franklyhollywood Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 it does not appear that there is any water leaking into the electrical. I have double checked the wiring, and it all looks good. The tub was on, and I was setting up the water. I turned the jets on, they were working, and I walked away. When I returned about 20 minutes later, the tub was off, and the GFCI was flipped. WHen I try to flip the breaker, I can hear a "Click" coming from the board. it has a Balboa VS501Z heater and controller. I don't see a reset switch anywhere on the unit itself. My GFCI looks to be proper. I am a hobbyist electrician, and I wired my whole house and pool, and spa with the aid of a steam fitter / journeyman / electrician, who is my father. We have had no issues or problems, and the house has passed all inspections. So i do not believe the issue is in the wiring or electrical.... Does anyone have any ideas why / how this could happen, or if there is a switch somewhere on the heater that needs to be tripped, or a breaker? My dad is not available to help as he is out of town, and we are not familiar with the details of these heater units. Thank you for your assistance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 it does not appear that there is any water leaking into the electrical. I have double checked the wiring, and it all looks good. The tub was on, and I was setting up the water. I turned the jets on, they were working, and I walked away. When I returned about 20 minutes later, the tub was off, and the GFCI was flipped. WHen I try to flip the breaker, I can hear a "Click" coming from the board. it has a Balboa VS501Z heater and controller. I don't see a reset switch anywhere on the unit itself. My GFCI looks to be proper. I am a hobbyist electrician, and I wired my whole house and pool, and spa with the aid of a steam fitter / journeyman / electrician, who is my father. We have had no issues or problems, and the house has passed all inspections. So i do not believe the issue is in the wiring or electrical.... Does anyone have any ideas why / how this could happen, or if there is a switch somewhere on the heater that needs to be tripped, or a breaker? My dad is not available to help as he is out of town, and we are not familiar with the details of these heater units. Thank you for your assistance. I would start by dissconnecting components from the board to determine where the problem lies. Once you have dissconnected the failed component your breaker should stay on. Start with the easy stuff that is plugged in externaly to your board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hottubdan Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 it does not appear that there is any water leaking into the electrical. I have double checked the wiring, and it all looks good. The tub was on, and I was setting up the water. I turned the jets on, they were working, and I walked away. When I returned about 20 minutes later, the tub was off, and the GFCI was flipped. WHen I try to flip the breaker, I can hear a "Click" coming from the board. it has a Balboa VS501Z heater and controller. I don't see a reset switch anywhere on the unit itself. My GFCI looks to be proper. I am a hobbyist electrician, and I wired my whole house and pool, and spa with the aid of a steam fitter / journeyman / electrician, who is my father. We have had no issues or problems, and the house has passed all inspections. So i do not believe the issue is in the wiring or electrical.... Does anyone have any ideas why / how this could happen, or if there is a switch somewhere on the heater that needs to be tripped, or a breaker? My dad is not available to help as he is out of town, and we are not familiar with the details of these heater units. Thank you for your assistance. I would start by dissconnecting components from the board to determine where the problem lies. Once you have dissconnected the failed component your breaker should stay on. Start with the easy stuff that is plugged in externaly to your board. Most likely, the heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyhollywood Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 thank you. I will try that today and get back to you..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyhollywood Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 You were right! It was heater 2. Can i run the hot tub with just the one heater? I hope someone can answer quickly... because I think i can, and it is safe... so it is on right now.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyhollywood Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Also, can I order a heater and replace it myself? WHere do you reccomend? When I disconnected the copper connection between the heater and the controller board, it got bent out of shape. I assume that a new heater will come with a new copper piece? Also, i moved it completely out of the way, and put the hot tub back together before i turned the spa on. Is that going to be ok? It can not touch the controller of the bolt where it was connected to, and it is out of the way enough to not arc. Lastly: WHen i tried to remove the copper part from the heater, i noticed that the bolt underneath was also turning. Is this normal? What do I need to be aware of when disconnecting the heater, and installing the new one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyhollywood Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 The good news is: no i can't run it with just one heater. It kept flipping the breaker. Does anyone know the other answers about the heater? Thank you for your help! The hot tub is a Infinity spa, purchased through Costco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 The good news is: no i can't run it with just one heater. It kept flipping the breaker. Does anyone know the other answers about the heater? Thank you for your help! The hot tub is a Infinity spa, purchased through Costco. Bring the entire tub back to Costco. The heater is just the start of your problems. These units have a very short life expectancy. Otherwise any one of the online spa parts places can supply the replacement Balboa pac parts including the heater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franklyhollywood Posted February 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 Ok.. it sounds like the spa does not have a good history. If i wanted to start replacing the parts / pieces of this spa that are inferior, and often fail (like the heater) with products that are of better quality, What would i choose for the heater? Do I just replace the element? The whole heater? What am I loooking for when looking for a heater that will work with this controller? I could replace the controller eventually to something better, but for now it is working. So can i get a heater from somewhere that is superior to what is in it now? (Also, could the fact that there is NO calcium in our water be responsible for the heater failure?) if someone could send me a link or two to a heater that would work and replace this one, that would be great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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