sktyrhrtout

Does your board look like this one? When it calls for heat check the two heater contacts. If it's 240V you should have 120V when checking each contact to ground and you should have 240V when checking between both contacts. If you don't, your problem is probably the heater relay board. You can also pull the board and see if any of the solders are burnt from a short on the backside.

I ended up just ordering the whole heater tube assembly. I will double check the element is centered per your instructions, though. Thanks for your help! Heater should come in this weekend so hopefully I'll have a good updated.

Well duh! I just put a bit more thought into and realized you already answered the question farther up in the thread. With the heater terminals disconnected I ran the tub until it called for heat. Checked the terminals and I have 240V there so it seems that would indicate a bad heating element right?

Okay got back out there to troubleshoot this thing and here's what I've got. 1. They only replaced the heater relays. I inquired about doing them all and they recommended just doing the one. I should have just had them all done but oh well. Fuses are all in tact. After disconnecting all loads from GFCI it works so I don't think it's the breaker. I then started pulling components to see if I could isolate it and when I disconnected the heater leads it fired up. Pump works and everything seemed to be good. So do I pull the board again and see if the heater relay is toast?

Jumping back on this topic as the hot tub went inop sometime last night. I went out today and no lights on the control panel. Checked the circuit breaker and it wasn't popped so I just reset it. There was a somewhat loud noise (sounded like the pump starting to turn) and a little bubble in the filter then nothing. Now every time I flip the circuit breaker I just get one click at the board and nothing. No lights on the control panel or anything. Any ideas on where to start the troubleshooting? Thanks!

Quick update. Got it filled and it was leaking from some of the jets. I thought I was doomed and would have to replace 3 jets. Got the wrench out and tightened the nuts on them all about 1/2 turn and drips stopped! It's been running for about an hour and no leaks so far! Fingers double crossed.

Alright! Well that was a job. My original plan was to glue and clamp the clear tubing but when I glued up the 2" side of the manifold I wasn't 100% sure of the job. The angle was funny and I couldn't get the hose to bottom out in the manifold. So I went with just clamps on the clear in case we get a drip and have to redo it. Thanks for your guys help so far! I'm sure this would have been a $500 job going to a pro so even if I have to redo it I'm only out $150 in parts right now and the next time will go a lot smoother. Fingers crossed though. She's currently filling up and everything is watertight so far with just standing water. I'm gonna get it circulating once we fill up and see how it goes.

Alright finally getting back on this project. The leak was actually coming from two of the 1/2" hoses not the 1" outlet. I tried using the 2 part plastic weld on them but just couldn't get around the back to get a good seal and it didn't stop the leaking. Then tried cutting the hose and cleaning up the inside of the 1/2" manifold port with a dremel to try and glue in new hose but the angle was too steep and ended up going through the outside wall with the dremel. So it looks like we have arrived at Plan C which is replacing the entire manifold. Fun! Here is what I have for parts. This reducer will go from the 1" hose to the manifolds. https://hottubspasource.com/products/2-x-1-inch-pvc-reducer-bushing?variant=13650171232302 These are the three manifolds that will be glued together https://hottubspasource.com/collections/hot-tub-pvc-manifolds/products/2-inch-x-six-1-2-inch-pvc-manifold To glue the manifolds together would you use an "inside pipe connector" like this one or just a piece of flex? https://www.spadepot.com/Pipe-Inside-Connector-2-P10200C730.aspx Then for all the 1/2" hoses I think I'll glue an 8-12" section into each manifold then cut the hoses back and use a coupler to join them together. My order would be: Glue manifolds together. Glue reducer on. Glue all 1/2" extensions into manifold. Cut old manifold out. Glue and spin on new manifold. Cut and glue 1/2" hoses starting with back side working to front side. Does that sound like good order of operations/repair procedure? Thanks!

Got a 15-20 year old tub and just went out to find a leak underneath. It's coming from the manifold and it looks to be at the 1.5" outlet. I am in central CA so no freezing temps. It was dark when I found the leak so I can't tell if the manifold cracked or it's at the glue joint. Anyway, see the attached photos. Is the repair to cut the entire manifold set out and replace? Looks like 18 1/2" hoses. Pretty annoying! I'm guessing even if the manifold isn't cracked there's no way to repair that glue seam outside of some butcher job with JB weld.

So I know this post is ancient but it might help someone in the future so I just wanted to make an update. I gave a shot at soldering it but man I am just no good at it or don't have a good soldering iron as I couldn't get the solder to flow. I didn't want to trash the board so I ended up sending it to Spokane Spa for repair. They replaced the relay for a reasonable price, tested the unit and got it back to me within a week of receiving it. A bit more expensive than doing it yourself but it was worth it for me. I got it all re-installed and boom! Heater works. Not too bad for a 20 year old hot tub and we have been using it since December with fantastic results. I have never had a hot tub before so having nightly winter soaks was amazing. We're in central CA so it doesn't get too cold but a soak on a sub 40 degree night right before jumping in bed was great! Thanks for everyone that helped and to anyone in the future I have email notifications set up so if you have something similar with any questions drop a post here.

Alright! Finally got back to the hot tub today and pulled the board. This is what I'm seeing on the back side: https://imgur.com/a/kld4rLj I was able to find the relays and ordered them last week. I have them in hand but wanted to check to see if there's anything else I need to be concerned with from the burn. I wiped it off after the photo and it doesn't look like it has affected any of the printed circuitry. Should I just replace both those relays and give it a shot? Thanks!

I am in Central California. I found Spokane Spas on this forum who gave me a rough estimate of $179 to do the heater relay. I'll see if I can source a few relays once I have the numbers off them. I haven't done much circuit board soldering but I have found a couple videos online and it doesn't seem to complicated. Really appreciate your help, though! I'll report back when I have decided what to do and update for future spa troubleshooters.

Gotcha. Okay, looks like there are plenty of videos on removing the board. I'll try and find someone local who can repair it. When I pull it out the relays in question should be close to where those heater tabs come off the board, right? Thanks again for all your help!

Alright, so after letting it start up it went from flickering to solid and temp was displayed. I measured voltage at the tabs (which were removed prior from heater prior to starting up) and I only have 14-15V. Is that pretty much telling me the board is bad or do I need to remove the board to check for burnt areas to confirm.

This is awesome! Thank you so much for the quick reply. I will make this test and report back. One quick question regarding the heat light. You mentioned it can't be flickering when I do this test. I did notice when it was lit up that it was flickering a bit. What would that indicate? Thanks again!

Hi, I've inherited a Keys Backyard Spa and I'm working on troubleshooting the heater issue. It looks like Keys was an old Costco or big box store brand that went out of business in 2008 so there's not much info from them. The pack however is a Balboa VS500Z. When turning the spa on and raising the temp to call for heat the pump turns on and circulates water. It seems like it goes through a few checks and then the light underneath the temp panel goes on. I check voltage at the heater and there is no voltage. With the power off at the breaker I did the resistance checks per this video and they all checked out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_hdXYHzrdE If I have no voltage at heater terminal when the control panel is calling for heat I need to go back to the next item in line but I can't seem to find what that is. I see some mentions about pressure switches and flow issues preventing the heater from being turned on but I can't find anything about how to test those or where to find them on the circuit board. Here's a few photos of the spa pack: https://imgur.com/a/tNdgkFO Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!