Leisure Bay Hot Tub - Balboa Controller

[stubones99]

I have a leisure bay hot tub with a balboa S3 controller and was changing the water a week or so ago. I emptied it out and cleaned it and filled it back up. I started it back up once the water got nearly full and it stopped at the PR prompt.

The heater works normally as does the low speed filter pump.

The jet pump does not work, the jet light on the display lights up, the relay on the board clicks but no pump and no jets.

One guy said it needed to be primed, and that air was in the pump. He also said I should refill the water by adding it through the filter hole, not just adding it to the tub.

Today, I drained it again, and refilled it like he said but no luck.

I have checked all the fuses on the board and none appear to be blown.

If I were a gambler, the relay that clicks is the one on the main board, on the top left of the board but that's a guess. It's hard to tell which clicks in such a confined space.

Is there a controller reset (CTRL-ALT-DEL of sorts) to reset everything and make it try again?

Where does it check for pressure or priming on the main jet pump?

I called a very unhelpful person at Balboa who said unless I was an industry professional, he couldn't help me... thanks dude.

Mine does not appear to have a blower, and it seems the only electricals behind the controller are the LED lights under the waterfall and on the opposite side.

I guess the next step is to get the VOM out and see if there is power at the back of the jet pump, or at least at the jet pump connectors

There are two pin sensors in the heater pipe along the bottom of the Balboa box, and (surprise) they squirt water out their holes when you remove them. I assume they are temp sensors feeding the input and output temp to the controller.

It does not report a problem any more, but no jet pump. If you touch the jet pump button, it will click the relay, and light the light on the display but not fire up the pump?

Has anyone ever seen this? is there a cure?

thanks!
Stu

[PreservedSwine]

Just check voltage to the pump at the main circuit-board. You don't need to get to the pump to check the voltage, check at the pump harness on the circuitboard.

A bad pump is a normal failure, just as you have described it.