No Power To Heater In Hotspring Spa

[bodeekwa]

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

jets but no heat

Looks correct. Test the power in - specifically at 1 and 3 on the juncion block. If you have 220 there, but still no power out to the heater - at the black and white wires which go to the power cord for the heater - then you have a bad heater relay board.

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

I am only getting 110v from the main panel. What does that mean?

May I assume you mean that you have only 110 volts when you put the leads on the black and read wires going into the sub panel? If so -

That means that both sides of the 50 amp breaker are on the same 'phase.'

You need to figure out how to position the two-pole breaker in your main house panel in such a way that it will have each half of the breaker on its own phase. That will give you 110 volts red to neutral and black to neutral, but 220 from red to black.

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

i have 110v on the red and 110v on the black on the main panel in the house. I guess that is correct?

Where in the subpanel am I suppose to get 220v? I have a red prong and a black prong on my testers.

Put the red prong on the red wire and black prong on the black wire. That is supposed to read 220 volts, give or take.

If it read nothing, you have the circuit breaker installed wrong.

[bodeekwa]

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[bodeekwa]

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[nsin]

You either have a bad relay board, bad thermistors, bad control head, bad pressure switch(if heater has one) or the neutral wire on wrong breaker. Was it working fine they way its wired before? Check relays any dark marks around them, sometimes you cant tell. You have to remove it.

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

Yes, I got 220v when I put the red on red and black on black.

PERFECT.

Now, the white wire that is coming from the hot tub from the 5th position in the IQ2020 control board, does that connect to the 20 amp or 30 amp breaker in the subpanel. I had it connected to the 20 amp, but I dont seem to have power going to the heater, and when I connect it to the 30 amp breaker, the 20 amp breaker trips.

IT GOES ON THE 20

Now - check the voltage coming out of the board and going to the heater. That would be were the heater wires plug in. Take them off, and touch your meter probes to the place they were connected. One probe to the place where the black whire was, and one probe to the place where the white wire was.

[Chas]

You either have a bad relay board, bad thermistors, bad control head, bad pressure switch(if heater has one) or the neutral wire on wrong breaker. Was it working fine they way its wired before? Check relays any dark marks around them, sometimes you cant tell. You have to remove it.

One step at a time -

If the Thermistors were bad, the board would self-diagnose and flash the red or green light.

If the neutral wire is on the wrong breaker, usually the other breaker trips immediately.

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

ok, i have 220 where the white and the black wire from the heater go. So far so good, now whats next?

OK - that means that the entire system is good, wiring to controls to relay board.

Now - set the meter to read resistance. Look for 'Ohm' or the Greek letter 'Omega' which is an upside-down horse shoe.

Turn OFF the power to the spa, and take those same two heater wires loose again. Put one probe in the black wire and one in the white. The meter should read around 10-15 ohms.

• If it does - then the heater is working and perhaps you have not given it enough time to do it's job. It can take 6 to 8 hours to heat.

• If it reads 'I' that means "inifinity" and the heater does not have a good circuit. That could mean nothing more than the reset button needs to be pressed, or it could mean the heater is bad.

Let me tell you about reset buttons - If your heater is the 'No Fault 6000" older style, it will have a small electrical box on top. It is sometimes hidden by the vinyl tubes which carry the water to and from the heater, but follow the heavy electrical cord down from the control box and you will find it at the other end.

In the center of the top of that small electrical box is a hole which is covered with a piece of what looks like packing tape. Try not to damage that tape, but push the reset button. The heater itself needs to be less than 90 degrees F before it will reset. And you have to push hard enough to hurt your finger. I use one of the door screws myself - put the flat head in your palm and press with the blunt end. You may or may not feel a slight click as it resets, but the sure-fire way to know is to look at your home's electric meter before you press it and then after.

If your heater is the "No Fault 6000" newer version, it will look like a section of a trombone,

silver in color, and have the electrical connections in a box on the floor of the equipment compartment. That reset button is low on one side - usually the hardest side to get to I might add - and you press it from the side. Same as above for heater being below 90 degrees.

If you have the brand-new version, there is no manual reset button, it is 'self resetting." They call it the 'PDR' version, which stands for "Power Down Reset." That one has twin silver tubes between to high-temp plastic/ceramic ends.

One end is larger than the other, and there is an additional small grey wire which goes up to the control box. It is about the size of a cord to a telephone.

Keep us posted.

[bodeekwa]

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[Chas]

One thing I noticed is that when I turn the hot tub on and all the jets are pumping water, it does not look like any water is flowing through the vinyl tubes to and from the heater that you mentioned.

No, there should not be any visible flow. If you have air bubbles, and they are sitting still, then you have NO flow, but if all is working as it should, you should not be able to see anything resembling water movement in the vinyl tubes.

I know it sound strange, but it's true. Now, if you open the lid to your spa and wait until the water is dead calm, you should be able to see some water movement on the surface just over the bottom drain, which is where the circ pump returns the water to the tub.

Did you find and push the reset button on that little box on top of your heater?

[bodeekwa]

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[nsin]

So, it ended up being a tripped tco. lol.Btw Op, hate to say, but ive seen a couple of those heaters go up in flames. I would replace it. Good deal on trombone (tribend) heater on ebay right now. Good luck

[Chas]

Op, hate to say, but ive seen a couple of those heaters go up in flames. I would replace it.

Actually, in your picture I see a green dot which means the heater is ok.

However, if you would be kind enough to post or PM me your serial number, I will double-check for you.

Now - here's how to keep this from happening in the future:

Keep the filter clean. If the filter on your circ pump gets dirty enough, it can slow the flow of water to the point that the heater will overheat and trip the high limit. If that happens, the red light on the control panel will flash to let you know. But if the thing gets hot enough and the filter dirty enough, it will also trip the Backup safety device - or 'reset button' on the heater. No light to tell you this one tripped.

Next - when you do a water change, of course you need to turn off the breakers. Both breakers. But when you start the spa back up again, only turn on the 20 at first. Then run the jets and get everything going. When the water is flowing through all three pumps, then you can turn on the 30 amp breaker, which powers the heater.

HTH

[2001 Grandee]

Wow, learning something new everyday. My No-fault 6000 hasn`t been working for several months. I had pushed the reset button without any click or action but have taken the above advice and used the panel screw. (hopefully I just wasn`t pushing hard enough) I`ll re-check the temp in about an hour. If this doesn`t work, how difficult is it to remove/replace this heater? Do I have to drain the spa prior to removal or can I plug the lines? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, JW

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

Wow, learning something new everyday. My No-fault 6000 hasn`t been working for several months. I had pushed the reset button without any click or action but have taken the above advice and used the panel screw. (hopefully I just wasn`t pushing hard enough) I`ll re-check the temp in about an hour. If this doesn`t work, how difficult is it to remove/replace this heater? Do I have to drain the spa prior to removal or can I plug the lines? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks, JW

It is pretty easy to replace. You can crimp the lines off with 3 pairs of needle-nosed vise grips (May have to heat up the 3/4" lines with a heat gun first). Pull the electrical terminals off, pull the water lines off, and put the new one in.

[Tor]

Yes, I got 220v when I put the red on red and black on black.

PERFECT.

Now, the white wire that is coming from the hot tub from the 5th position in the IQ2020 control board, does that connect to the 20 amp or 30 amp breaker in the subpanel. I had it connected to the 20 amp, but I dont seem to have power going to the heater, and when I connect it to the 30 amp breaker, the 20 amp breaker trips.

IT GOES ON THE 20

Now - check the voltage coming out of the board and going to the heater. That would be were the heater wires plug in. Take them off, and touch your meter probes to the place they were connected. One probe to the place where the black whire was, and one probe to the place where the white wire was.

[Tor]

Yes, I got 220v when I put the red on red and black on black.

PERFECT.

Now, the white wire that is coming from the hot tub from the 5th position in the IQ2020 control board, does that connect to the 20 amp or 30 amp breaker in the subpanel. I had it connected to the 20 amp, but I dont seem to have power going to the heater, and when I connect it to the 30 amp breaker, the 20 amp breaker trips.

IT GOES ON THE 20

Now - check the voltage coming out of the board and going to the heater. That would be were the heater wires plug in. Take them off, and touch your meter probes to the place they were connected. One probe to the place where the black whire was, and one probe to the place where the white wire was.

Hoping for some redirect advice from this point. I do not have the power going to the heater. I have pulled the plugs to the sensors and got the flashing red and green, plus measured both at 12 ohms, so they seem okay. I have a 110v Sovereign so when the jets are on the heater goes off. When I turn on the jets I believe it dropped the 110 off the red wire that goes between the two boards. (It may have added it, bottom line that portion of redirecting power seems to be operational.) I hear the relays click, though one may not be working. Any tests to confirm operation of the relays? Are these soldered on or can they be unplugged? The heater light on the control board is operating properly, ie indicates heater goes off when jets are turned on.

bad relay board - The prime suspect. How do I test/isolate to this? If I take it in, do you know the cost for a new one?

bad thermistors - If these are the sensors in the heater they are 12ohms.

bad control head - What is this?

bad pressure switch(if heater has one) - Don't think it does.

Check relays any dark marks around them, sometimes you cant tell. - No dark marks.

If I need to take the boards in for testing do I remove the relay board or pull out the entire control box.

Appreciate the resource here and pictures. Thanks...

[matt_lane]

I have replaced the heater to my tiger spa. I cannot find any reset button, so I am assuming it is the power down reset version. I am getting the green light and power to the circuit board. The two red lights, which one is the HTR, is completely off. There are two small screws in the back of the control pannel of the heater, but I assume they are just screws to hold the pannel together. I cannot find any reset button. It worked and then I emptied to clean some more. I understand it may have kicked off because the filter was dirty, but not it will not kick back on. Does that mean that I have a bad relay or I just need to find the reset button or did I burn up my heater (don't see any burnt markings at all anywhere) or ???