Boglesnurf

Hi "Awalker" I'm in almost identical circumstances; picked up a Saratoga Spa "Putnam" for free at a yard sale. PO (previous owner) said the electronics had an issue that he just didn't want to deal with, since they didn't use it anymore anyway. Dragged it home, filled and powered it up just as Roger described. Note: you may want to do this with two people; one at the tub, another at the breaker. On mine, I flipped the (50-amp) breaker and headed up from the basement; when I got within sight of the spa, there was a column of water shooting about 8 feet straight up into the air; RAN back into the cellar and killed it. Turns out that the collar/cap under the big lever that controls how much water goes to which set of jets (diverter valve) had a big crack underneath, and the sudden water pressure just blew it off! Anyway, did a few fixes and got it running; now it has leaks from the underside that I'm tracking down (ripping out foam isn't a lot of fun, and it's quite messy....) First thing to check is if the topside display comes up active. Also, when you first power it up, it goes into a "purge" mode; the jets and blower fire up for a short time, then cut off and the circulating pump continues running and the heater comes on (if all is well.) You may well run into an air-locked condition with the jet pump (motor comes on, but no water out of the jets). Easiest way to cure that is to just "crack" the ring-nut on the intake side of the pump (usually heading into the pump 'inline' with the motor; the hose heading away from the motor/pump unit at right-angles to the motor is the output, or pressure, side) You'll get some air hissing out, then it'll start spitting mixed air/water, then just water. Tighten the ring-nut at that point, and you should be able to feel the water blasting out of the jets. Take care not to let the water get near the electricals! At this point, If you've got jets, bubbles, and an active display that responds to your input, you're pretty much in business. I'd replace the filter(s) as a matter of course (you never know who's been in that tub... ) If the display is dead, dark, and nothing's happening, you'll need to verify that you have good power coming in (an inexpensive digital meter is a highly worthwhile investment) black to white 120 VAC, red to white 120VAC, red to black 240VAC. For safety's sake, check black to ground (the green wire, or green screw in the metal case somewhere) and red to ground, to avoid becoming the ground yourself! If that's all good, check the input/output of the transformer (takes the high-voltage from the breaker and reduces it to a level that the electronics can use). In most cases, one side of the transformer has two wires going into it, and the other side has three wires coming out. The two incoming wires should read 240VAC between them (or each one should read 120VAC to neutral). Take these readings at the terminal strip if there is one, otherwise there's probably a six-position connector coming from the control board to the transformer; you can "back-pin" the readings from that (stick a paperclip into the small space between the outcoming wire and the plastic shell. CIRCUIT IS LIVE, so don't use bare hands; use an insulated pair of pliers, or have somebody you don't like do it for you... ) The other (3) wires will be two AC voltages and a 'ground' or neutral. Typical readings are in the range of 10:1 reduction (240VAC in, 24VAC out). Try various combinations of pairs; you 'll eventually hit on (for example) 25VAC and 25VAC. (Three wires, "A", "B", and "C." A-B, A-C, B-C are the three combinations possible. Two of those will get you two identical readings; the third will read something on the order of millivolts, or just zero.) If THIS is good, too, then you have good power to the Power side of the electrics, and good power to the Control side of the electrics; the spa has everything it needs to run, power-wise. Again, if nothing happened, remove power from the unit (verify, verify, verify with the meter), and remove the fuses (all of 'em) from the control box and check 'em with aforementioned meter. You should read 0 ohms, or get a beep if using audible continuity test. If one or more of 'em read "OL" that's an open (bad) fuse, and needs replaced. If they all check good, and still there's nothing, the board is probably no good. Check the web; there are folks out there who will either repair your old one, or sell you a reconditioned or new one. A different scenario (like mine) is that the pumps come on, things start happening, but there's no life at the topside control panel. The fact that stuff "came to life" is a good sign that the board is "probably" good. Try this: there's probably a wire coming out of the control unit, headed up to the topside panel, that looks like phone connector, but a little bigger. Pull it out of it's socket and re-insert it several times (look at the contacts while you have it out; if all green and nasty, you'll need a new cable; if not, move on to the next step: Pull up the topside panel ( they use an agressive silicone adhesive/sealant. Just apply steady pressure and it'll come up slowly. You may have to do a little disassembly, but there's another one of those "phone" looking connectors in there too (other end of the cable you saw in the control box.) Do the same to this plug (insert/withdraw/repeat.) These are very low-voltage level signals, and it takes only a tiny amount of surface oxidation to mess things up. "Excercising" the connector burnishes the contacts, and will frequently restore function; it worked with mine! That's probably about as far as the average owner can carry it; if it still ain't working, specialized equipment/knowledge/tools/parts are needed. Judgement call time; worth investing money into, buy a new one, or let it go. Best of luck with it; "call me" if I can answer anything else. I'm NOT a spa expert, but I do know electronics/electricals. Karl

Looks like you hit it right on the head, Hilbilly! 2" PVC flex-pipe comes off jet pump to a wye and branches off to both ends of the spa; there's a triangular flap (intersecting splits) about 1-1/2" long about an inch before the wye, right at the lowest point in the whole system... water just a-pourin out once the foam went. Also found twin pin-stream leaks at another low point of the hose off the wye that goes to the far end of the spa. Also on that same hose, and this one doesn't fit the pattern of a poor winter-prep freeze-up, the foam under the rail is wet right at the diverter valve. Still unable to determine exactly where, but I'm still pickin' out the foam. Looks like maybe an incomplete glue-up from new. Which flows nicely into the next question... how exactly does one go about replacing mid-run components when everything's glued in? It's like working with pipe, only worse, cause at least with pipe you can start at one end and start disassembling up to the repair, whereas with this stuff, it's all glued up into one big piece! Hacksaw segments out and use splice fittings to patch-in the repair? The voice of experience would be comforting right about now.

Hi Folks First-time Spa owner. Found a Saratoga Spa "Putnam" FOR FREE at a yard sale. Looked it over; looks good. Owner says it has an electronics problem he doesn't want to deal with. Being an electronics tech, I thought 'no problem.' Got it home, made a concrete paver 'plinth' for it. Replaced some broken fittings (pressure switch in heater, heater 'ring-nut'), fixed the diverter valving (mostly; some clown installed the spools incorrectly, with the spool stop-skirt atop the body stop-lug, tightened it down, and then 'horsed' the levers until they broke; duhhhhh....), tightened a bunch of loose fittings). Filled it up and went to work on the electronics. Turned out to be nothing more than slight oxidation of conductors in topside interconnect cable. No jets at first; fixed an 'airbound' condition and tried again. Promptly blew the cap off one of the diverter valves; there was a crack around the threaded sleeve beneath the cap. Glue is setting up as I write this. My question is this: The water level fell over two inches overnight; the concrete paver plinth is soaked, mostly along one wall. The inside surface of the spa is flawless, as far as I can tell, and I'm unable to move any of the many fittings and jets and such that populate the inside of the tub. The leak appears to be coming from somewhere beneath the tub. No visible wet within the controls/pump compartment. You can actually hear the water dripping underneath, along that wet wall, pretty much in one small area. This is a 'full-foam' unit. Is there any way, other than digging out foam until the leak is found, to pinpoint the source of this leak? I've seen references to dye, but is that really effective? Am I better off leaving it full and removing the side panels and digging it out, or is it a better idea to drain it and flip it vertical? The underside (seen while moving it) appears to be one big sheet of heavy-gauge plastic over a pallet-like structure; I'm not sure access would be much better this way. Is there a "most effective" way to remove the foam, or is it just a matter of using a drywall saw (hand-saw) and prybars and chisels, and wire-brushes and whatever to dig it all out? I'd certainly be a LOT happier if I had a plumbing/routing diagram for this thing, so I would know what areas to target and what areas to ignore (really don't want to dig it ALL out...) Last (for now, at least), should I replace the foam I dug out? What is typically used: great stuff (canned foam), or some bulk 'mix A&B, pour, and run' stuff? Is the foam for thermal insulation, structural support, plumbing support, any, all? I guess I'm asking if it's critical/structural, or just insulation. Thanks in advance; any 'voice of experience' gratefully received. Karl Bristol, NH

Hi Kevin How did you determine a short exists between Neutral and Hot on the board? Continuity beeper on a DVOM? I have had my Fluke 87 "lie" to me on more than once, indicating continuity and even voltage, but no real circuit existed; no current-carrying capacity due to high resistance (typically across relay tips.) Try an ohm reading between the offending neutral, and each hot leg (academic, but I'd be curious to see what values...) Is this short identical between the original board and the replacement board (in both cases, neutral to black)? And if so, is it an absolute dead-continuity, no resistance short, or is it a high-resistance, 'somewhat-shorted' short, on both units? If they are identical in every respect, both leg and ohm value, I'd be highly suspicious of either BOTH boards, or my conclusion of a short condition. Try using a "Wiggy"-type meter if one is available; these tend to 'load' the circuit more than a straight DVOM. Of more practical use, I'd probably wire up a test circuit using a 100-watt bulb and a switch; 120V to switch, switch to lamp; lamp to either black or red terminal; neutral terminal to neutral of 120V supply. Flip the switch; ideally, there should be no continuity between the neutral terminal and either hot terminal, so the lamp should NOT light. If it DOES light, you've got yourself a bona-fide short. HOWEVER, having said that, you MAY have a relay with normally-closed tips that is giving you a 'short' reading; on power-up, the relay opens, removing the short. Put your meter on the two 'shorted' terminals (no power), and "exercise" all of the relay tips (wherever they are at rest, move 'em the other way), and see if your shorted reading drops out with one of 'em. I'm thinking that maybe a failed relay coil is preventing these hypothetical normally-closed tips from opening, thereby 'introducing' a short condition and kicking out the breaker. Again, this is just braistorming; I've no real knowledge of what's going on at the board-level with my own Balboa control card. Balboa WON'T release board-level schematics, and I've yet to turn anything up in multiple online searches. If I had a confrmed-dead board, I'd "reverse-engineer" the blasted thing and post the schematic online for everyone! I've been told by pro spa-techs that Balboa will accept returned boards if they don't fix the problem (I was certainly surprised!); I'd confirm this with the vendor before installation, and if this is indeed the case, might as well go ahead and put it in anyway. Worst case, it'll just kick the breaker out again, and if my admittedly wild-assed conjecture about a bad relay coil is correct, then the new one may work. My 'gut,' and plain common sense, tells me that there ought NOT be any connection between neutral and either hot terminal (not without a load between them, anyway), but at the same time, I've been in similar circumstances too many times to just let it go at that. Give the terminals a REALLY CLOSE-UP inspection, preferably with a 10x-doublet magnifier; you're looking for signs that the board has been previously installed, and is a 'reconditioned' board. If you can see displaced metal, bright streaks, scratches, or even an 'imprint' of a terminal, then I'd be a lot quicker to condemn it as bad-from-dealer, than if it's all shiny-new, never-installed. Last, but not least, try calling Balboa; just ask 'em flat out if you should be reading continuity between neutral and red or black on the card. They won't release information 'in bulk,' but they do answer focused questions such as that. Sorry I couldn't be of more concrete help; my experience with spa electronics is very limited (just picked up a used Saratoga Spas "putnam" for free at a yard-sale; fixed the non-functional electronics, stuck diverter valving, broken pressure switch, split ring-nut on heater, and now a leak from somethere beneath the spa shell), but I've been troubleshooting electronics for almost 30 years, and thought I'd offer what I had.) Best of luck with it; I'd be interested in any readings you get, and any final resolution. Karl