riverrat

What do you think about the BulletProof KIT? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Bulletproof-Kit-fits-Watkins-IQ2020-Heater-Relay-Board-73355-74618-76071-77119-/181376070950 The problem with these heater boards has always been, from what I've experienced and read when we had the problem 2 years ago, is failure of the relays and PCB. This is probably a situation and environment where the engineer should have built in a "safety factor" and spec'd a larger relay. Or maybe the "improved" board was actually just cheaper, and not better at all. It's hard to overlook the fact that they appear to have ditched this board about as soon as they released it, and the newer "new" one, looks alot like the old one that only had two relays. I'm handy with a soldering iron and I'm just thinking that for $30 this might be the way to fix it. The heater board we have isn't burnt like the last one, but it's not passing any voltage either so obviously a relay failed. Comments? RR

We checked the Voltage on H1 / H2 and got zippo. This is kinda odd, I'm looking at parts invoice, we replaced this heater board with a new Invensys PN 74618 on July 25 of 2013, so it's only been operating for about 12 months since the tub is always winterized the other 6 months. This board doesn't exhibit the burnt marks and smell of the other failed board. Supposedly the heater board was a weak link and was updated to eliminate problems, but if it is failed then it lasted about 15% of the life of the other board. Tub is 10-12 years old. Any suggestions before I buy another board? Thanks

Thanks, I'll check that. I've been looking for a reason to get a clamp on ammeter. My Dad's inexpensive multi can't handle that kind of current. Thanks again Sage! RR

More Info: The tub has been fully primed, and was primed before the old man turned on the power. Ain't his first rodeo. I disconnected the hot/neutral leads from the control board and put an ohm meter across them, and it measured 10.6 ohms. I found elsewhere that between 8 and 20, the heater is supposedly still good. True? Or not true? The "LIM OK" and "HEATER ON" LEDs on the board are lit constant. I can hear the relays on the heater relay board pulling in. I used multimeter to measure the voltage coming in from supply and also out to the heater, and got a reading of 248 volts. So is it possible for the heater to be within the spec limits and still not function? Would appreciate the help. Thanks, Todd

Hello I visited this forum a few years ago with a similar problem and you all were very helpful. Folks are back from FL for the winter, and we are trying to get the tub back up and running. We ran water thru it and drained it once to rinse it. The heater was turned off during this time as the breaker for the heaters was off. Refilled it, and ran water thru, added chems, and then turned it off and flipped the heater breaker on, then the main breaker. The lights on the PC board are solid on, indicating that it's trying to heat the water, but in 24 hours nothing has happened. The water is still cold. We don't have flashing lights like we did last time we had a problem. We replaced pressure sensor and also have replaced the aux board at some point because the relays failed. How do we test the heater? Does it sound like it has failed? Thanks much for your assistance. Regards, RR

Thanks alot Chas, I have sent you a PM with my contact details. Regards, RR

Chas: Thanks much for your reply. OK, so while our tub doesn't seem to have the bleed hole you described, we were able to verify that the circ pump seems to be functioning well. The tub has a little "waterfall" that you can engage with a valve, and it's flowing out of there very nicely. Dad says it's never been any better than that, I'm going to estimate that flow in the gallons per minute range. We do have the heater with build in pressure switch. I have jumped the contacts on the board as suggested, and then sure enough the relays pulled in, the "heater on" light came on, and we were able to verify that the tub began to heat. Now armed with a multimeter, I checked the contacts on the pressure switch for continuity, and it read nothing, so I'm guessing that you've helped us identify the problem. Sounds like a good do it yourselfer can replace the pressure switch. Question is then, where can I get the pressure switch? Part Number? Thanks alot for your help so far, this is just what we were trying to avoid was a service call and expensive replacement parts. Thank you! RR

Howdy: I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem with this tub for my father. It's a Hot Springs Vanguard wired for 240V. It stopped heating, and the POWER and READY lights outside are blinking. It will circulate water. It's been working fine for the past few months. We looked in the Manual, and it suggested that the pressure switch could be open, causing the heater circuit not to function. We changed the filters for clean ones as it suggested, but still no luck. The control is the IQ 2020. The top light "LIM OK" is lit, but the "Heater On" light is not. Doing some research online we suspected the daughter board or heater relay board and removed it because there was some evidence of electrical burning on the aluminum support/heatsink, however after removing the board it doesn't appear to be damaged. I saw some burned boards in my google search and ours looks pretty clean. I suppose it's possible this tub has had that problem before, but nobody seems to remember having it replaced. We did call the local dealer, but of course he was hesitant to offer much troubleshooting information. So where to go from here? Dad doesn't have a multimeter but I'm sure we can get one to help troubleshoot provided we know what to look for. Thanks for the help RR