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Balboa Spa Controller Question


Davidny

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A friend was using my 2-year-old Santa Barbara hot tub 2 nights ago.

I noticed the temp was 104°F while I was explaining the spa controls.

He accidentally put the Balboa into economy mode and closed up the spa.

When I went out today for a soak I saw the temp was 108°F. The water had never before gone above 105°F.

I put the Balboa back to standard mode and its OK now, but why would the h2o get so hot if it was in economy mode, which is supposed to only adjust the temp during occasional filter cycles? I would've thought the water, if anything, would end up cooler than the set temp.

The air temp was about 75-80°F.

Any ideas?

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Check your actual spa temp with a manual thermometer to see if it is actually 108. If it is you may have a stuck relay for your heater on the circuit board. Do you have an M7 pack with the 2 temp probes on each end of the heater or do you have the older style were one sensor is under the heater tube and the other goes into a sleeve on the tub shell?

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Check the filter cycles. It sounds to me that it is too long of a cycle and overheats the spas.

That was it. Not only did my friend manage to get the spa into economy mode, he put it on an 8-hour filter cycle.

In case anyone finds this thread while having similar issues, here's the info for getting into those menus, which are way too easy to get into and change accidentally.

M7 Reference Card

http://www.h2oco.com/h2o_online/reference/...suv_m7_card.htm

Thanks!

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So the heater has to be on while filtering?

The heater doesn't go on when the water temperature is 104°F or higher.

The water pump creates heat as it moves water. For filtering, the pump is supposed to be on for two hours a day, which heats the spa shell with just enough heat to push the water temperature up by a degree or so. (This added heat is a pleasant side effect while people are in the tub enjoying the jets.)

When the pump is on for eight hours at a time it produces heat for a longer period, eventually overheating the water.

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You know, Mike, I thought the same thing....

But on my Vanguard, if you put your foot near the circulation pump outlet, not only do you see the ozone bubbles coming out, the water is hot!

At first I thought something was wrong and my heater was stuck on, even though the tub was maintaining temperature perfectly.

So I checked my electric meter and it was barely turning, then I cranked the temp up to turn on the heater, and yep, it started spinning like a top! So just running the circulation pump supplies that much heat. I dug through the H/S owners manual, and they even state that the circulation pump will supply heat and help limit the need for the 6k watt heater, even though it takes less than 40 watts to run the pump. In fact, in summer mode, the circulation pump turns off for 8 hour cycles, just to help keep the water cooler....

Surprising, and it seems like a very good concept, but it does seem to work...now I wonder how hot the water is coming out of the pump when the heater is on? I have not tried that intentionally yet,,,,but I will in my soak tonight! :D

Thanks,

Randy

I really doubt the radiant heat from an electric motor could have that much effect on 400 gallons of water.
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  • 13 years later...

Hi, 

I have noticed a very strange behaviour of the BWA app on my android phone. It does connect and I can see the actual and set temperature but the lower part of the screen is just grey. I can not see the pump symbols and of course I can not control them. Any command sent to the pool - like rest mode, change temperature- is ignored and never reach the pool.  I tried restart and reinitialize everything, I tried an iOs phone and an android phone, de-installed and re-installed - and all this several times without result.  App version is 4.6.6.

All ideas are welcome.

 

Best Regards,

Antal

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