Sailing_Faith

FWIW, First, isnt it great we are still using these spas? I have an old soverign, that I use all the time! Glad yours is still in in sevice, hope you get your issue resolved. The 'door interlock' is easily fixed by taking the magnet off of the door and tapeing it to the pick up. Mine has been like that since I got it. Also, I know mine will 'run' for about 5 min as you say, if I drain and refill without 'burping' the heater. I think what happens is the heater core has air, and goes into an overtemp. What I do to keep this from happening is to lift it up while the spa is starting up (like after a re-fill). I tilt it back and forth to rid it of any air bubbles. Good luck!

This weekend the Perseids Meteor Showers can be seen late Saturday night into the early morning hours of Sunday. An early morning crescent moon won't be visible until a few hours before sunrise so the night sky will remain dark for these meteors. Find a viewing area away from light pollution and bring lawn chairs, hammock or whatever makes you comfortable. More information at : http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors

Geminid Metior Shower continues tonight. Had a great night watching last night... soaked for almost 3 hours! Supposed to be a good night tonight... turn those lights off and enjoy the show!

I have a similar vintage HS Sovereign... ... all the replies are good, but FWIW there is something that I have not heard mentioned. On my spa I occasionally have to 'burp' the heater when I refill the tub. If it has air trapped in it, it will do EXACTLY what you describe. I assume the heating element is partially exposed (where the air gets trapped) and gets too hot and trips. What I do is to tip it up to purge the bubbles out... make it tip with the connetors up. You will hear air escape. I do this a few times, right after I turn the pump on and it seems to prevent the problem you are having. (maybe newer heaters have a better 'purge' system, but our mid / late 90's models don't seem to. Good luck!

I have a HS Sovereign, and while it is quite a bit older.. the issue of the 110v is the same. The heater does turn off when the jets are on, but frankly I would be amazed if you were to notice much of a difference. Water temp does not fall that quickly, I soak most days and have never had more then a degree of so of change... Seriously doubt you would ever be able to tell the difference.

I "believe" this is a drain line to ensure that when you empty the tub, you do not leave water in the heater to freeze and crack it. In my 94, I have these from both the heater and the main pump, which makes sense since you would not want water to sit in the pump housing either that might freeze and crack it.

Many spa's are 110v. Some have a 20a plug, which will not plug into a normal outlet. You don't want to use an extension cord though, and here is why. Most spa manufacturers will say not to, and it is only partially due to safety considerations. The conductors will supply current, but for every foot of cord there is resistance. This produces a decrease in voltage, and will cause the spa to draw more current. You can damage your heater, control board, even the pump motor by running it on the lower voltage you will likely get from an extension cord. Add to that the very real danger with a non-weather proof connection (and the aforementioned water/electricity issues) and you have a bad idea. The remote outlet will require a run of wire sufficiently sized for the distance from the outlet back to the electrical panel. It really is important to do this. Please don't use an extension cord with your spa.

There is nothing wrong with an old post if it has a relevant discussion. I am glad that I get bumped from time to time... even if I am a bit past being relevant.

I am getting ready to duct tape my cover also.... ... it is so heavy from the water that it takes 2 people to move it. My local Hot Spring dealer wants $450 for one, there was another spa shop that had one for $350, but they went out of business.

Lights out soaking alert! Don't miss the Orionids this week. Here is a link. Looks like the moon may make it tougher to see... but hey, it is not much of a strain to lean your head back and stare at the sky while soaking is it>?

BTW, Just for the sake of any who may search and find this thread in the future. The mechanical T-stat on the 94 HS tubs was replaced by a kit with a small circuit board and a thermistor (like the newer spas have). The reason for the switch is the copper wire from the Mechanical T-stat was routed right next to the terminals on the heater relay... and could easily short out. HS no longer lists the part number for the original Watkins mechanical T-stat. I purchased the one for a 96 HS Classic... it is nearly the same..

What I do is to take the hose and put it up to the circ pump return (where the hot water comes out) and I kind of cup my hand over it... .. the pressure from the hose forces most of the air back through and out the filters.... .. works ok for me.

I have no experience with an LA spa, however as a long term owner of a used spa I would recommend you heed the advice to enjoy a soak test. Make sure the ground around the spa is not wet, and run it through a cycle before you get in. The deposits may only show on one side if the spa if the prior owner opened the cover half way when they used it (as I do). I would not be afraid of this. The soak test will tell you a lot. It is worth the money saved to by a used spa I have been quite happy with mine. Good luck!

I am sorry you are having trouble with Hot Spring. My experience with them is just the opposite. Even owning a second hand spa that is 16 years old (many spas are junk in 1/4 of that time).... I go in, the local dealer treats me like I am a friend. He will help me, happy to chat about the spa... no agenda (I thought I wanted to add an ozone system, and he talked me out of it). Those rare times when something breaks, they really jump through hoops for me. My local dealer is making a nationwide search for the original thermostat I want.. they have the new replacement in stock, but are willing to go an look for the one I want. Very good company. I would dearly love to buy a new spa from them, but this retired / disabled vet is just happy to have the hot water soak that makes my life so much more worth living.

Ok, THANKS to all who helped me! Next question... it looks like HS has replaced this stat with a 'thermostat kit' that is $100! Now I understand some had problems that lead to this, but mine has worked sing 94 (pretty low failure rate). Can I use another 'mechanical' thermostat (for $26) or do I NEED to $100 conversion kit?

The only way for that relay to click is for that coil to get 12 VDC now it could be happening intermittently. On the tstat knob turn it all the way off. Then rotate it to all the way up and all the way down. While doing this verify where it is kicking on and off. Keeping rotating it like this about 5 - 6 times. It should always kick on in the same spot and always kick off in the same spot. It sounds to me like the tsat is acting up. 1994 HS spas did have a problem with mechanical tstats. Does your spa have a mechanical or electronic tstat? It has two push on connectors on top. It has a regular bare copper wire that leads to a bulb that slides into the heater... not sure what you are asking for... I did try to read the connector on the t-stat to ground and got 0vdc... but then if it is shorted to ground I guess that is what I would get. Funny you mention the issue of it clicking in the same place every time. It seems to click near the bottom of the range, (h2o temp is currently 70f).. the thing is if I sweep it several times, it may only click once every few sweeps... but it seems to happen at the same point when it does. Should I be able to read 12vdc on the input to the t-stat from the control board? Is the DC ground common with the chassis (ac) ground? (on edit) Ok, I answered this question... I know they would not use the chassis as the DC ground. I just put the meter across the two terminals on top of the t-stat and guess what? I read 17v (control voltage). So I sweep it through the range a few times and find the voltage drops momentarily for a click... but never goes to 0v as it would if the t-stat were turning on. So... looks like a t-stat to me now. Do you agree?

The only way for that relay to click is for that coil to get 12 VDC now it could be happening intermittently. On the tstat knob turn it all the way off. Then rotate it to all the way up and all the way down. While doing this verify where it is kicking on and off. Keeping rotating it like this about 5 - 6 times. It should always kick on in the same spot and always kick off in the same spot. It sounds to me like the tsat is acting up. 1994 HS spas did have a problem with mechanical tstats. Does your spa have a mechanical or electronic tstat? It has two push on connectors on top. It has a regular bare copper wire that leads to a bulb that slides into the heater... not sure what you are asking for... I did try to read the connector on the t-stat to ground and got 0vdc... but then if it is shorted to ground I guess that is what I would get. Funny you mention the issue of it clicking in the same place every time. It seems to click near the bottom of the range, (h2o temp is currently 70f).. the thing is if I sweep it several times, it may only click once every few sweeps... but it seems to happen at the same point when it does.

We have had a couple of nannies overdue for delivery for a while. Our 'Oreo' was raising a fuss so I went to see what was going on. She had two (typical for a Nannie goat). Here are some pictures of them, just minutes old. Here is a video of momma cleaning them up; Here is 'tootsie' taking her first drink; Here they are both standing... only 5 minutes or so old! You can see 'Taffy' hamming it up for the camera. Here is the proud papa; http://bibleforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=8138&d=1256709068

I am not getting 12vdc to the coil of the heater control relay. I am getting an occasional relay click when I sweep the thermostat through the bottom end of it's range... but if there is voltage to the coil it is coming on and back off faster then the meter can respond to. I know the circ pump rely is getting energized, the circ pump is running. It appears to me that the circ pump relay is wired to interupt the ground to the heater... is suspect this is the way the heater is disconnected when the main pump runs. (115v system, IIRC the heater drops off when the pump runs). This leaves me thinking the control board is bad (the no 12vdc output)... but I can not figure out what is making the relay click... I sure hate to continue changing parts like this. Any tips from here?

Two tests are all you need, first of all, test the voltage across the heater element leads, they should read 220v if you are set up 220, or 110v if you are set up 110, secondly, check amperage draw with either an amp meter or having someone click the heater on and watch the dial on your house electrical meter for a sudden increase in speed. In most homes, a 5.5 kw heater will make a meter wheel kick around in about 5-1/2 seconds, significantly slower when the heater is off. Volts but no amps = bad element No volts = control system issue, such as a hi limit. Thanks, but as I said above. I have already changed the element.... and the control relay. I am trying to troubleshoot the rest of the control circuit. I appreciate any help.

Ok, The plot thickens. PLEASE help if you have any clues for me... I am without a schematic here and would appreciate any help. First, the heater core was reading open between the two round pins. So, that was bad, and has been replaced. However, upon replacement... still no heat. I opened the control box, and located the heater control relay. I could hear it click as I turned the thermostat so I ASSumed it was bad an purchased a replacement from my local dealer. I replaced the relay... still no heat. Here is what I know. The diode across the coil of the heater reads the same in both forward and reverse bias.. but it is an anti-chatter diode anyway so I am not too concerned.. Any suggestions?

Ok, So now the spa is not heating at all. The strangeness continues though. The heater has 3 pins, two round (like the ground on a regular 110v plug) and one flat. I have tired to read resistance and can find nothing on any combination of pins.... so the heater element is bad right? But wait a minute... I also tried to read the voltage coming from the the plug the heater plugs into (on the control box). I moved the thermostat up and down, and can hear the relay clicking but get no voltage on the plug side... ???? I am wondering if the control box has a provision to cut the power when the heater reads open? What resistance would I normally read on a HS 115v heater? I would expect it to be a normal resistive load of somewhere around 200 ohms...

Ok, I have been happily soaking in my HS Sovereign for a couple of years now. I poured a new slab for it, and moved it (closer to the bedroom). It is in a nice place, it is elevated where I can watch my heard of goats while I soak... (they are quite green with envy, they can not get in). So I moved the tub, filled it up, and it has a leak. The weird thing is that the leak only happens when the spa is full more then half way up the tile line... (so it is not much of an issue)... What IS an issue is that the heater comes on, and will run for as long as it takes to reach 90-94 deg. Now my spa will normally run as high as 112, I like it at 106-108 in the winter, and around 102 in the summer. I can turn the dial down, and it will cool, and then the heater will come on to warm it up to 84... but turning it all the way up only gets to 90 to 94.... it is like the thermostat has lost it's calibration. THe relay seems to click, and the heater heats... it seems to be in the control section. ANy suggestions?

Yea, wow. My Hot Spring Soverign has been happily boiling human flesh since 1994.... just now have a couple minor issues.... better stay far away!

What a wonderful show last night! Hope everyone caught it.