christiffa25 Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Wonder if anyone can help, I'll explain the problem with hottub approx 10yr old. Balboa Sys Had been running fine then I didn't use the tub for 4 or 5 months due to needing a new cover. Got new cover gave a clean, filled the tub and powered on.. All started as usual. 2 hours later I noticed it had turned off and it was displaying a OH error. Turned off at the main breaker it came back on.. Heated for 2 hours then OH error again.. Had a look inside to see if any problems with hi- limit sensor and temp sensor.. They seemed fine. (The tub has a hi limit which goes into the shell and a temp that goes into the heater and a pressure switch that goes into the heater) I unscrewed the temp sensor that went into the heater pulled it out (lots of water spurt out) then screwed back in. Not knowing what I was really doing decided to put all back together and leave well alone!! I turned power back on and it fired up. Was expecting 2 hours again but to my surprise it carried on heating. It heated for around 10 hours nearly getting up to full temp before cutting out and displaying OH again! Now Even after re-setting at the breaker when I attempt to turn the tub on it displays OH straight away and doesn't do anything. I'm in the uk. I did test both the hi-limit and temp sensor with a multimeter ohm tester and got readings of Hi-limit - 57.6 Temp - 55.8 Whilst everything was cold. Any help would be fantastic guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spanky Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 OH error means the system is sensing an "Over Heat" condition in the heater. A possible cause is low water flow through the heater. Make sure the pump is working properly and there's no air in the system, plugged filter, blocked jet, damaged impeller..etc The error should reset when the water (in the heater tube) cools down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted April 27, 2012 Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 Also, since it has been sitting for months- there could be a tiny bit of corrosion that's has built up on the harness where the sensor plugs into the circuit-board. If this is the case, simply unplug, and plug in the sensor a few times to clean it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted April 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2012 It's not resetting when the water has cooled down. It did at first but not anymore. When I turn it on... It displays some balboa start up codes.. Followed by OH flashing. I have had the sensors off and on the board a few times. There was no corrosion. Did have a guy pop round from a spa shop who said he had run the pump which was working but he had no sensors with him to test them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted April 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2012 Just to add.... The 2 sensor readings I did would they seem about right given everything was cold? Does it matter they are slightly different readings? Basically what I'm asking is do you wise people think I can rule out hi-limit and temp sensor being the problem given the readings I got? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 It's not resetting when the water has cooled down. It did at first but not anymore. When I turn it on... It displays some balboa start up codes.. Followed by OH flashing. I have had the sensors off and on the board a few times. There was no corrosion. Did have a guy pop round from a spa shop who said he had run the pump which was working but he had no sensors with him to test them. Try this: Turn off the power. Locate the dip switch on the dip switch bank that's labled "test mode," and enable it. Turn the power back on. Press the "light" button once only. Press the "temp" button. Wait a few seconds... On the digital display, you should see "temp a = " followed by a temp. Then, you'll see "temp b = " followed by another temp. If it's working properly, they'll be within a degree each other (until the heater is energized). After the heater is energized, the temp sensor on the exiting side may read slightly warmer, depending on pump flow. Once you've recorded what each sensor is reading, shut down, swap sensors, and repeat. What "a" was reading, will now read as "b", and vice versa. If you have a bad thermistor, you'll know it. If you have a bad circuit board, you'll know it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted April 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Thanks for the info swine... But b4 I do that.... It's not the M7 balboa where there is 2 temp sensors going into the heater. It's the older board where you have a hi-limit sensor going into the spa shell and a temp sensor in going into the heater along with a pressure switch going into heater. Not 100% sure but I don't think you can perform that test on the older non- M7 boards. I may be wrong??? Do you happen to know??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 I'm pretty sure I've run a thermistor test on that style, IIRC. Admitably and regrettably, my memory is NOT the greatest! At any rate- it won't hurt anything to try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2012 Ok swine, i dont have dip switches on the board I don't think. I put a ohm meter on pressure switch to test continuity which it didn't... However I then unplugged the pressure switch and fired up hottub still same... Startup codes followed by OH flashing! Do you know if the readings I got off the ohm tester listed at top of page seem right? Seem to be getting conflicting info regarding temp sensor readings?? Starting to run out of ideas with this tub!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 If you don't see the dip switchbank directly on the face of the PCB, look in the upper right corner, and it may be accesable from outside the control box- on the side (upper right) of the control box... usually with a bit of red plastic surrounding it. The 1st switch is typically the test mode toggle. Hope this isn't a wild goose chase, but it will make your problem much easier to diagnose (bad PCB vs bad senors) if you have it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Ok swine.. Me again! I couldn't do a test off dip switch but I have again put a multi meter on the hi-limit sensor that goes into the shell and the temp sensor that goes into the heater. Both were reading 51.5k ohms give or take which I'm thinking is about right given the spa is completely cold at about 14C. I put sensors in cup of warm water and the resistance went down on sensors to around 17.0k ohms again leading me to believe they are working correctly? On power up of spa I get start up codes of... 100 24 00 Followed by 35C which I presume is my set temp. before any pumps or anything try to run OH starts flashing. I do hear a relay or something click as the OH starts flashing? Just before I was desperately trying to press jets and temp down before the OH flashed with no luck. It did at that point flash up F2 before the OH came up. Don't know if that means anything? In your opinion is this staring to look like it's a board problem?? Oh and thank you for your time and help on this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Getting identical OHM readings on the thermistors indicates they're fine, but I'd still plug a new set in simply to confirm it before replacing an expensive board. The start-up numbers are insignificant, and it sounds like you briefly entered the filtration programing (F2) before the spa locked you out and shut down due to the "OH" condition. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 Oh the sensor readings are not identical. There's roughly 2k ohm difference between the two but I thought this to be normal as 1 goes into the spa shell and 1 into the heater meaning there in completely different places as opposed to the newer m7 sensors where you have 2 going into the heater. I know the M7 sensors need to be the same temp within 2f / 1c of each other but does that same rule apply to these older setups and sensors? Thanks again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I put sensors in cup of warm water and the resistance went down on sensors to around 17.0k ohms again leading me to believe they are working correctly? There's roughly 2k ohm difference between the two Did they both go to 17.0? Try reversing them- plug the sensor harness into the high limit receptacle, and vice versa. See if you get the same error code. Yes, they have a tolerance that's greater than the M-7, but they still use the same logic. It's either the board or sensors, and it really helps to have a spare set of sensors to troubleshoot. Even OHM-ing out thermistors is not 100% accurate 100% of the time in determining what has failed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Update on oh problem.. Purchased both a temp sensor and hi limit sensor and replaced them both. Unfortunately same problem... Turn on power OH flashing tub does nothing! Gutted! I do find if I unplug the hi limit and turn power on the pump starts to fire up for about 3seconds then the oh starts flashing again and disables everything. Any ideas??? Does this sound like my board is shot?? Cheers in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countspacula Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 make sure that the TEMP sensor (the larger ended of the two) goes into the shell fitting, and the HIGH LIMIT (smaller one usually with a shorter cord) goes into the heater. If it flashes OH even with new sensors, save yourself alot of heartache and trouble and just get another B2DG, or B2DG40 board. Contrary to popular belief, these sensors themselves RARELY "go" bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 Thanks for reply "count" Apologies for silly question but what's b2dg40?? Is that a board? I believe my board is a 52271? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countspacula Posted May 24, 2012 Report Share Posted May 24, 2012 yes, thats the number of the board(s). If memory serves me correctly, your board is held in primarily by six screws side by side in a straight line right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2012 It's been suggested to me that it could be a problem with the pump capacitor. Its a 2 speed pump.. No separate circa pump Does this sound plausible to any of you experts on here??? I just really would be gutted to buy another board and still have oh problem lol ????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countspacula Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 a capacitor problem would be obvious. the pump would just humm, start hard, run for only a short time, pop the breaker, etc... does the pump come on and move the water well? If it does and a new sensor set has been added, and still an OH, new board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 No the pump doesn't come on at all. Basically when u turn power on.. Balboa start up codes then OH starts flashing immediately before any pumps/jets have even had chance to come on. I did actually last night try hitting the jets button whilst it was going through the start up codes.. By doing that the pump came on but only for like 2 seconds until the OH kicked in and disabled everything. If I turn it on though and don't press jets button... Pump doesn't even get chance to come on OH flashing. So water is not circulating at all I'm guessing that's because it doesn't get chance too as OH flashes before anything can operate. Most people who have the OH error seem to at least be able to turn on power and tub starts to operate before oh... Where as mine just flashes oh immediately making troubleshooting very hard?? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
countspacula Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 buy a board, trust me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted May 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2012 Yes I agree "count"... Will have to save some pennies and will get new board in the next couple of weeks Will update with results once Iv got new board in and keep everything crossed I'm up and running again soon! Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christiffa25 Posted June 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 Ok hopefully final *update* Ordered new pcb board and replaced old one out of hot tub yesterday. Fired up... NO oh error, pump jets heater all came on and it seems to be working as before ( yippee!) 1 little thing to note to anyone having this same problem.... The spa tech guy who fitted the new board for me did say that on the old board as he was swapping them over the little black jumper that you insert the temp sensor into was not fully pushed down on the board which could possibly caused the oh error. However he had pretty much replaced the board by then so didn't want to swap all back just to test. Maybe when I swapped the sensor set I didn't push it back on properly? I did have them on and off a few times so... Who knows but just bear in mind to make sure sensors are completely snug and pushed on. In my opinion on mine I believe it was the board. Through my problems with oh error my advice would be.... 1: Check for good flow/blockage ect remove/replace filter. 2: Replace sensor set 3: replace circuit board Thank you to all that have helped on this thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PreservedSwine Posted June 1, 2012 Report Share Posted June 1, 2012 It would have given an sn error, not an OH error if you didn't plug one of the sensors back in. You had a bad board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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