ps558

Yes you can leave water in the spa below the tiles. If you a mesh cover check on it once in a while or if is solid cover you are OK. I was always told to leave water in the pools/spas over the winter just in case of ground movement and I think it really helps the plaster also

Your first problem is the circ pump is not going to pump enough to satisfy the balboa heater probes. i would email Balboa to make sure. balboawatergroup.com. The barb fitting to the jet pump is to force warm water to the pump because they do not turn by way of a freeze protection. If you decide to go with a circ pump you will need to bypass the heater from the jet pump and somehow connect the circ pump with a inlet to the heater then to the spa. You can try to leave the plumbing the way it is and adding a loop that includes the circ pump, but i would think if the circ pump is running and the jet pump is turned on it will starve the smaller pump. You would also need to configure the dip switches for the circ pump on the balboa pack. if you are trying to save electric the new balboa packs with 3 hp pumps pull the same amount of electric as a hotspring circ pump and heater about 21.6 amps. When you get your pack set it up for short filter cycles or run it in economy mode. Even with short cycles it will filter the water when heating and forget that circ pump. The best energy savings is a good spa cover

Looks like you did everything correct to me. Its how i do it

Yes parts are available. Its been a while since I seen one, but the parts are available.

First off I am a dealer not a manufacture. I have been to 2 different plants to see how they are made. The info here is here is for spa made by the larger companies like Jacuzzi, Sundance, Watkins Etc. I will not tell which prices go with what, so don't ask. My manufacture has engineers, pays for warranty after manufactures runs out if needed and they are always making improvements to the product. In the last 2 years the warranty calls are next to none which keeps cost down too. I pay between $1500 to $6500.00 per tub. Of course price goes by intro model to top of the line. Now if I buy 10 or more I get a 3% discount per spa then a discounted shipping rate of $300 for each spa. If I buy 1 tub I pay full price and $650.00 shipping. Now that $6500 tub cost me $7150. MSRP for the $6500 tub is $13,000. Without special financing which is harder to get for spas if at all. I pay for the spas. I take $500 buck off MSRP right away so in the show room that spa $12,500. which includes cover, GFCI Kit, Chemicals and Delivery. Only the cover comes with spa. Now that spa is $7369 cost. I know that spa will not sell at $12,500 Most get sold average $10,500. The extras is were there the bigger margins come from. Just like extended warranties for cars. So if that spa is sold for 10,500 you would think I make $3131.00 profit right. No Way I have to deliver it with a truck and trailer and 4 guys at about $120 an hour. Most come out to $200 in labor. There is also in store how to after set from the salesperson and that cost $100 Plus the 3% commission I pay or $315.00. So now were down to $2516.00 now wait I still had to pay salesperson an hourly wage while it was being sold plus if it sat for awhile make payments on the loan. If it was running cost of electric and chemicals. All comes off the bottom line. There are plenty of variables of what could affect the profit. I average $1750 on top of the line models and it goes down from there. If a cheaper spa is sold the profit drops because all the delivery and labor do not. The plug and play spas forget it we are talking maybe $250 profit. Before you ask I don't pay $30.00 an hour to employees this is wage plus what the company pays for. I also sell in area were every one is very frugal and right now it is tuff to sell a spa. Every 6 months or so prices go up in shipping or cost of the tub. If that tub or tubs sits for a longer period I break even. If you want a tub ordered you pay $12,000 for it. This why every salesperson/owner want to sell the most expensive model. Places like Big box make deals to get spas and trash the warranty. You pay for warranty in the cost of tub why do you think the cheap ones don't have a 5 year warranty. Plus can off set the spas with other merchandise. Jacuzzi used to make cheap spas for the home center which were pretty decent, just no warranty, insulation, and cheap cabinet. So what Does it cost to make a decent tub Top of the line I guess $3200. Remember manufactures can make deals buy covers, jets, fittings, control packs, in bulk or under a contract. The companies who flood the market which below average spas don't last long. Look what happened to tatum there gone. Wall Street Journal pick Jacuzzi/Sundance to default. Maax was bought, D1 tried to diversify, Masco who owns Watkins sales are down in there plumbing division were the spas are with Delta faucets but they are still around why, Quality product which dealer support. I am lucky no big box stores here stock spas and if they do its only a short period and another building supply store sold Keys spas and now QCA but no service after the sale. I don't know if will clear anything up or not, just though you might like a general idea

Were you using the gas heater or the spas heater. If it was the spa heater that does seem a little slow but still within normal limits for some. What is the volts across both heater legs? From reading your post it looks like you were testing between nuetral and a leg one at a time. If the heater itself is only getting a total of 120 volts the KW rating is about half and will take longer to heat than a 230 volt heater. The best way to test in with a clamp on ammeter to measure current draw.

That is the going rate. What is wrong with the spa? If your pack has a standard 15 inch heater and 2 spa pumps You might do better with a new spa pack. I buy from these guys and they are very Knowledgable about what they sell. http://www.cedartubsdirect.com/?zenid=bdc3...54c4f90cdb43da8

It is the thermal trip in the back of the motor. It is a very thin piece of copper. The true way to test it is to test the amp draw while the motor is running to see if it the same as the nameplate.There is only 1 style pump that works with a softub and needs to be from a softub dealer because of the tubes wrapping around the motor to heat the water Every chance as this setup has been messed with. I presume that if the wrong pump has been installed then the load from the pump will be causing the excess amp draw, and the overheat. Do you know what a proper amp draw from a softub motor should be? They are all 115 volts and about 10-12 amps. The amp draw has nothing to do with thermal overload. The motor winding are overheating from loss of insulation. Age is a factor or poor motor manufacturing

Seal are available from any pool spa store or online. If the pumps run without a screeching sound, the motor should ok. Prices for pumps range a great deal starting around $279.00. If you want to go that way make sure it is replaced with same horsepower and voltage. Also pipe connection 1.5 or 2 inch. From the pic It looked like a Waterways, without a better pic I am not sure, but the seal would be a ps1000 or as1000

It is the thermal trip in the back of the motor. It is a very thin piece of copper. The true way to test it is to test the amp draw while the motor is running to see if it the same as the nameplate.There is only 1 style pump that works with a softub and needs to be from a softub dealer because of the tubes wrapping around the motor to heat the water

That is a seal leak. from the looks of it been leaking for awhile. Pull the pump, remove the front cover to gain access to impeller. You somehow have to hold the motor shaft from spinning, The rear of the motor should have a cap covering the the motor shaft. The shaft should have a slot in it to hold with a big screwdriver. While holding the shaft try to unscrew the impeller. This looks like a waterways pump which is a real pain to remove impellers. If the pump does not run quiet the front bearing is rusting and then I would replace the entire pump with the same horsepower and voltage

If it one of the new Balboa spa packs on inside of the front cover there is a charts to set the circ pump options

Heat pumps are designed to be set and forget. If you want 80 degree water all the time a heat pump is the way to go. If the temp is at 80 and you want 90 the heat pump won't do it fast. A heat pump which is electric uses the outside air to heat the water. Any temp under 65 a heat pump loses efficentcy. If you get a few days of cool weather the heat pump will run but won't heat very much. If you decide to get a heat pump make sure its rating is 6 and has a auto defrost. A gas heater can heat about a degree an hour. Your heater is old and should be replaced. The new heaters are much better and most are rated about 78-84 % efficent. The other nice thing with a gas heater is if your busy and don't use the pool it can recover faster than a heat pump. If there is a spa attacthed to the pool you will want a 300, 000 btu or larger for fast spa heat. I like Raypack the best, simple and quiet running. Hayward has a nice fan assisted one that works well. I personally would stay away from Jandy heaters. Always need repairs and parts are not cheap. Also it you bad a water chemistry or have bad supply water that is hard to balance get a heater with cupro nickel heat exchnger. That is a option for Raypack, but standard on Hyward Make sure your solar system has a bypass install. Running solar at night can or will cool the water.

The only complaint I have with HotSpring is they jets are not low enough for a real good lower back therapy. I mean right above the butt. The Maax 471 had deeper seats for lower back. didn't to much for the moto sage thing either

Use magilube not vasoline What are your PH and total alkinlinity readings? Were are you getting these pumps from? If you keep replacing pumps and these pumps are all the same new ones from the same place somebody is doing something wrong. Alot of places buy motors and install a wet end on them to make a pump. It is a common practice and works if installed correctly. Putting lube on them won't do anything because of the way the pump seals are made. You can try to use a pump seal with viton rubber. The link you have shows some really cheap pumps. I bet they are refurbished models using junk pump seals.

Just so you know any modifications or use of a different brand of cover lifter void the cover warranty. Kinda sucks Watkins does this, read your warranty info

There are only 3 multiport valves that will work with this filter. 1 with 1.5 inch pipe sp0710xr50 1 with 2 inch pipe sp0715xr50 1 is only a 4 postion valve and you don't want that one. There is no left or right to choose from. I have noticed that the pictures online do not match the product being sold. The one picture I saw is a valve for a side mount sand filter. If you standind in front of the filter the the in and out are on the right the backwash are the left

Nothing. It is connected for you the the grounding bar were you install the ground from your breaker panel

Where are you located? Cost to operate is less on 220v --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am located in Michigan! Seems like the Hot Spring energy guaranty states that 110 is cheaper???????? It will cheaper on 110 from the guide because they know it will never turn that heater on while the therapy pump is running thus consumes less energy. The guides that are printed are worthless, because no two hot tubs get used the exact same way. Save yourself the grief and connect to 220 volts

The spa pack can run a ozone gen, but there doesn't need to be one it is a available option. the ozone would only come on during a filter cycle so it should not have hurt anythng. I would plug the pump into the pump plug and give it a try

With spa running is there water moving in the tub? You could have a air lock at the pump. Also was there any error codes on the controller? Last try to run it without the filter installed. It there was any connectors that were removed to replace the heater make sure they are back in

It has been rumored that Maax was going let the Coleman license expire at the end of the agreement. That 3 years ago from a factory support staff. I never really had anyone by a Coleman tub because it said Coleman on the side. I always explained that they were made by Maax Spas. Maax did have to follow some guidelines from the Coleman Company, but I think it is better that the name is gone from the product line. Coleman is not what it used to be as far as products go. Just like the article says and I agree most people really don't fuss about who makes the tub. They all call them a jacuzzi anyways

If there is no name on the outside of the spa. Take the panel off were the control panel is and there should be a nameplate some were on the inside were the pumps and control box is. Also while it is open make sure all the unions are tight at the pumps and heater. You will have to fill it to see if it will hold water

Check in the incoming voltage at the spa. One leg could out which could try to run the pump on a lower voltage and will not start. I am leaning more towards a pc board problem from what you are describing from above.

NO, No pool heater should ever be modified to anything else except what it designed to do. A Modified heater will restrict the proper air flow and will shorten the life of any heater