Hot Tub Forum
Original => Hot Tub Forum => Topic started by: Skelly81 on January 24, 2017, 11:18:10 pm
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I have a Nordic crown ii spa that is getting a flo error. It has a single 2 speed pump (120v) that is attached with 4 wires. The flo error goes away when I turn on the jets, and the spa begins to heat. The only options when cycling the jets button on the topside control panel is high/off as if it skips the low speed circulation setting.
I believe the problem is that the low speed of the pump will not come on for the heating/filtering cycle. I've played around with the filter cycle timer but it doesn't change anything. I would really appreciate any advice that you have. Thanks.
Pump is flo-master xp2
Pcb is gecko
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You would need to see if the pump is getting power when on low speed. If it is getting power and not running, you have a bad pump. If it is not getting power, you have a bad relay on the circuit board.
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There is no way for me to set the pump to low speed. I only have the option on the topside panel to switch it between high and off. The manual for the hot tub says it should cycle between low, high, and off. I've read that there could possibly be a switch on the back of the pump that is stuck on high speed, but I couldn't find anything like this. Not sure what to do now.
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You need a meter.
Or, at the very least, turn off the power to the spa, and switch the black and red wires on the back of the pump. This will make the spa go: off -> high speed -> low speed.
If you push the pump button and it goes nothing then low speed, you have a bad relay. If it goes high speed then nothing, then off again, you have a bad low speed on your pump.
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There is no way for me to set the pump to low speed. I only have the option on the topside panel to switch it between high and off. The manual for the hot tub says it should cycle between low, high, and off. I've read that there could possibly be a switch on the back of the pump that is stuck on high speed, but I couldn't find anything like this. Not sure what to do now.
Is it wired correctly?
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Yes I believe it was wired correctly but I could send a picture this weekend to confirm that. I will also switch the low and high speed this weekend to see if that changes anything, then report back what happens.
The pump is in a very awkward position so I can't access the back of it while it's connected to the hot tub. Maybe I could remove the motor and independently test it somehow? Thanks for the help so far.
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Did you just replace this pump or this the original pump?
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I'm not sure if it's the original pump or not because I got the hot tub used without much background information.
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Ok well if you didn't replace it yourself and the low speed is not working I would bet it is toast. I have seen 2spd pumps loose the low speed which in your case will cause flow because it is the primary speed for circulation. You can test it with a multimeter to confirm but I would start looking for a pump. If you put the pump on high speed in the meantime it should heat but obviously it will not heat at all once you shut it down. I would recommend getting a complete pump assembled with wet end. If it is an older spa trying to separate the wet end could be a nightmare. The wetend could be seized and for the extra money its worth replacing. Take a picture of how it is wired before you pull it out.
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I just switched the high and low speed wires coming from the pump on the board itself and now the hot tub cycles between off and low speed when I hit the jets button.
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Is the topside control made by Balboa? What control box is in the spa?
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It could be a bad capacitor. There are usually two capacitors for a 2 speed pump. Based on what you are telling me the capacitor on the low speed side could be bad.
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It has a gecko spa pack and the topside panel only says Nordic hot tubs. The pump has one capacitor that you can see encased on the outside, but I think there may be another capacitor on the inside.
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I just switched the high and low speed wires coming from the pump on the board itself and now the hot tub cycles between off and low speed when I hit the jets button.
Wait now..........If you switched the wires and low speed now works we have a voltage at the pump issue. If hi and low work on the pump, both capacitors are functioning. Your board is not letting low speed power get to the motor from the board.
Are you sure it is wired correctly for a 2 speed pump, from the board to the pump. Are there jumpers that are not set properly on the board? Is the board toast. You need a meter to check voltage on your pump during operation.
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Yes the board is wired correctly for the pump. What should I check with a meter? I know that the low speed isn't getting voltage at the pump because there seems to be no option to turn it on, while high speed is getting voltage during operation. How do I check the jumpers on the board?
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I am unable to test the pump with a meter during operation because the back of the pump is up against an unreachable area
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I located the jumpers and it looks like the 3rd one that is responsible for a single or dual pump is missing the cap. I'll try to pull a cap off of a computer hard drive and put it on to see if that fixes the problem
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Adding the jumper cap made no difference. I'll work on posting pictures of the pump wiring and specs in a minute.
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Here is a link to the pump pictures. Sorry for the string of posts, I'm just anxious to fix this.
https://postimg.org/gallery/r36umvdu/
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Switch the red and black wire and see how it runs.
If you get off -> nothing -> low speed, you have a bad relay on the board
if you get off -> high speed -> nothing, you have a bad motor
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I would doubt it is the jumpers unless you have personally touched them or have reason to believe that someone else worked on this spa prior. They are tiny white switches on the bottom right corner of the box. They are so small you need your fingernail to switch them up and down so not something that can accidentally happen. The box should be a 55098 Balboa pack. If you look on the top right of the box there is a sticker that has the exact model number. If you call Balboa customer service they will walk you through jumper settings for your spa. I wouldn't waste time on that though. It sounds like you have just lost the low speed on the pump. Its not worth rebuilding in my opinion.
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I will try that when I get home.
When I turn it on how it is I get Off -> high speed -> Off
Before when I switched the pump wires on the board I got Off -> low speed -> Off
It's not like I hit the button and it goes to nothing, the pump goes straight from on to off to on by only hitting the button twice. It acts like it is configured for a one speed pump.
Scoobywagon02, I have the jumpers correctly set up, and it's a gecko spa pack. The low speed on the pump does work when I switch it on the board
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It is the blue Gecko pack? The one with color coded plugs?
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Here is the link to the spa pack info. The pump has a red connector going into the spa pack, and I think the ozonator has a white connection but I have that detached since it's so old.
https://s30.postimg.org/kcf1ibqmp/IMG_0937.png
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Those older Gecko boxes are notorious for communication issues. The relay on the board could be shot which is not allowing the low speed to engage. Sometimes you can pull out the control board and check the soder points behind the relays to see if one is burnt out. Most of the gecko boxes do not sell just the motherboard you need replace the entire pack with heating element. Without being on site to test its difficult to say.
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I will also take a look at the back of the board. It would make sense if it was a relay because the low speed power spot on the circuit board is being completely skipped over.
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As for the results of switching the black and red wires on the pump, I got the same results as when I switched those wires on the circuit board... the pump could either be off or on low speed, again without an inactive speed. I guess that means it's a bad relay.
Another idea I had was that the topside control panel could be faulty causing no power going to the low speed pump output on the board. Not sure if that's a possibilty
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As for the results of switching the black and red wires on the pump, I got the same results as when I switched those wires on the circuit board... the pump could either be off or on low speed, again without an inactive speed. I guess that means it's a bad relay.
Another idea I had was that the topside control panel could be faulty causing no power going to the low speed pump output on the board. Not sure if that's a possibilty
Yes, the top side could also be bad. Techs carry a few spare working topsides to plug in and test. But it still could be the relay on the board.
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For a bad relay should I attempt to replace it or just replace the whole board?
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Did you find out what the problem was i am having the same issue with a. Balboa vs300fl4 spa pack