Replace Heater Element Only Or The Whole Heater?

[CatalinaSpa2007]

Greetings all. First post here and here's my situation:

I just bought a used round 2-3 person 2007 Catalina that I wittnessed working perfectly one week prior to purchase. Moved the tub to my house and filled her up with h20 and the tub made it to 80+ degrees. Then my 50a gfci breaker popped off (240v). I proceeded to remove the panel off of the tub's Balboa control unit and found some water sitting on one of the heater element contacts (the water was coming up from the heater tube). So I removed both heater element conections to the main board and tried the breaker again. My spa powered up just fine with the heater element disconnected, so I feel I found my problem and need to decide on the following:

1). Buy a replacement element for $35

2). Buy a replacement heater for $99 (heater tube w/ element, end couplings, temp sensor & pressure switch)

Obviously the $35 would be preferable and I'm handy with fixing stuff, but I'm not sure if swapping out the element is more complex than it looks. The $99 option leaves me with some spares for any future heater challenges that come along.

Any advice on which direction I should go with this repair will be much appreciated. Thank you.

[ps558]

Greetings all. First post here and here's my situation:

I just bought a used round 2-3 person 2007 Catalina that I wittnessed working perfectly one week prior to purchase. Moved the tub to my house and filled her up with h20 and the tub made it to 80+ degrees. Then my 50a gfci breaker popped off (240v). I proceeded to remove the panel off of the tub's Balboa control unit and found some water sitting on one of the heater element contacts (the water was coming up from the heater tube). So I removed both heater element conections to the main board and tried the breaker again. My spa powered up just fine with the heater element disconnected, so I feel I found my problem and need to decide on the following:

1). Buy a replacement element for $35

2). Buy a replacement heater for $99 (heater tube w/ element, end couplings, temp sensor & pressure switch)

Obviously the $35 would be preferable and I'm handy with fixing stuff, but I'm not sure if swapping out the element is more complex than it looks. The $99 option leaves me with some spares for any future heater challenges that come along.

Any advice on which direction I should go with this repair will be much appreciated. Thank you.

replacing the entire assembly is the easiest, but getting the element in and out is not bad.

remove all sensors switched etc on the housing

loosen the two bulkhead nuts

slide old element out.

when putting in the new element be careful not to bend the connection posts

install new bulkhead nuts and sensors and your done

[CatalinaSpa2007]

Greetings all. First post here and here's my situation:

I just bought a used round 2-3 person 2007 Catalina that I wittnessed working perfectly one week prior to purchase. Moved the tub to my house and filled her up with h20 and the tub made it to 80+ degrees. Then my 50a gfci breaker popped off (240v). I proceeded to remove the panel off of the tub's Balboa control unit and found some water sitting on one of the heater element contacts (the water was coming up from the heater tube). So I removed both heater element conections to the main board and tried the breaker again. My spa powered up just fine with the heater element disconnected, so I feel I found my problem and need to decide on the following:

1). Buy a replacement element for $35

2). Buy a replacement heater for $99 (heater tube w/ element, end couplings, temp sensor & pressure switch)

Obviously the $35 would be preferable and I'm handy with fixing stuff, but I'm not sure if swapping out the element is more complex than it looks. The $99 option leaves me with some spares for any future heater challenges that come along.

Any advice on which direction I should go with this repair will be much appreciated. Thank you.

replacing the entire assembly is the easiest, but getting the element in and out is not bad.

remove all sensors switched etc on the housing

loosen the two bulkhead nuts

slide old element out.

when putting in the new element be careful not to bend the connection posts

install new bulkhead nuts and sensors and your done

Okay...sounds easy enough.....thanks for the feeback, PS588.

So if I remove the pressure switch, what type of sealant should I use to reinstall? Also, does the temp sensor require any sealant?

[ps558]

Greetings all. First post here and here's my situation:

I just bought a used round 2-3 person 2007 Catalina that I wittnessed working perfectly one week prior to purchase. Moved the tub to my house and filled her up with h20 and the tub made it to 80+ degrees. Then my 50a gfci breaker popped off (240v). I proceeded to remove the panel off of the tub's Balboa control unit and found some water sitting on one of the heater element contacts (the water was coming up from the heater tube). So I removed both heater element conections to the main board and tried the breaker again. My spa powered up just fine with the heater element disconnected, so I feel I found my problem and need to decide on the following:

1). Buy a replacement element for $35

2). Buy a replacement heater for $99 (heater tube w/ element, end couplings, temp sensor & pressure switch)

Obviously the $35 would be preferable and I'm handy with fixing stuff, but I'm not sure if swapping out the element is more complex than it looks. The $99 option leaves me with some spares for any future heater challenges that come along.

Any advice on which direction I should go with this repair will be much appreciated. Thank you.

replacing the entire assembly is the easiest, but getting the element in and out is not bad.

remove all sensors switched etc on the housing

loosen the two bulkhead nuts

slide old element out.

when putting in the new element be careful not to bend the connection posts

install new bulkhead nuts and sensors and your done

Okay...sounds easy enough.....thanks for the feeback, PS588.

So if I remove the pressure switch, what type of sealant should I use to reinstall? Also, does the temp sensor require any sealant?

you can use teflon tape or teflon paste. the sensor should need anything because it should be mount to the housing not in the water

[CatalinaSpa2007]

Greetings all. First post here and here's my situation:

I just bought a used round 2-3 person 2007 Catalina that I wittnessed working perfectly one week prior to purchase. Moved the tub to my house and filled her up with h20 and the tub made it to 80+ degrees. Then my 50a gfci breaker popped off (240v). I proceeded to remove the panel off of the tub's Balboa control unit and found some water sitting on one of the heater element contacts (the water was coming up from the heater tube). So I removed both heater element conections to the main board and tried the breaker again. My spa powered up just fine with the heater element disconnected, so I feel I found my problem and need to decide on the following:

1). Buy a replacement element for $35

2). Buy a replacement heater for $99 (heater tube w/ element, end couplings, temp sensor & pressure switch)

Obviously the $35 would be preferable and I'm handy with fixing stuff, but I'm not sure if swapping out the element is more complex than it looks. The $99 option leaves me with some spares for any future heater challenges that come along.

Any advice on which direction I should go with this repair will be much appreciated. Thank you.

replacing the entire assembly is the easiest, but getting the element in and out is not bad.

remove all sensors switched etc on the housing

loosen the two bulkhead nuts

slide old element out.

when putting in the new element be careful not to bend the connection posts

install new bulkhead nuts and sensors and your done

Okay...sounds easy enough.....thanks for the feeback, PS588.

So if I remove the pressure switch, what type of sealant should I use to reinstall? Also, does the temp sensor require any sealant?

you can use teflon tape or teflon paste. the sensor should need anything because it should be mount to the housing not in the water

Perfect, thanks again PS588. I'll post a follow-up next week after my repair attempt.

[thespaguyca]

Dielectric grease on the element nuts and orings will help seal and install. Do not over tighten the nuts.

[CatalinaSpa2007]

Dielectric grease on the element nuts and orings will help seal and install. Do not over tighten the nuts.

Will do...thanks for the tips spaguy.

When I removed the heater on Saturday I noticed some sort of white-ish sealant used between where the heater-tube flanges connect to the plastic couplings/water hoses. Is this plumbers putty or what?

[ps558]

Dielectric grease on the element nuts and orings will help seal and install. Do not over tighten the nuts.

Will do...thanks for the tips spaguy.

When I removed the heater on Saturday I noticed some sort of white-ish sealant used between where the heater-tube flanges connect to the plastic couplings/water hoses. Is this plumbers putty or what?

No it is what happens to orings after they been in there a while. Best to replace them

[CatalinaSpa2007]

"No it is what happens to orings after they been in there a while. Best to replace them"

Hmmm. Just so I'm clear.....there's a rubber washer that's sandwiched between the water hose and the heater-tube flange. The bead of "plumbers putty" I'm seeing is located on the big rubber washer where it comes into contact with the heater-tube flange. So are you telling me the bead I'm seeing is an o-ring that's gone to mush?

[ps558]

"No it is what happens to orings after they been in there a while. Best to replace them"

Hmmm. Just so I'm clear.....there's a rubber washer that's sandwiched between the water hose and the heater-tube flange. The bead of "plumbers putty" I'm seeing is located on the big rubber washer where it comes into contact with the heater-tube flange. So are you telling me the bead I'm seeing is an o-ring that's gone to mush?

If they were or are a clear or white color. They seem to get mushy and leave a residue that looks like putty.

[thespaguyca]

"No it is what happens to orings after they been in there a while. Best to replace them"

Hmmm. Just so I'm clear.....there's a rubber washer that's sandwiched between the water hose and the heater-tube flange. The bead of "plumbers putty" I'm seeing is located on the big rubber washer where it comes into contact with the heater-tube flange. So are you telling me the bead I'm seeing is an o-ring that's gone to mush?

If they were or are a clear or white color. They seem to get mushy and leave a residue that looks like putty.

Yep. That's the chemicals attacking the rubber. Clean the faces, replace the oring/gaskets.

[CatalinaSpa2007]

I received my new heater element last week and after a successful replacement, my spa has been working great for 5 days now. The tips I received above really helped me out, and here's a summary of the repair steps for my heater element replacement project:

- Turn off power supply breaker at main & sub-panels.

- Drain spa

- Disconnect left & right water lines from heater tube flanges

- Remove Balboa control box front cover

- Disconnect heater tube's pressure sensor wire connection to the mother board

- Disconnect the heater tube's temperature sensor wire connection to the mother board

- Remove the 2 heater element connections to the mother board

- Remove the 4 screws & 2 "U" brackets that brace the heater tube up against the Balboa control box's bulk head.

The heater tube should now be completely removed from the spa. To replace the element:

- Remove the two large nuts (3/4" wrench) securing the old heater element contacts to the heater tube

- To get the old heater element out of the tube: (1) push the 2 element contacts down into the heater tube and then twist the element so the contacts are no longer resting against the 'flat pressed' section of the heater tube (2) firmly pull the element out of the heater tube

- Prep the new heater element by putting dialectric grease on the rubber o-rings and all over the element contacts.

- Install new element by inserting into heater tube. You will not be able to line up the 2 element contacts directly with the 2 holes in the heater tube when the element is first inserted because these holes reside on the 'flat pressed' section of the tube. So insert the element into the tube so the contacts are off to the left side of the 'flat pressed' section of the heater tube (11 oclock). Once the element is in the tube enough so the 2 element contacts are lined up with the 2 heater tube holes, you'll need to carefully turn the element in the tube in order to get the element contacts into the heater tube holes {this is the toughest part of this whole project}. Go slow and be careful not to bend the heater tube contacts.

- Install the two large nuts that secure the element contacts to the heater tube. Slowly tighten each nut while watching the inside of the heater tube to be sure the rubber o-rings aren't misaligned. Also watch that the element itself is not touching the metal tube walls once the contact nuts are firmly secured (do not over tighten!)

The rest of the installation process is just reversing what you did above during the removal steps.

Again, be careful with the element contacts. When the heater tube is re-installed and you're ready to connect both element contacts to the mother board.....use a wrench to hold the bottom nut of the contact so it does not turn......and do not over tighten the top nut!

All in all I'm happy it cost me less than $40 in parts to complete this repair and that my new-to-me spa is working beautifully.

[zspas]

Here is some extra tips to Testing the BALBOA Sensor Set and how to Removing the BALBOA Heater Assembly from a Spa System

Testing the Sensor Set

Check sensor wires for cracks or damage that may indicate the presence of a rodent.

Inspect the connections of both sensors on the circuit board. The plugs must be clean.

If the sensors are not totally failing but are showing excessive (1.0°C/2.0°F or more) difference between the two sensors when not heating (a possible cause of Sn/ SnS/SENSOR SYNC, HL/HFL/HTR FLOW LOW, and LF/ LOW/FLOW/messages), do the following: Note which sensor is reading consistently higher (A vs B or t vs H).

Unplug the two sensors from the circuit board and exchange their positions (i.e., plug the one that was in the "Sen. A" jack into the "Sen. B" jack and vice versa).

Press a panel button if any "stray" faults appeared during the process. (Stray faults are normal when sensors are unplugged then plugged back in while the system is running.)

Within a minute or so*, see if the same or other sensor is now reading consistently higher:

UÊ If the same sensor (A vs B or t vs H) is reading higher after the sensor interchange, the problem is on the circuit board. Replace the circuit board.

UÊ If the opposite sensor is now reading higher, the problem is with the sensor(s). Replace the

sensor set. *If you wait more than 2 minutes after plugging the sensors back in, heating may start (even outside a filter in Economy or Sleep mode) due to a stray Cd/CLd/COLD WATER condition usually detected when sensors are being plugged in while the system is running.

If there is a message indicating an open or faulty sensor: UÊ Unplug the sensor set (but leave the original sensors in the heater) and plug in the test sensor set. Put both sensors into the same cup of warm water (ideally above the set temperature, so the spa won't try to heat during this test, as there is no heater protection during this test) and verify that they read the same temperature (within 0.5°C/ 1°F). UÊ If the problem is solved, replace the sensor set.

If the problem is not solved, do not replace the sensor set. UÊ Plug in the original sensor set to verify that there is not a connection problem. UÊ If the problem continues after following the above

steps, then replace the circuit board.

Removing the Heater Assembly from a Spa System

Note: Be careful when removing a heater assembly from a spa plumbing system. Water may splash out under pressure.

Water under pressure in the plumbing may splash out, and onto the system's electronic board. Do not remove the system door until the water has been drained from the heater assembly tube.

Turn off the main power.

Close off the slice valves (or, ball valves) adjacent to the heater assembly.

Once the valves are closed, slowly crack the heater assembly end tubes until water flows out. If the

connectors are on too tight, it may be necessary to loosen the Phillips screws that hold the connectors

together. Once the water has been drained, continue.

Remove the system door cover.

Remove the nuts securing the copper straps to the heater assembly's terminal connectors. Be sure to

use a supporting end wrench on the lower nut. Otherwise, excessive torque may be occur on the straps

and put undue stress on the PCB.

Remove the heating assembly sensor wires and replace if necessary.

Remove both nuts that secure the element in place.

Remove the heater assembly.