Couch67

hi, not likely a sensor will cause the fuse blow, as these are all low-signal sensors that are powered by the controller. Aside from potential issues at the controller relay, you have likely isolated it correctly to the heater. If you have a way to measure the power (current) draw from tub, I would check that with the pumps running, just to be sure they aren't using more power than normal, and the heater was just pushing it past the trip limit. Not sure how likely this would be, the experts here on the forum may be able to chime in.

Hi, I would agree, unless you are set up with Time of Use (TOU) rates for electricity. Here, our electricity rates are cut in half from 7pm to 7am on weekdays. With that, it makes sense to set back the hot tub (assuming you dont use it from 7am to 7pm). I have a gecko remote system and its incorporated into my Home Assistant setup. Its configured to set back temp to 80F from 7am to 7pm during weekdays, then go back up to 100F at 7pm. Its set to 100F all weekend. I'm not really sure yet how much this is saving. I do have a few years of 'before' data, so I will do a comparison after this winter. I know its saving (mostly due to time of use savings, as all heating is with cheaper electricity), just dont know how much. Attached is a chart showing hot tub temperature from a day last week. Red areas are heating events, blue are cooling. You can see the tub got to 93 F after cooling all day, then took about 50 minutes to get back to 100F.

need to check for voltage at heater connections to start with

You could remove the cover at night to get the water temp to drop, but that might introduce other problems with bugs and other things getting into the pool.

Hi, have you tested your chlorine level - if too high it can throw off all other readings. Also, I would follow the 'reducing alkalinity' sticky that it is near the top of the posts. The process involves using dry acid or muriatic acid, and it focuses on reducing alkalinity while keeping pH within a reasonable range.

hi, the answer depends on the gauge of the extension cord and the load rating of the tub (watts/amps). There are online tables to determine if the extension cord can handle the power requirements of the tub. EDIT: OP added pics afterwards.

I don't see why not. The water is better balanced than most tap water! There is the case when you are decontaminating your tub and draining off super-chlorinated water, but I don't think this is an issue either. I would stay away from trees and gardens in that case though.

hi, I'm not familiar with your brand of tub but my older tub had similar symptoms. Turned out to be that the connectors from the light controller that branched out to the lights were corroded. You can test this by locating your light controller, and when they turn off, wiggle the connectors to see if the lights turn on again. If that doesn't work, it could be something like a flaky relay or other component on the controller board. In my tub, the connectors were were cheap, non-waterproof and had simply failed due to the hot, humid environment. My case was extreme because the problem existed at pretty much each light location. I ended up ripping out most of the led wiring, bought replacement connectors (digikey) and soldered up new cables. I still had the issue of corrosion at each led connection and the lighting controller. I cleaned each up with a fine sandpaper best I could, and a few blasts of contact cleaner. Added dielectric grease to each connection in hopes it it slows down the corrosion. Lights now work (not all the RGB combinations but most of them at least).

Thanks for the heads up, @CanadianSpaTech. I did block the vents for the winter. While I havent put the remote monitor in the cabinet (it isnt strong enough to send the signal to the house), I have checked the temperature with an IR thermometer when I first opened up the panels a few times. 40 and 45 deg C, although I don't know how long the pump had been running so that will be important for me to test next time I plan to open the cab. I don't think it would be that difficult to box in the motor and just vent the box, so I will put that on the spring list.

Noticed the tub level drop a few inches in the last week or so. It was a nice day yesterday so I pulled the skirting on two sides to investigate. Sure enough, steady drips from one corner of the tub when the pump is on. Start tearing out insulation and it seems to be coming from a 2" quad manifold (feeds 4- 1" lines) but its in a really tight spot, so I could not see exactly where it is leaking. Just as I came to the conclusion I may not be able to fix the leak until better weather, and may have to lift the tub to really get at it, I decide to open up the jets on the seat where the leak is coming from. Sure enough, one of the jets was completely closed, and when I opened it, the leak stopped immediately! I dried up the piping, and watched it for about 20 minutes, and it didn't leak one drop. I guess I'll just ensure that jet is always open for now, and keep an eye on the water level.

its possible the heater is not working and the pump motor is what is heating the water. I dont know if there are separate fuses for the heater but I would check there first.

"Those aren't pillows" - Steve Martin, "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"

Nice job, OP. You even did the bottom and added new plywood, that looks great. I skinned the sides last fall with my new-to-me Dynasty. The photo is small, but I also trimmed out the bottom platform with aluminum trim to dress up the old, rodent chewed lumber. The enclosure has existing vents on the controller/motor side, and I had good intentions to box out the motor so only it was exposed to the venting (haven't done that yet). So the vents are currently a short circuit in the thermal envelope, like leaving a house window open in the winter. CanadianSpaTech, I think you are right that the vents aren't needed - I'm gonna block them this winter. I have a remote temperature monitor that I can put in the enclosure and will keep an eye on it. Thanks for your post.

You can also contact Gecko (I can't seem to locate it but their contact info is online). I emailed them earlier this year with a question about an older in.xe system I had, they responded by email within the day.

I can't comment on comparing it to a chlorine based system, but I've had my tub for a year or so now and started with bromine using Waterbear's 3 step bromine process. I would say it's easy, effective, and relatively cheap. One year later and I'm still using the same containers of bromine granules and tablets for the floater.