Pump/heater Shutting Off Randomly On High Speed

[phgray]

Hello,

I have a Bullfrog model #362 spa, the control box is a Balboa EL 1500. I've had the spa for 5 years, it has worked well until recently. The first thing I noticed was the GFCI tripped last May, but I had been washing off the deck near the spa and thought maybe it was from that, moisture possibly getting inside, but don't really know. It has since tripped a couple more times at random the last few months, shutting the entire spa down. I don't know if that is a separate issue or if it could be related to the pump/heater issue as well.

The spa has two pumps, when one or both are turned on in either low or high speed, they are supposed to automatically shut off after 30 minutes. What sometimes happens is after pump 1, which has the heater assembly, shuts off automatically as it's supposed to, if turned on high again for another 30 minute cycle it will shut off prematurely, in roughly 10-15 minutes and can't be turned back on, even though the light on the display panel indicates that pump 1, is on. If pump 2 is turned on high as well at the same time, it will remain on and function normally.

While pressing the pump 1 button after it shuts down, you can hear a clicking sound and sometimes on occasion a 'dr' or 'dr4' code will appear, but not always. After 30 minutes or so, pump 1 can be turned on again and bascially act 'normal'. I've tried resetting the spa by turning it off at the circuit breaker after pump 1 shuts off prematurely, to see if that would reset it sooner, but pump 1 remains shut off when powered back up, until a certain time period has passed, after which, it will function bascially "normal' again, at least until you try to run it through another 2nd 30 minute cycle on high where it may or may not, shut off prematurely.

On low speed or during a maintence cycle circulating the water, pump 1 will stay on continually, i.e. not shut off prematurely, and it heats the water without any issue or error codes.

I have replaced the filters, drained and refilled the spa, taking care to fill it so an air lock wouldn't develop. While the spa was drained, I looked inside the heater and pump 1 impeller and did not see blockage of any kind. Both the pump and heater, at least to my untrained eye, don't seem to be rusted or corroded. I am wondering if perhaps it might be a sensor issue? The spa also has an ozonator, I don't know if that is of any importance or not.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or advice in dealing with this problem. I live in a remote area so it's expensive to get a technician out so I'm trying to explore as many options as I can before having to resort to doing that or at the least have some knowledge of what may or may not be causing the issues.

[PreservedSwine]

It sounds like an internal thermal overload on the pump is tripping. It restes automatically after several minutes. It does not communicate this to the control box, so the control box thinks all is well... until the heater overheats. You can confirm this by testing voltage to the pump when it stops working. If it's getting the correct voltage, the pump needs to be repaired/rebuilt/replaced.