Coleman Hot Tub 9F1 Error

[iced98lx]

Anyone know what this is? Display Reads 9 F 1 buttons do nothing. I power cycle all is good for a few weeks, now it pops back up tonight, must have been in error state for a while water is chilly. (was going to soak after scooping the driveway, damn hot tub never works when it should).

First time it did it I thought might be the filter (wasn't really that bad, but...) I put a brand new one in it, and have been in it 4 times since.

Thanks!

[PFC5]

Since no one else more familiar posted I will take a stab at it.

F1, F2, etc are filter cycle durations, but couldn't find anything with a 9 in front of it. Have you checked your filters? How long does it take for it to error out? If it trips within an hour or so you could try running it without the filters and see if it still trips with the error message. If it doesn't trip it when the filters are removed the filters may be blocked.

Have you tried turning off the disconnect breaker for an hour to see if that resets something? Sometimes you need to remove power for more than a couple of minutes to reset it and clear ghosts in electronics.

Hope this helps!

[iced98lx]

Since no one else more familiar posted I will take a stab at it.

F1, F2, etc are filter cycle durations, but couldn't find anything with a 9 in front of it. Have you checked your filters? How long does it take for it to error out? If it trips within an hour or so you could try running it without the filters and see if it still trips with the error message. If it doesn't trip it when the filters are removed the filters may be blocked.

Have you tried turning off the disconnect breaker for an hour to see if that resets something? Sometimes you need to remove power for more than a couple of minutes to reset it and clear ghosts in electronics.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the reply!

The F1/F2 lights aren't on (they have seperate indicators for the filter timers) last time around it was 2 weeks before the message re-appeared. I just changed the filter when the 9F1 appeared the first time (3 weeks ago). If it happens again I'll leave the breakers off for a longer period, but flipping them for 2-3 min gets everything going again as normal so I found it a little odd.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

What year is the tub? It is some type of flo error. Does it have a circ pump that may be randomly acting up, or possibly a pressure switch or flo switch

[iced98lx]

What year is the tub? It is some type of flo error. Does it have a circ pump that may be randomly acting up, or possibly a pressure switch or flo switch

Tub is a 2008 model, no circ pump, pump 1 low is circ/heat/filter... recently had a couple boards and the heater replaced, might call and see if the dealer knows more. Thanks guys!

[iced98lx]

Dealer says the heater is over heating and tub is going into shutdown mode... sending a tech to take a look at it. $59.50 worth of milage, thank goodness for Coleman's warranty!

[iced98lx]

second shop in town was kind enough to dig around in service manuals, and suggested that the error indicates that the tub has tested for and cannot find a proper ground loop and should be tripping the GFI.

I was horrified to look at the wiring done on my tub, and I will be re-doing the wiring when I return home next week with a proper ground that doesn't bypass the GFI breaker- my tub has been unsafe to sit in since installed. I'll keep flipping the breaker to re-set the tub to heat it but geeze, I feel bad letting people sit in it.

Lesson learned will not hire that electrician again: if you want something done.....

EDIT:

right now there is a "power whip" from the outside box to the tub properly connected 8ga 4 wires, and from the box to the house there is 8-3 wire. I'm planning to replace the box-> house with 8-4 so there is two hots / neutral/ ground, any issues with that? Also, I won't bypass the GFI breakers in the outdoor box obviously.

Edited February 2, 2011 by iced98lx

[PFC5]

For my 240v hot tub we used 6/3 wiring from the breaker box to the disconnect box outside. We also used that from the disconnect to the spa as well.

So you might want to check code for which wire is needed. Amazing how some people who are supposed to be pros are not and thank God no one got hurt but this wiring job. Maybe you should report that person so he doesn't kill someone else, and learns his trade before doing such jobs.

[iced98lx]

For my 240v hot tub we used 6/3 wiring from the breaker box to the disconnect box outside. We also used that from the disconnect to the spa as well.

So you might want to check code for which wire is needed. Amazing how some people who are supposed to be pros are not and thank God no one got hurt but this wiring job. Maybe you should report that person so he doesn't kill someone else, and learns his trade before doing such jobs.

The electrician is coming back out to take a look, he says he'd never leave a spa like that and says it should have 6/4 to the box outside and 8/4 to the tub because the max draw dictated by the tub is 30amps.

He says he's going to fix it, so that'd be nice.

[PFC5]

Can you trust him after bypassing the required GFCI SAFETY feature? Also what amp are the breakers? AFAIK (not being a licensed Electrician), the wire must equal the max load of the breakers installed not the draw of the components attached to that circuit. The reason being is that if you change the device connected to it and it has a larger draw, then the wire will fry (and maybe start a fire) before the breaker would even trip. There is a 125% rule with motors etc whereas we are supposed to make sure the wire & breakers can handle 125% of the rated total load so at start up where they draw the most power, you still have wire (and breakers) that can handle the start up load.

I would call another electrician to see if he is right or I am. The reason he might have gone with an undersized wire is to save himself money if he quoted a flat fee to do the install. I know my 6/3 wire (really 4 wire counting the bare copper ground wire) cost me $202.00 for mine. 8/3 would be cheaper and might be the reason he went with that.

You do realize if you get a new spa down the road that needs a 50amp breaker service you will for sure need to replace everything from the wire as well as the breakers instead of just the breakers which is a 5 minute job? That means buying new wire and snaking the new wire all over again. I would definitely get a second opinion if it were me.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

Interesting code, on the balboa systems we have used, the only code with a 9 is rt9, which means to test and reset the GFCI, anything with an F is a flo issue or filter. Learned something new today!

[iced98lx]

Interesting code, on the balboa systems we have used, the only code with a 9 is rt9, which means to test and reset the GFCI, anything with an F is a flo issue or filter. Learned something new today!

That is word for word what he told me my code meant- that the tub couldn't find the GFCI, it's possible he got confused and read the first code he could find with 9 in it. Either way the wiring needs to be fixed, so I'll start there and then move on. The Tub is under warranty until October, so hopefully I'll get it strait before then.

Anyway, I'm going to wire it myself- the tub calls for two 30 amp breakers, so I'm running 6/4 to the box outside through dual 60 amps in the panel inside, then a dual 60 GFCI breaker in the box outside, then dual 30's to the tub, and leaving the 8/4 to the tub until I move the tub into its final home after the deck is built, then I'll run 6/4 to the tub so if I get a new one with bigger demands I can just swap the 30 amp breakers in the box for bigger ones.