Hs Vanguard Will Only Heat To 80 Degrees

[jwells36]

Ok guys i just picked up a Hot Spring Vanguard it is a 2009 and i bought it second hand and moved it and set it up myself. Last night i finished hooking up the electric and filled that spa. I followed all of the directions per Hot spring. All of the interior lights work, all of the jest work and i have no blinking lights, but after 16 hours the water temperature went from 72 deg to only 80 degrees. This is my second hot spring and i never had any issues with the last one so i am not sure where to start. I cleaned the filters really well before i filled it and they seem to be in great shape. I have no idea where to go from here so i thought i would ask you guys before i called out a tech.

Thanks,

Josh

[spatech (the unreal one)]

Ok guys i just picked up a Hot Spring Vanguard it is a 2009 and i bought it second hand and moved it and set it up myself. Last night i finished hooking up the electric and filled that spa. I followed all of the directions per Hot spring. All of the interior lights work, all of the jest work and i have no blinking lights, but after 16 hours the water temperature went from 72 deg to only 80 degrees. This is my second hot spring and i never had any issues with the last one so i am not sure where to start. I cleaned the filters really well before i filled it and they seem to be in great shape. I have no idea where to go from here so i thought i would ask you guys before i called out a tech.

Thanks,

Josh

That added heat is probably from the circ pump running overnight. That spa should have 2 breakers, a 20A and a 30A in a gray subpanal that should be 10+ feet away from the spa. Are both in the on position?

[jwells36]

Yes i followed the manual on turning on the 20 amp breaker, and purging the pumps and then turning on the 30 amp breaker. After 12 hours i even turned both breakers off for a few minutes and then turned them back on to see if it would reset the heater, still no luck. I talked to my local HS dealer and she suggested to remove the filters and run it and see if it would heat and to check my settings and make sure i did not have it set in some kind of limiting mode where it would not let it heat past 80 degrees.

[jwells36]

Is it possible that i did not get that side of the breaker hooked up right? I am not having any issues with the breaker tripping so i am assuming it is wired correctly.

[n1oty]

Inside the IQ2020 control box, there should be two LED's lit on the main board. One is marked "Lim OK" and the other is "Heat On". If those are lit, your main electronics are probable fine. Then you can turn your attention to the heater relay board on the left and the heater itself. See if one of the relays has any burnt areas around it. If so, the heater relay board is bad. Also, check the heater with a VOM through the element. Finally, ground fault test the element with a megger. If the two previously mentioned LED's are lit on the main board, but you do not have line voltage out of the two heater connection points, the heater relay board is bad.

John

[jwells36]

Ok i checked the led's and they are both lit. I checked the heater relay board and it looks like it is in good condition no burn marks or anything that looks out of the ordinary. I followed the wires out of the control box back to the heater and it is really hard to get to. From what i can see it sits back behind the second pump. how in the world do i get back in there to test it? From what i have read and what i have checked so far it seems to be pointing towards the heater being my issue. Is this something that might be covered under warranty even though i am the second owner? The spa is only 15 months old.

[jwells36]

i was thinking the heater was back behind the control box but then i realized it is right below the control box. How do i check the heater element?

[Dan.The.Spa.Man]

i was thinking the heater was back behind the control box but then i realized it is right below the control box. How do i check the heater element?

It's an '09?

I would look to the wiring. No problems with the heaters or relays on the newer models. Can you post some pics of the breakers and tub connections?

[n1oty]

i was thinking the heater was back behind the control box but then i realized it is right below the control box. How do i check the heater element?

Pull the heater wires off the connection points at the heater relay board.

John

[hottubdan]

I'm assuming you got a great deal on it. At this point why not spend a little, get a pro out and get you running. It is probably something simple for him, while it is a mystery to you.

[jwells36]

I have an appointment for Monday with a hotspring tech. I was thinking the same thing, that i might keep messing with it and screw up something that might be covered under warranty. It seems like the most likely cause is the heater or heater element so since it is just a year old i figure i got a shot at getting them to fix it under warranty.

thanks so much for all of your help, i will let you know what the tech says.

[spatech (the unreal one)]

I have an appointment for Monday with a hotspring tech. I was thinking the same thing, that i might keep messing with it and screw up something that might be covered under warranty. It seems like the most likely cause is the heater or heater element so since it is just a year old i figure i got a shot at getting them to fix it under warranty.

thanks so much for all of your help, i will let you know what the tech says.

Good idea at this point. If you bought this used the warranty is not in place, not transferable.

[jwells36]

well the tech is going to charge me $125 just to come out so i might have to rethink that, i could buy a whole new heater for $300 and install it myself.

I will keep working on it and see what happens. I am about to go out and check to make sure i am getting power to the heater and to the element.

jw

[jwells36]

As in continued my troubleshooting i realized that i had a couple of really big air pockets in the inlet and outlet lines going to the heater. I unhooked those lines and got all of the air out and hooked everything back up and within 20 minutes my temp went from 72-76 degrees, so could that have been my issue? I closed the cover and set the temp to 100 degrees so time will tell.

jw

[hottubdan]

As in continued my troubleshooting i realized that i had a couple of really big air pockets in the inlet and outlet lines going to the heater. I unhooked those lines and got all of the air out and hooked everything back up and within 20 minutes my temp went from 72-76 degrees, so could that have been my issue? I closed the cover and set the temp to 100 degrees so time will tell.

jw

Very likely the problem. Always fill through the gray standpipe. If not, I don't recommend you just start swapping parts.

[jwells36]

Well that did not do it. I guess I will bite the bullet and pay the $125 service charge to have the hot spring tech come out on Monday. I hope it is something small, the thought of buying a new heater makes me cringe.

I will let yall know what the final verdict is.

jw

[jwells36]

I gave it one last shot today and i realized that after bleeding the air out of the heater yesterday i never powered down the spa to reset the heater, i went out and flipped both breakers and waited a minute flipped them back on and 3 hours later it is at 98 degrees! Thanks so much for getting my new tub going for me.

jw