Hot Springs Vanguard Not Heating

[riverrat]

Howdy:

I'm trying to troubleshoot a problem with this tub for my father.

It's a Hot Springs Vanguard wired for 240V. It stopped heating, and the POWER and READY lights outside are blinking. It will circulate water. It's been working fine for the past few months. We looked in the Manual, and it suggested that the pressure switch could be open, causing the heater circuit not to function. We changed the filters for clean ones as it suggested, but still no luck.

The control is the IQ 2020. The top light "LIM OK" is lit, but the "Heater On" light is not.

Doing some research online we suspected the daughter board or heater relay board and removed it because there was some evidence of electrical burning on the aluminum support/heatsink, however after removing the board it doesn't appear to be damaged. I saw some burned boards in my google search and ours looks pretty clean. I suppose it's possible this tub has had that problem before, but nobody seems to remember having it replaced.

We did call the local dealer, but of course he was hesitant to offer much troubleshooting information.

So where to go from here? Dad doesn't have a multimeter but I'm sure we can get one to help troubleshoot provided we know what to look for.

Thanks for the help

RR

[Chas]

You said, "It will circulate water." Do you mean the jet pump(s) work or the small circ pump is working.

Two lights blinking mean the circ pump is bad, or the pressure switch has failed.

First, be sure you even have a pressure switch. You can post your serial number and we will ID the exact year of your Vanguard, which is helpful. If you have a small grey wire coming out of the end of your heater, that's the same size wire as goes to the two temperature sensors, then you do have a pressure switch. If you jump that switch (carefully unplug it from the mother board and gently short the two pins together ( I use a small screwdriver) and the blinking stops, you have found the problem. But before you go that far:

Be SURE you have flow from the small pump. There should be a small bleed hole on the wall of the filter compartment, and water should come out there with good force. Enough force that if you take the retainer off of the closest filter (assuming it's clean enough to float) it should start that filter spinning 'round.

If you have an ozone system, it should be bubbling as usual, and if you have the smaller "WellStream" water feature, it needs to move water as it did when new - this feature is in the wall of the tub, takes water from the small circ pump, and has a valve to turn it on and off. Not the three-holed "BellaFountanna" unit which runs off a jet pump.

If the pump is good, it points towards the pressure switch.

Watkins does sell the pressure switch (actually it is a kit for a Caldera) but most dealers will tell you that you have to install a complete new heater, at around $350 give or take. I don't subscribe to that: I have replaced several pressure switches in recent months with good results.

HTH

[riverrat]

Chas:

Thanks much for your reply.

OK, so while our tub doesn't seem to have the bleed hole you described, we were able to verify that the circ pump seems to be functioning well. The tub has a little "waterfall" that you can engage with a valve, and it's flowing out of there very nicely. Dad says it's never been any better than that, I'm going to estimate that flow in the gallons per minute range.

We do have the heater with build in pressure switch. I have jumped the contacts on the board as suggested, and then sure enough the relays pulled in, the "heater on" light came on, and we were able to verify that the tub began to heat.

Now armed with a multimeter, I checked the contacts on the pressure switch for continuity, and it read nothing, so I'm guessing that you've helped us identify the problem.

Sounds like a good do it yourselfer can replace the pressure switch. Question is then, where can I get the pressure switch? Part Number?

Thanks alot for your help so far, this is just what we were trying to avoid was a service call and expensive replacement parts. Thank you!

RR

[Chas]

Let me go look that up - After I get out of my pajamas and finish my oatmeal -

Found it! The part I use is a Caldera part: number 73995. I have a couple on the shelf down at the store and I will gladly sell you the part and ship it out today if you want. My price would be $39.95 plus flat-rate shipping, but it is available online as well, and they claim a "sale price" for about what I pay for it here: http://www.hottubspasupplies.com/Spa-Supplies/Caldera-Spa-Parts/C-Sensors My guess is they are cleaning out the old warehouse or something, that's a GREAT price!!

It comes with a cord, which you can discard, and looks like this:

[riverrat]

Thanks alot Chas, I have sent you a PM with my contact details.

Regards,

RR

[gashley]

Hi you Guys really know your stuff.

I have one of the old trombone heaters with no pressure switch. Watkins 0939401

Is it possible for this to be intermittent? The heater light is on and I have flushed the water through but sometimes it works and sometimes it does not.

Is there a way of testing if it is on rather than coming back every 6 hours to see if its warm?

 

Many thanks Graham