Hot Spring Spa Prodigy - Ozonator Blowing Fuse

[elav]

Hello, I had a Freshwater III ozonator from 2009 that failed (kept on blowing fuses). I replaced the fuse and it would instantly blow. I replaced it with a Del Zone MCD-50 and it worked for a couple of days and then stopped (blown fuse). I called Del Zone and their customer service is amazing. They sent a rebuild kit (replaces everything but the plug and board that has the fuse). I put that in the tub and I could tell by the light and the humming sound that it was working. A couple of hours later I couldn't hear any noise from it. I just checked and the fuse is blown. The tub is wired 110V and I'm using the default wiring for the ozonator. The rest of the tub is working perfectly (no blown GFI, heater works, small and large pumps work, etc.). I'm assuming that the Del Zone is blowing the fuse because of a bad transformer in the ozonator. Do people agree it has to be another bad transformer? Or should I be checking something else?

Thanks ahead of time!

-Alan

[Dr. Spa]

I'd check for water getting into the ozonator.

[elav]

Dr. Spa, the check valve is in place and the tube is higher than the level of the water. There is no evidence of water in the tube and since installation I haven't switched on the main pump, so the smaller pump has been running the entire time (and pulling air through the system). So there is no evidence of water entering the ozonator. If water did somehow enter (and I just can't see evidence) is the ozonator ruined or do I just need to let it dry out and replace the fuse. If there is a chance of it still being good, I think I should test the ozonator without it being hooked up (or does it need air to be pulled through it?).

UPDATE - spoke to Del Ozone (amazing customer service). They said that you shouldn't run the ozonator without air being pulled thru as the ozone released will cause oxidation within the device. They also said that water entering the ozonator chamber will cause issues if happening for a long time but no real issue should happen unless water gets in the circuit board or transformer. They are replacing the unit and I'm sending this unit in for testing at the factory.

[Dr. Spa]

Just seems to me, if you blew out 3 ozonators in a week, there's something else going on.

If you don't pull air through the ozonator, the ozone levels inside the ozonator build up to extremely high concentrations, and can start to degrade any plastics inside (like wire insulation)

[elav]

 

Just seems to me, if you blew out 3 ozonators in a week, there's something else going on. If you don't pull air through the ozonator, the ozone levels inside the ozonator build up to extremely high concentrations, and can start to degrade any plastics inside (like wire insulation)

 

I completely agree. I am looking for an approach to debug this. Del Ozone customer service has been great and I have had a completely open discussion with them about what is happening. With the rest of the spa working and not tripping the GFI, there are only so many things that can be causing this. The two main issues are water entering into the ozonator and a faulty ozonator. The original Freshwater III was 5 years old. The first Del Ozone worked for a few days. The replacement cartridge only worked for a few hours. Now the replacement cartridge didn't replace the cord wiring or the circuit board that has the fuse. There is the possibility that there is a short in the cord or the circuit board once it gets moved or heats up (from being enclosed in the spa). I agree with you that something is going on, just not sure what...