CdnTubber

So...after taking the summer off I decided to take another crack at this. With the hot tub drained I thought it would be a good idea to try replacing the last thing that I hadn't replaced thus far which was the heater. Filled up the tub and have been problem free for over a week. I'm really not sure if it was just the heater as these heating elements have 3 components: the element, the pressure switch and the sensor. I had replaced the pressure switch and the sensor on the previous heater and it didn't fix it so I would think those weren't the issue however it is possible that I didn't install them right. The other possiblity (and its a strech) is that when I first installed this hot tub last year it worked fine for the first week and then I noticed I had a leak. I used the FIx a Leak stuff and it seemed to stop the leak however I always wondered if that compound affected the heating element. At first the hot tub would shut off past 101 but after taking the original element apart and cleaning what I could see, the hot tub would then get up to 102 before shutting off. Anyway....all food for thought. If I could do it all over again, I would have replaced just the heater for the $150 it cost verus the sensor (technican and sensor was $200) or the pressure switch $20. Anyway...hindsight is 20/20.

So it looks like I spoke too soon. I ran the tub for three days at 104 and zero problems. I went back out today to see the damn OH error blinking. Lets recap, I've replaced the sensors, the board, the pressure switch and the circulation pump and I'm still getting the damn error. I tried running with no filters and that didn't work either. I have even removed the circulations lines and checked to ensure no blockage in there. I even took apart the heater to make sure it was clean. I really don't know what to do right now.

Hey Issac. Thanks for the post. I hadn't actually seen your answer till now but I can confirm that it was the circulation pump. What was happening is that the cooling fan for the motor wasn't turning on so the pump would get extremely hot. This heat would transfer through the shaft and into the impeller and into the water. If I set the tub temperature to 101, then the heat going in from the circ pump would add some heat but not enough to take it up to that 108 cut off for the OH error. If I set it any higher it would. Long story short is that I'm happy I found the problem. I didn't know much about my hot tub until this but I can say its helped me figure out most parts on the tub. Hopefully I won't have any more issues but I feel more confident to solve them if I do.

So here is what I've done. I replaced the temp sensors. No change. I replaced the control board. No change except I got a new error of FL which I found was an issue with the pressure switch. Changed the pressure switch and got rid of the FL error but now back to OH error. The circ pump and jet pump are both moving water but I don't know if they are moving 'enough' like you state above. So here's the million dollar question...do I replace the circ pump or just take the whole thing to the dump?

Damn....I was eagerly reading your story here as I think I am going through the exact same thing. For a while now my tub was giving the OH alarm. I could usually reset it after a few minutes and ultimately found that if I kept my tub at 101F then it was fine. That was was good until the other night when I discovered that my tub had shut down on the OH again but it wouldn't reset. Both jet lights were on and there was a intermittant humming coming from the jet area. I opened the panel and found there was a burned smell but I couldn't tell for sure from what part. At this point the circ pump will try to go on and will hum but then nothing. Shortly after the jet pump tries to go on with a louder buzz but nothing. Ultimately my tub is cooling by the hour and I'm not sure what to do about it. If its a capacitor, then it should be no problem. Circ pump or jet pump...more of a problem but not easy. Control board...yikes. I was really hoping your story had an end but not yet.

It ran for days at 101 and had no problems what so ever so I have ordered a new board but before putting it in I was wondering if I was misssing something. Is there a default setting or something on the touchpad itself that perhaps would limit this? I don't think its a calibration issue as my thermometer is reading what the touchpad says. I know I can adjust my filter cycles but I don't know if there is more info that I can access by pressing the right combination of buttons. Its a Balboa touchpad.

Is there any way to identify that or do I have to replace the circ pump and see if that works?

I have an older (2000) hot tub with Balboa controls. I have been dealing with an OH error recently that has me and my service tech confused. When I have the hot tub set to 101F, there is no issues. Once I set it to 102 or higher I get the OH error ( not immediately but eventually). We have replaced both the temp sensor and the hi limit sensor with no changes. I have noticed that one of my jets has no flow but I haven't been able to see any wear on the pump or airlock in the line. The last line is to change out the board but I was wondering if there is something else we're not thinking about? Perhaps a different mode setting or default setting? Thanks in advance.