Buckster

Let the air escape from the outlet (higher point). You may hear a little air escape but it may be subtle depending on how much air there is. Just loosen it until you see water start to escape and then you should be ok. The water won't hurt anything, don't close it too soon. Ok, i let the water run for a bit so now I hope it heats up.

Great thanks, this is what I thought. I tried this last time but did not do a good enough job, so I guess I will need to make sure this time.

I refilled the tub today and went to turn the breaker on and heard the circ pump sputter a bit. I immediately turned it off and notice that there is about 12 inches of air stuck between the heater and the circ pump. the last time this happened, I burned up the heater. Is their a way to be sure that all of the air is out before I start it again. Thanks..Bucky

I have the silentflo 5000 in my tub now and it just stopped working. It had appeared to be a bit tired for the last few months, so this was expected. I was wondering if any of you have had very many problems with the new replacement model "E-5"? Should I try and fix the one I have or get the newer version?

I recently installed a new panel and heater in my tub. I was wondering, how can you tell if the circ pump needs replaced? It seems to be moving less volume than before the change. I used to see a stream of water shoot out about 8 inches into the filter area; now I see a small trickle. MY tub heated from 55 to 105 in about 6 hours after the install. Thanks to those who helped out with my panel install.

Have you had a chance to test the heater yet? Any progress? ...I sent you another email Ok, so I found out my heater was still good but missing the thermistor input. Apparently the input to the no-fault 6000 was broke broke so the tech (not hot springs) tried to tape it to one of the hoses. I purchased a new heater and a control panel to finally fix it correctly. And thanks to Dan's tips on wiring the control panel and using needle nose vice grips to replace the heater with very little water spillage the tub is up and running as of 1130am:) I went to work for a bit and upon arriving home I noticed that there is not much flow coming from the cir pump. The reason I think this, is because I usually have a pretty good stream of water spilling into the compartment where the filters are located. Now I have a very small trickle of water. The tub has heated up to about 80 degrees though. Do I need to replace this too?

Thanks, I will post pics on the board here when i figure it out. I did find the new titanium no fault heater on line for 269, much better than 465. I have not tested the one have just yet though.

I have been able to get those relays in the past...let me check today. Set the meter for OHMS (upside down horseshoe) and put the leads on the black and white terminals from the heater while it is disconnected. Make sure you have tried the hi-limit reset on the side first. You should get a reading around 9.0 - 12.0 or something like that. If it reads OL then the heater is bad. Thanks for your help, I will check the heater and if it is dead I will probably just get a new pack (I heard they only used the heater I have for a year or two because it had problems) then I will have digital side controls anyway. I have been looking at the the Smart Touch 1000 with the 15 inch heater for 479. I am checking out the the balboa stuff too. 900 dollars for the control board and heater seems a bit rough but maybe the 479 spa pack replacement seems to good to be true.

Did you get your dealer mad at you somehow? Or do you live in the UK? Yes, the heater relays are on a board by themselves. If that is all you need to replace - and that is exactly WHY HS put them on their own board BTW - then you can replace just the Heater Realy Board. As to 'rebuilding your tribend heater' I am interested to hear what was done. I didn't know they could even be opened, let alone rebuilt. Not sure how he rebuilt the heater either. The dealer didn't believe it was possible, but the guy told me he use to work for hotsprings and told me that they would tell me it wasn't possible.

Nope, didn't make the dealer mad . I took them a pic of what I had and they told me I should replace both relays. They also told me that those relays are not available so I will need to update my control board for 550 dollars. And the heater upgrade would be 465. Yes, I do have the IQ2000. Also, I do have a fluke 77 just don't know how to check continuity. If the heater is bad, I may just consider a new balboa pack. appreciate the help

Man, had someone fix my hot tub and I think they did a pretty crazy wiring job. I had a guy rebuild my tribend no-fault 6000 heater. It all worked for about a month and now one of the wires on the heater relay panel fried in half. Anyone know if these can be replaced. It seems like they could be, they unplug very easily fronm the panel; it's only 2 black boxes. If I can figure out how to post a pic I will. The dealer says I need a new board/panel for 550 bucks. Right now everything els works just no heater. Also, if I do need another heater, the dealer wants 465$. Do you guys have any other suggestions?

I could see this if this was some old spa and the replacement part wasn't available or maybe if the replacements kept failing but this is kind of crazy. The OEM heater should last 5 to 10 years. The homemade heater should last ??? years. The service guy may be a whiz and what he does may work but are the savings/year worth it? Thanks for the responses, he is charging me 120 for parts and labor. I thought that this sounded a little crazy, even after I found the heater on-line for $220 brand new. So, if i have to do this again in 6 months i will not be worth it. I called the local Hotsprings dealer and they were not very helpful, tried to get me to replace the flow pump too but it seems to work fine. The tech that is doing the work on my tub thinks that watkins is pretty ridiculous on their pricing so he tires to avoid them if he can. I did a bit of research before i bought this tub and most reviews were very positive. The good thing is, I have no leaks and I can get parts if needed.

I do have it GFI protected, and the tech has a pretty good reputation so i hope it all works out. I have searched through a couple of forums and have not found any topics dealing with hot tub modifications. I will try and post pics of the install later.

My local service tech with 16 years experience is installing a home made heater tomorrow with parts from lowes. He is a calspa dealer but of course services anything. I have read over and over again that hotsprings makes it very difficult to avoid using their watkins parts. My service tech made the heater that includes areas for the high and low thermo controls. He also added a flow switch that was not there before and he thinks it should be to protect the element. The reason for all of this is it will be easy to repair later if needed, and i wont have to pay the 230 dollars for the no-fault 6000 on line price. This sounds i bit dangerous to me...have any of you tried this approach?