Tubblin

Hi everyone, I refilled my tub today (2008 Viking Eclipse Balboa spapack) water and air temp was 40deg. I was adding chemicals with the pump on high and on the second cycle of high the breaker tripped. I reset it and it immediatly tripped again. after reading on this fatastic forum I disconnected the heater and the breaker did not trip! I tested the heater posts and I have 120v on each and 240v on both. My question is: I just want to make sure that that is the problem. The tub is only 5 years old. What is the life expectacy of heaters? I keep close tabs on the ph so it won't get scale build up. Thanks for looking!

I had a similer problem and it turned out to be the top side controller.

The topside controller came with a 3M strip to attach to the shell. Everything works great!! Everyone, Thanks for your help!

I'm getting the topside controller today. Any suggestions for sealing it to the shell?

Thanks. I'll order one and post the results.

How can I test it?

Thanks for the reply. I just want to start by saying that when it pulses the Pr code is on the top side control and it does stop pulsing after about 20 times. Ok, I shut down power at the main panel and checked those connections, powered up and no change. I then powered down and checked the GFCI connections, powered up and no change. I then powered down and checked the spa pack connections, powered up and it didn't pulse! I waited for the display to show the temp then turned the pump on high and it started pulsing again. I then powered down and moved the top side controls from J2 jack to J1 jack and no change. I then unplugged the top side control and powered up and no pulsing and the pump turned on. I am stumped. I just went out there and pluged in the top side controller while the the pump was running on low and the the pump started pulsing. Any ideas?

My problem is back, but different! Now when the pump turns on (for a filter cycle or to heat) sometimes the pump will pulse (from low to high) every second for about a dozen times. After that it will either stay in high speed or low speed for the heat or filter cycle. Also, when the tub is off and I hit the jet button it will go into low speed for about a half of a second and then go into high speed, I hit the jet button again and it goes into low speed, I hit the jet button again and it goes into high speed for a half of a second and then shut off. The voltage is fine. I am not sure how to check the centrifugal switch. I thought that it was the cold so I put a little heater in the area by the spa pack, but it still does it. Any ideas? Thanks for looking.

Thanks for the advice arches2. I have printed out your response and will put it my tester box.

Thanks for the advice Chem geek. I think I'll go back to bromine. I was just hoping I could use the same sanitizer and tester (Taylor K-2006) in both the pool and spa. Can I use the R-0872-A reagent in my K-2006 tester to test for bromine? If so, what would be the procedure? Thanks for reading

Is Trichlor the same as Trichloro-s-triazinetrione tablets. The reason I'm asking is that my cya doesn't rise with these tabs like it is supposed to with Trichlor. I bought a Taylor K-2006 this year and the black dot dosen't disapear. I use these tabs in my pool and want to switch my spa from bromine tabs to these tabs so I don't have to buy both kinds of tabs.I put the recommened amount of cya in the pool(per the pool calculator) to get it up to 30ppm. I will wait a week and retest. In my pool I keep the chlorine between 2-4 with the tabs and shock with bleach at least once a week depending on load. Will that be ok for the spa? If so, should I do the first shock with bleach or crushed up tabs. Thanks for reading

Well I found out what my problem was with the awesome help of Ryan from Spa Depot.com (Best customer service EVER!). My GFCI is going bad. I flipped the #3 dip switch (with the breaker off) that shuts the heater off when I turn on the high jets. Just like 120 system. I powered it back up and it works great! I will pick up a new GFCI today and put it in. I will post if anything bad happens. If I don't post then I will be enjoying 104 deg heaven.

Hi, I have an '08 Viking Eclipse spa with a Balboa vkv500 spa pack and 54350-01 board. I just had the pump motor replaced by Watson's and then it would pluse for about a minute then work fine. I replaced the water and started the pump back up and now it won't stop cycling every 2 seconds. I had Watsons out and they said it was the top panel or spa pack ( I figured that out). I'm not afraid to work on it. I installed the wiring in '08 when I bought it. By the way it worked fine until now. Any ideas? Thanks for looking.

Great! Hope it turns out to be something simple. Good Luck! The settings are correct, so I was going to replace the 20 amp gfci outlet with a standard 20 amp outlet and replace the 20 amp breaker in the the panel with a 30 amp gfci breaker, but I could not find one in the stores in my area. So, I am just going to switch to 240v and be done with it. Unless somebody has another idea? Thank you for all your help

Couple things come to my mind: 1) The wiring to the jet pump may not be correct. I've seen wiring that's been done wrong/backwards and causes a GFCI to trip off. If the GFCI trips off instantly, each time you activate the jets, it would suggest to me there is an electrical/wiring issue in that area. 2) It is possible (though not super common) that a GFCI can become "weak" or too sensitive. In some cases they can stay on for a few days, and suddenly trip off during load. It's always good to try turning the breaker on, and pressing the "Test" button to ensure it trips off instantly, just to make sure it's working right. 3) Re-Confirm jumper settings/changes. I'm assuming your spa is convertible from 120v to 240v since you mention jumpers and such. Was the 120v power cord pre-installed by the factory? If so, it should have been pre-set internally for 120v settings. Thanks for taking a stab at this. 1) The GFCI does not trip right away when I hit the jets. 2) The GFCI outlet is new and and it trip right away when I hit thetest button. 3) I'll recheck the settings tomorrow. The tub was setup for 240v, I had to convert to 120v because the ground is frozen and can't dig for the 240v. I did install the plug and hardwired it to the tub. I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow.

Couple things come to my mind: 1) The wiring to the jet pump may not be correct. I've seen wiring that's been done wrong/backwards and causes a GFCI to trip off. If the GFCI trips off instantly, each time you activate the jets, it would suggest to me there is an electrical/wiring issue in that area. 2) It is possible (though not super common) that a GFCI can become "weak" or too sensitive. In some cases they can stay on for a few days, and suddenly trip off during load. It's always good to try turning the breaker on, and pressing the "Test" button to ensure it trips off instantly, just to make sure it's working right. 3) Re-Confirm jumper settings/changes. I'm assuming your spa is convertible from 120v to 240v since you mention jumpers and such. Was the 120v power cord pre-installed by the factory? If so, it should have been pre-set internally for 120v settings.

Hi, I just bought a new Viking Eclipse spa. I have a dedicated 20a breaker with 12-2 wire to a new 20a GFCI. I have a 20a plug with 12-2 wire hard wired into the spa. I have the 120v jumper in place and the #10 dip switch in the on postion. Yet it still trips the GFCI during a jet cycle. Can anybody see any thing I am leaving out? Thanks