hot springs spa light blinking

[Shaftslinger]

I just bought this hot spring classic from 95

it was drained but still seems to have some ice in it.  I filled it up with warm water from my hot water tank and have it sitting in my garage with 2 heaters running.  When i plug it in i get the blinking light.  I just bought this so im not sure behind the history though it did work according to the owner.  When i open the drain cock no water comes out so im assuming the blockage is right there somewhere.  I did turn the knob about the drain cock to open so im pretty sure i have a blockage there.  I put a garden hose with hot water coming out up to each jet and could herre some ice moving and some bubls came out of other jets.  Alo i put a little heater inside the control panel and some bubbles would come out of some of the jets.  My garage isnt getting terribly warm because its not insulated very well so what should/could i do.?

[Chas]

It sounds like your circ pump is not running. Unplug the heater from the control box, and focus on getting the circ pump to run.

Start by flushing it out with warm water - not hot - by finding out where the hot water returns to the tub. Put the warm water in there. Wrap a towell around the end of the hose, or get a nozzle the right size to really force the water through and blow out air.

You may have air in the circ pump - or it may be simply stuck from not having been run for a long time. If the circ pump is grey in color and has the electical box at an angle, then you have a Grundfos pump. That pump always needs a few good taps on the two ends to get it to run after it has been shut down for more than a couple of weeks.

Also - running the jet pumps with the cover closed  for several hours can raise the temp several degrees.

 8-)

[Shaftslinger]

ok, i got it un frozen by leaving the drain unplugged and filling it with luke warm water.  When i went ut to the garage a bit later it was empty and to my surprise ungclogged.  SO now the tub gfci is not tripped now i needto get the heater gfci to not trip.  Im filling it back up with hot water slowly.  I filled it up for about and hour last night before i ran out of hot water and im filling it again now.  I have a 40 gallon hot water tank that is set to max and has a 33.9 gph 100 degree raise recovery rate so it should be able to keep up and fill this thing if i do it like i am.  then hopefully i can get the heater to kick on.  Ill try the circ pump and see what it does.  

[Shaftslinger]

ok you guys will laugh but heres how awsome I am.  The tub wont work with the access panel open.  Im a newb so i didnt know that.  its on hot and pumping through clean cycle now.  Just had to close the panel to get it to kick on.  

Now i just need to fix the slight leak i have in the moto massage and i will be in business.  

[Chas]

Don't feel bad about that door interlock - It has caught me, and my tech guys, off guard.

UL required it for years, and occasionally my customers would call in about their spa being "dead."

I would ask them to close the door, and the thing would miraculously revive. But UL and Watkins changed the design a long time ago, so some of my young repair guys have never seen one with the interlock. Surprise!

Glad to hear you are making progress.

 8-)

[Shaftslinger]

Thanks for the help chas,
guess something is wrong now as the gfci is tripping for the heater.  The tub gfci is fine but the heater only stayed on for a few minutes and then kicked off.  It was in cleaning mode for a while then switched off to heat it up and it kicked off a few minutes later.  

[drewstar]

Shaft, yes, you are truly awesome.    Please keep us updated on how this goes and what you are doing. I find the the used tub repairs threads very interesting.  

Don't forget Pics.  We demand pics.

[Shaftslinger]

guys over on rh spas recommend testing with a volt meter so im going to give that a shot and see what i got.  Im kinda mad cause hte seller told me that everything worked but it leaked.  So now im dealing with a leak and a F d up heater, but what do you want for 250

[Richs100]

Shaftslinger:

That interlock on the old Hot Spring tubs was a pain.  On my old Prodigy, I removed the sensor on the door and reattached it right next to the sensor on the tub.  No more interlock.

And don't worry.....all this work will make your first hot soak all the more better!

Rich

[Shaftslinger]

ok guys,  FIXED completely.  Here is what was actually wrong and what was happening

the jets could kick on and run for around 20 minutes and then they would kick off and it would start blinking.

If you just set it to heater it would run for around 2 minutes and then kick off and start blinking.  Then you would have to wait for about 30 minutes before you could turn it back on and try again.  heres what was happening

the low speed pump was seazed.  this is a 110 hot tub.  THe lowspeed pump is always on or is supposed to be anyway.  It would take 20 minutes for that thing to heat up and trip the breaker on its own.  But when switched to heating mode it would only take 2 because the heater would superheat the water that was in the element but that pump wouldnt pull it out of the element and then the high limit thermostat would trip.  

Im pretty sure thats precisely what was happening.  SO anyway i took the low speed pump out and had a friend hold his fingers in the hoses going to it so i wouldnt lose water and i took it apart.  I moved the shaft by hand for about 1 minute and then sprayed the hell out of it with wd40.  then i plugged it in and let it spin on its own for about 5 minutes.  It was making a terrible grinding sound probably because the barrings havent been used in quite a while but they had water sitting on them.  SO anyway long story short i freed it up and put it back in.  ALl is well now.  oh and my friend doensnt want to volunteer to be the finger guy ever again.  said it sucked hahahahha

THanks guys.  

[Chas]

Sounds good.

Enjoy your new relaxation appliance!

May you soak long and prosper.

 8-)