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Balboa Circuit Board Question


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A couple weeks ago my Sunbelt Spas hot tub stopped working. I tracked it back to a tripped GFCI breaker. I reset the breaker and turned on the power again and the breaker tripped instantly. I disconnected the heater, pumps, blower, and ozone but it still kept tripping the breaker. Finally, I removed the power and determined that there was a short between the white neutral terminal and the black hot terminal on the board. Figuring something had happened, I ordered a replacement board.

The board just arrived, but it too seems to have a short between the neutral and black hot terminals. There is no short between the neutral and red hot terminals nor between both black and red hot terminals. I'm hesitant to install it like this.

Is this normal, or is the new board bad as well?

I have checked my wiring and there does not appear to be any problems there. With the power off there are no shorts between either hot and the neutral and ground wires. With the power on I measure 240V across the two hots, and 120 between each hot and the neutral.

Is there anything else I should check? Should I return the board for a replacement?

Thank you.

Kevin

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Hi Kevin

How did you determine a short exists between Neutral and Hot on the board? Continuity beeper on a DVOM? I have had my Fluke 87 "lie" to me on more than once, indicating continuity and even voltage, but no real circuit existed; no current-carrying capacity due to high resistance (typically across relay tips.) Try an ohm reading between the offending neutral, and each hot leg (academic, but I'd be curious to see what values...) Is this short identical between the original board and the replacement board (in both cases, neutral to black)? And if so, is it an absolute dead-continuity, no resistance short, or is it a high-resistance, 'somewhat-shorted' short, on both units? If they are identical in every respect, both leg and ohm value, I'd be highly suspicious of either BOTH boards, or my conclusion of a short condition. Try using a "Wiggy"-type meter if one is available; these tend to 'load' the circuit more than a straight DVOM.

Of more practical use, I'd probably wire up a test circuit using a 100-watt bulb and a switch; 120V to switch, switch to lamp; lamp to either black or red terminal; neutral terminal to neutral of 120V supply. Flip the switch; ideally, there should be no continuity between the neutral terminal and either hot terminal, so the lamp should NOT light. If it DOES light, you've got yourself a bona-fide short.

HOWEVER, having said that, you MAY have a relay with normally-closed tips that is giving you a 'short' reading; on power-up, the relay opens, removing the short. Put your meter on the two 'shorted' terminals (no power), and "exercise" all of the relay tips (wherever they are at rest, move 'em the other way), and see if your shorted reading drops out with one of 'em. I'm thinking that maybe a failed relay coil is preventing these hypothetical normally-closed tips from opening, thereby 'introducing' a short condition and kicking out the breaker. Again, this is just braistorming; I've no real knowledge of what's going on at the board-level with my own Balboa control card. Balboa WON'T release board-level schematics, and I've yet to turn anything up in multiple online searches. If I had a confrmed-dead board, I'd "reverse-engineer" the blasted thing and post the schematic online for everyone!

I've been told by pro spa-techs that Balboa will accept returned boards if they don't fix the problem (I was certainly surprised!); I'd confirm this with the vendor before installation, and if this is indeed the case, might as well go ahead and put it in anyway. Worst case, it'll just kick the breaker out again, and if my admittedly wild-assed conjecture about a bad relay coil is correct, then the new one may work.

My 'gut,' and plain common sense, tells me that there ought NOT be any connection between neutral and either hot terminal (not without a load between them, anyway), but at the same time, I've been in similar circumstances too many times to just let it go at that.

Give the terminals a REALLY CLOSE-UP inspection, preferably with a 10x-doublet magnifier; you're looking for signs that the board has been previously installed, and is a 'reconditioned' board. If you can see displaced metal, bright streaks, scratches, or even an 'imprint' of a terminal, then I'd be a lot quicker to condemn it as bad-from-dealer, than if it's all shiny-new, never-installed.

Last, but not least, try calling Balboa; just ask 'em flat out if you should be reading continuity between neutral and red or black on the card. They won't release information 'in bulk,' but they do answer focused questions such as that.

Sorry I couldn't be of more concrete help; my experience with spa electronics is very limited (just picked up a used Saratoga Spas "putnam" for free at a yard-sale; fixed the non-functional electronics, stuck diverter valving, broken pressure switch, split ring-nut on heater, and now a leak from somethere beneath the spa shell), but I've been troubleshooting electronics for almost 30 years, and thought I'd offer what I had.)

Best of luck with it; I'd be interested in any readings you get, and any final resolution.

Karl

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  • 11 years later...

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