Unless the electrician wires a bunch of Watkins' products, they tend to do it wrong.

If I am not mistaken, and I could very well be, the heater is 120V.  That is why the breakers are separated.  

Make sure there is no air in the circ pump and that it is actually pumping.  If it is not, the heater will not come on.

[Gomboman]

Well we finally got to fill our new Caldera Niagra today. We had it delivered 3-months ago and have been in the process of building a 3-season room around it.
      I filled it this morning and turned the breakers on and all seemed well. The pumps went through there start-up sequence per the manual and the temp said 61 degrees (cold well water). Well 5-6 hours later the temp is only up to 68 degrees and the water coming out of the circulation pump is cold, not warm.
       I pulled off the front panels and felt the pipe coming out of the heater and it was pretty cool.
       I put my meter across the white & black wires that go to the heater and was reading 120 volts.....shouldn't this be 240 volts???
       Should I call my dealer or my electrician?

       Thanks for any & all advice.

Yes, I would call the dealer. Can I ask what a 3-season room is? I've never heard that term before.

[PackerPaul]

Aquatub...The circ pump is moving water.

Gomboman...up here in Wisconsin a 3-season room is an attached addition that is not heated, usually only used in the spring, summer & fall.

Thanks for the replies. Anybody else know for sure if the heater is 120 or 220?

[greenhut]

I wired my Geneva myself. I rememebr that out of the GFCI came like 5 wires. You could check the manual and see if they properly ran the wires. If the wires aren't different colors or otherwised labelled it might be tricky.

Of course remember to cut the power before you do anything!

jeff

[Chas]

The heater on the Geneve and Niagara is most deffinitely 220 volts! Your elelctrician has put one of the wires into the neutral on the two-pole breaker for the heater. There is NO neutral wire on the two-pole breaker for the heater, both wire must come off of the 'load' connections on that breaker.

[PackerPaul]

Chas....I had my electrician come over this evening to look it over.  The 20 amp breaker in my spa box(Hot Springs brand from dealer) is a single pole not a double pole! Did my dealer give me the wrong box?
  My electrician says there is no way you can get 220 out of a single pole breaker.
  The temp is up to 85 degrees now ( 10:00PM) and it started today at 71 degrees.
   I'll have to call my dealer monday morning to see if they gave me the wrong box. :-/

[Chas]

Yup. The dealer gave you the wrong box. That one is for a convertable HotSpring spa.

Your electrician is right: you can't get 220 out of that breaker. The good news is that you can switch just the breaker out and you'll be good to go. In the meantime, your spa will function, but as you have found out, it will heat real slowly.

[PackerPaul]

Yup. The dealer gave you the wrong box. That one is for a convertable HotSpring spa.

Is that why it says "For Hot Springs & Tiger River ConvertableSpas" on the label?
The spa got up to 100 today so we can use it till the dealer can send me the right breaker.
Thanks Chas and all who responded.

[Vanguard]

Glad Chas corrected me.  Now I know, too.

Funny that your label says convertible right on the box.  I guess we can all make mistakess.

[wmccall]

Nice remote Diagnosis Chas, and good follow through Paul, shows what this forum can do.