waross Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Ok I have a Hotsprings Spa (6 years old) with a No-Fault Heater on the system. I recently drained the tub for water change and cleaning. I left the tub empty for a week (no freezing temperatures) as I was busy with other things (work, family, etc.). I cleaned the tub yesterday and filled it back up. After getting it full I flipped the breakers back on as I usually do and system fired up like it was fine. I set the temperature and thought nothing of it. This evening after a 30 mile bike ride I decided to relax in the tub to relieve the sore muscles in my legs. So as I start to step in I notice the water is not hot. It is warm (70 or so) from the ambient temperature and the sun hitting the tub all day. I take the panel off and the heater is cool to the touch.....BUMMER!. I reset the power again. Turning it off leaving for ten minutes then firing it back up. No luck the heater is still cool. So now I take off the cover to the electronics box. I see two leds lit. One says "heater on" and quite frankly can't remember what the other one said. The "heater on" LED is lit in red (I assume not good) and the other LED is lit green. I am assuming that I have a sensor issue as a coupe of years ago had the same sort of issue (it was under warranty then) and called and i vaguely remember the tech saying it wasn't the heater but some other electronic problem. So anyway any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I will probably have to resort to calling a tech but would rather try to get it working or troubleshoot the problem first. I like the feel of sitting in the hot tub not getting raked over the coals by overpriced service calls just to find out it was a 25 cent problem. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan.The.Spa.Man Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Ok I have a Hotsprings Spa (6 years old) with a No-Fault Heater on the system. I recently drained the tub for water change and cleaning. I left the tub empty for a week (no freezing temperatures) as I was busy with other things (work, family, etc.). I cleaned the tub yesterday and filled it back up. After getting it full I flipped the breakers back on as I usually do and system fired up like it was fine. I set the temperature and thought nothing of it. This evening after a 30 mile bike ride I decided to relax in the tub to relieve the sore muscles in my legs. So as I start to step in I notice the water is not hot. It is warm (70 or so) from the ambient temperature and the sun hitting the tub all day. I take the panel off and the heater is cool to the touch.....BUMMER!. I reset the power again. Turning it off leaving for ten minutes then firing it back up. No luck the heater is still cool. So now I take off the cover to the electronics box. I see two leds lit. One says "heater on" and quite frankly can't remember what the other one said. The "heater on" LED is lit in red (I assume not good) and the other LED is lit green. I am assuming that I have a sensor issue as a coupe of years ago had the same sort of issue (it was under warranty then) and called and i vaguely remember the tech saying it wasn't the heater but some other electronic problem. So anyway any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated. I will probably have to resort to calling a tech but would rather try to get it working or troubleshoot the problem first. I like the feel of sitting in the hot tub not getting raked over the coals by overpriced service calls just to find out it was a 25 cent problem. Thanks in advance. If the 'heater on' light is lit then it is not a sensor problem. It is either your heater or the relay. Which no-fault heater is it? If it is the 6000 or Tri-bend then it has a reset button on it. The 6000 reset is a small red button on the top of the heater, the Tri-bend reset is located on the side of the base. The newer No-fault does not have a reset button. If it is not the reset button then you will need a meter to test the continuity of the heater and voltage at the heater relay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerimiahR Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 I'm going to guess your heater has probably failed. It is somewhat common for them to fail when a customer refills the spa. If it was nearing it's end (for whatever reason) they commonly die at the refill point, because they are put under longer/higher stress loads when heating water from hose temperature. In other words, it's on a longer period and finally just kicks the bucket. The fact that the "Heater On" LED is on, is a good thing. That means the spa's circuitry is trying to heat the spa. As said above, it's either your heater, or the heater relay board. If you get into the black box inside your spa (the IQ 2020 box) there will likely be two circuit boards. One larger one, and one smaller. If the smaller circuit board looks burned (blackened) then it's definitely bad. If it looks fine (usually green circuit board) then it could be the heater. As Dan.The.Spa.Man said though, you can use a volt meter to test continuity and see if the heater is actually drawing voltage/amperage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rentit Posted June 16, 2009 Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 "Hotsprings No-fault Heater Not So No-fault" The "no fault" aspect of the heater doesn't mean that it never fails. It means that you are covered under the warranty regardless of the reason the heater fails. (e.g. even if you did not maintain proper water chemistry.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waross Posted June 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 16, 2009 Ok guys, thanks, I will look into the voltage and current draw. It is raining tonight so probably wait until tomorrow and check but believe the circuit board looked ok. As for being on for a long period I don't think it came on at all to heat the water. If it is a relay can I replace that myself? I know electronics to a degree but not an engineer. basically question is can I get a relay to replace it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan.The.Spa.Man Posted June 17, 2009 Report Share Posted June 17, 2009 Ok guys, thanks, I will look into the voltage and current draw. It is raining tonight so probably wait until tomorrow and check but believe the circuit board looked ok. As for being on for a long period I don't think it came on at all to heat the water. If it is a relay can I replace that myself? I know electronics to a degree but not an engineer. basically question is can I get a relay to replace it? If it turns out to be the relay yes, you would replace the whole board on the left side. It is easier then it sounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RelicFace Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Dealer told me today, that the #1 problem with the heater is that their is an air lock (That's the phrase she used) in the hybrid system preventing air (I think) from cooling the heater (so it auto shuts off). I can't remember the details but she said something to the effect that you place a hose on top of the filter )(or something) and turn the pump on full to force any air out of the system....she also said that this procedure was in the owner's manual. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerimiahR Posted July 19, 2009 Report Share Posted July 19, 2009 Dealer told me today, that the #1 problem with the heater is that their is an air lock (That's the phrase she used) in the hybrid system preventing air (I think) from cooling the heater (so it auto shuts off). I can't remember the details but she said something to the effect that you place a hose on top of the filter )(or something) and turn the pump on full to force any air out of the system....she also said that this procedure was in the owner's manual. RelicFace, I'll leave you the same note here I left for you in another forum thread: That's due to an "airlock" issue, in which the circulation pump is not functioning due to having an air bubble trapped in it (and thereby it can't push water). From what the original poster said, the spa is circulating. So that shouldn't be their issue. However, your dealer is right on, as an airlock issue is a pretty common "no heat" complaint from customers. The best way to prevent that, is simply to put the garden hose in the filter standpipe when you refill the spa each time. Again, in this instance I think the original poster likely has a mechanical problem. The issue your dealer expressed to you, has more to do with how the hot tub is drained & refilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjturner66 Posted March 12, 2012 Report Share Posted March 12, 2012 I have the same issue that Waross mentions in this post. I have a Hot Springs spa sovereign with an IQ 2020. I just replaced the heater and still no heat. The LED on the IQ for the heater goes on for a few minutes then goes out. The spa never get warm. Dan the spa man says "You will need a meter to test the continuity of the heater and voltage at the heater relay", but does not give any details. What should the voltage at the heater terminals be? I only have a few volts. How do I test the relays? How do I test continuity of the heater? Thanks, Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karen w Posted April 13, 2020 Report Share Posted April 13, 2020 I have a sovereign model 1 HotSprings hot tub with a 6000 watt no fault heater. It has been working perfectly. When I reset the GFI at the electrical sourse, it runs a few minutes, running the flow pump and the heater starts to warm up and then it trips. When I repeat this, I can hear a series click inside the area with the pump, etc. 5 clicks, it starts up then stops and GFI is tripped. I tried reset button and wait 30 sec.s on heater and unplugging power for several minutes. If I wait long enough, as in hours, it runs for 3-5 minutes before tripping. The more often I reset it, the shorter it will run. Any help would be great. There are no service ares anyway near me. Thanks KW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted April 14, 2020 Report Share Posted April 14, 2020 Sounds like a bad breaker. When it trips, does it feel warmer than the box it's in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaymondR Posted March 16, 2022 Report Share Posted March 16, 2022 I have the exact same problem with my Hot Spring hot tub as Karen described. Any suggestions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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