1998 Hotspring Wont Heat Need Help

[nelford]

Hello,


  I purchased a used hotspring and it worked when i looked at it.  After getting it home nothing worked a tech came and looked at it and said the mother board was done.   Put a new one.   It all worked but no heat.   And so according to Watkins help line I check everything and he said the Heater was not working.  So now i have put a new heater in.  New filter and the circulation pump is working i take the grey tube off and feel down there and i can feel the suction.  I would think that the outlet pipe from the heater to the tub should feel hot but it does not.   I am at a complete loss.  There is no flashing lights on the tub and the jets and lights work.  I have 118 volts coming out of both prongs on the realy from the brain.   I have no idea why this doenst work.   

Please any help

Nolan

[Chas]

Are you running 110 or 220?

First - wait. The tub will heat at about three degrees an hour on 110v, and about ten degrees an hour on 220. It will start out much slower, and only hit those 'speeds' as it gets closer to the 100 degree mark.

SO OFTEN I get calls saying the new spa I dropped off an hour ago isn't hot, what's wrong - so let's get than one out of the way first.

Next - the tubing should NOT feel hot. Maybe just warm, or slightly warmer on the outlet than the input, but not hot. Not if the water is still at tap temperatures. Later, when the tub is up to the 100 degree range, you can feel heat coming from the floor fitting, and the inlet/outlet tubes may feel different to the touch. Use an amp meter on one of the wires going to the heater. Twelve amps (wide range, but this neighborhood) for a 110 and twenty three amps for a 220. If not, then you have something wrong - the heater may have tripped the high limit. If your heater is the new PDR type, you simply have to shut if off, let it cool below 90 (may be there already if the water is still tap temperatures) and then turn the power back on.

Finally - check the voltage ACROSS the two outlets to be sure you have 220 going to the heater - if the tub is wired for 220. Crossed wiring will often show up in new installs: you only said you have 118 coming from each of the leads to the heater, you did NOT say you have 220, measured between them.

Keep us posted -

HTH

 

[nelford]

It is a 220V hard wired tub.  And i dout that the high limit has been tripped the water is still at 71 degrees.  I put the new heater in at 4 pm yesterday and its now 9am and there has been no increase in temp.  I do not have a amp meter.  When you say to check the leads to make sure there is 220V.  Do you mean to put the volt meter to the black and red wire.   If so the volt meter reads I have 0.  However even when I use the volt meter on the main breaker box in my house and i put the volt meter to the red and black terminal busses. My volt meter still reads 0.   I am not sure how to check for 220.  I thought that if you have 2 wires that have 120V you equal 240.  Or am I wrong? 

Thanks for the help

[Chas]

Bingo - that's the problem. Something wrong with the wiring. You can have 110 from hots to neutral if they are on the same phase or leg. That will show zero from leg to leg. You have a breaker installed wrong, or the wrong type of breaker. For example, if you put in a "buddy breaker" it will not give you 220.

[Chas]

And if your spa is a convertible (110/220) everything else will work but the heat. If you want, you could take one of the hot leads going to the heater (1 or 3) and land it on the neutral buss back at the box - it will give you heat until you sort things out.

 

[nelford]

Thanks for all the help.  The elctrition that hooked up needs to take training again.  It was the breaker from the main box to the sub box was only on single pole not double.  Thanks for all the help.  I will have a beer for you all in the tub.

Nolan

[Chas]

That's the LEAST you could do! Enjoy.