2000 Altamar Flo Error

[Frogmangmg]

Help.. Striking out
FYI- circ pump and pressure switch are original equip.

Steps I took:
Siphoned out to empty tub, did not drain through drain plug on inside of panel
Move hot tub to new location
Refilled
Turned er' on
Heated up up and ran fine for a week
Flashing Flo error came on
Pressure switch was open, indicated little flow
Removed outlet tube on circ pump, noticed a piece of what looked like dry white calking that was plugged, could have been just some misc material, removed the material.
Turned on, pressure switch now closed indicating better flow
Little to no suction out of filter outlet
Still have flashing flo error
Replaced circ pump
Still have flo error
Still little to no suction out of filter outlet

Thoughts before I replace the pressure switch?

[SerjicalStrike]

Does the flashing FLO go away when you turn the two speed pump on?

What are you using for chemicals?

[clover]

"Flashing Flo" indicates inadequate water flowing through the heater and disables the heater circuit. 

the flow switch, or pressure switch is the "messenger", replacing it will not increase the pressure, or flow of water through it.  Indications are, you have a flow restriction, or poor "suction" from the pump caused by something in the wet end reducing the suction ability to move water.  Then again, it could be a dirty filter, simply take it out, but you indicate little to no suction pressure at the suction fitting which is the root cause of the problem.

[Frogmangmg]

Thanks SerjicalStrike and Clover:

Further trouble shooting:

No, the flashing flo does not go away when the 2 speed pump is on. My local tech says the circ pump system is independent from the 2 speed pump given it is a 2000 Sundance. He suggested the following:

1. Remove the white connector to see if the circ pump goes off, he was trying to determine that the relay was good. I did this and in fact it did turn off the circ pump.
2. Tie together the white and black wires up at the pressure switch to test and see if the flo error goes away. Did this, no it did not go away.
3. I removed the wires completely up at the pressure switch, meaning took the sensor out of the circuit back to the circuit board

Clover- Filter is out, little to no suction still. But, the pressure flow switch is touching the peg. Before all this I put my hose in the outlet of the filter to push water in thinking I had a bubble in the line, not sure I mentioned that.


Can I flush out the hoses from the outlet of the circ pump?

Aside, I don't recall ever having very much suction at all at the outlet of the filter bay, I could be wrong, only felt the very slow gentle outlet of water where the outlet is in the side of the tub (hot water outlet)

Now what?

Thanks again.

[clover]

The circ pump draws water from one end of the filter, while the other end of the filter goes onto a pipe stem for Pump one to draw water through the other end of the filter.  On the circ pump end, you have a grid screen covering the suction into the circ pump end, check the grid screen to be clean and clear of any debris. 

Under similar conditions, I have found plastic candy wrappers covering the filter circ grid screen, but they were invisible to the eye.

[SerjicalStrike]

On a 2000 and 2001 Altamar, the circulation pump and the 2 speed pump are connected.  Turning on the 2 speed pump will push water through the circ pump. 

If the 2 speed pump running does not cause the flashing flow to go away and there is plenty of water coming out of the heat return, and the flow switch is closed (both pieces touching) you have a bad flow switch.