C4wilson Posted January 12, 2017 Report Share Posted January 12, 2017 I turned to you guys twice a couple years ago with great results so hopefully I can learn again!!! I have an Artesian spa platinum quail ridge 2008. For some reason pump 4 is always on. The circulation pump (not shown in the picture), is the the left of pump 3. So i do not think that is part of the issue. I also have a pdf of the manual if that would help. When I turn the tub on, all 4 pumps turn on to do their 1 minute cycle, pump 4 remains on and an error appears on the little screen (Pump 4 error) but it continues to pump. Everything else seems to be working OK and I can continue to use the tub, I just cannot turn 4 off. I had an issue last year with a mouse eating the wires to the LED lights in the same corner, I got rid of the mice and fixed the LED wires but I don't think that would be related... Another possible related issue is that pump leaked last year but I just had to tighten the pvc above it but it did get wet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, in particular - should I just live with the issue? Its not that big of a deal if it isnt hurting anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 So the circ pump is running as expected and the tub is heating, correct? I'm assuming you have an in.XM or in.XM2 pac, is that correct? Have you been playing around with the low level programming? Have you disconnected any pumps when powering the spa up recently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thank you for the response! Yes the circulation pump and heater are working normally. The pack is an in.XM and i have not tried messing with low level programming (that i'm aware of at least). I did disconnect pump 4 while the unit was off to see if the tub could work with it unplugged and it would not, i have not tried unplugging it after turning it on though. Thanks again!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 If you turned the spa on with pump 4 disconnected, the pac may have thought it was only a 3 pump spa and changed it's programming on it's own. I'm not the end all XM expert, but I had a similar same issue with an Artesian spa earlier this week. The XM pack in the Artesian spa I worked on only had 4 choices for low level setting: 0,1,2,3, If you don't have the documentation, there are few enough possibilities that you can try them all. Most XM packs have 25 or so options, so Artesian obviously has some proprietary work going on there. If you have an XM.2 pack, it's a whole different ballgame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thank you! I'm pretty sure it is not an XM2. Bizarre though, I'll see if I can figure out how to change the settings on the XM. It seems peculiar that it would give a P4 Er if it didn't know it was a 4 pump model but certainly makes me feel better you've seen a similar issue!! I appreciate the help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 13, 2017 Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 On the pac is a small LED window with two buttons, usually labeled SETTINGS (left) and CYCLE (right). You hold down the left button on the pack until you get the display "LL" That will flash with whatever is programmed in. Remember what's programmed in before you change anything. To change the setting, press the Cycle button (on the right). As I said, the Artesian spa I worked on only had 4 choices. If you have a lot more, I'd go looking for documentation. After you change the setting with the Cycle button, press the left SETTINGS button again. The pack should click off. Then it will turn on again and begin testing all the components. It's strange that it won't run without pump 4 connected, but "Strange" and "hot tub design" aren't mutually exclusive. There's a lot of engineering curiosities going on in hot tubs, obviously the people who design them never plan to service them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 13, 2017 Thank you! I'll give that a shot when I get back today and report how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Well no steps forward unfortunately. Was able to get to LL but kept getting an Sc Er on the panel, found the XM1 manual and apparently this is because there was a load greater than 0.4 A on the XM unit. So I unplugged the P1 cable (which turned off P4 and P1). It was then able to do rotate through "learning" and I tried all of the options. I'd plug the P1 cable back in and P4 would immediately turn back on. Perhaps there is something wrong with the piece that splits from P1 to P1 and P4? I'm also beginning to think that the heater does not shut off either. The water was 110 although the set point is around 80... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 sc - er is a scan error. Do you have a stereo or anything else connected to the Di connectors? Disconnect them when you do your lower level setting, that can cause the SC - ER message. So, going back to your original post, did this problem start when you replaced Pump 4? Or did it just start running non-stop one day? As far as your water temperature, I you using the spaside to determine it or a separate thermometer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 Thank you for the quick responses! Nothing is plugged into the Di but since pump 4 is always running I was assuming the Sc Er was caused by the load from pump 4. The problem started after i tightened the PVC on pump 4 I'm pretty sure. I've never replaced pump 4 - only the circulation pump. I could look at that next, but would hate to get a new one only to find it wasnt the cause of the issue (although I suppose it would be a good backup for the other pumps as well) I was using the spaside thermometer for the heater. I think its reasonable that I have multiple issues (like the heater is starting to fail) since the spa is a few years old... I really appreciate your time and help!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 I can't imagine an electronic issue being caused by tightening PVC. If water leaked into the pump and has shorted out some of the electronics, that could be a problem, but turning pumps on and off is usually by relay's switching off the power in the pack, there's no "intelligence" in the pump. >>> unplugged the P1 cable (which turned off P4 and P1). It was then able to do rotate through "learning" and I tried all of the options. I'd plug the P1 cable back in and P4 would immediately turn back on. How about disconnect P4 at the splitter, than reboot the spa. In other words, when you disconnected P1 at the pack, you really disconnected P1 and P4. Let's try disconnecting just P4 at the splitter. If the connector configuration will allow, you could try swapping P1 and P4 at the splitter. You may have to pry the colored plastic markers off the connector to allow it to fit. If you can swap those two pumps and the problem remains, it tells you it's electronic related. If swapping the two pumps moves the problem to P1, it tells you it's either the cable or pump issue. I've never pulled one of those splitters apart, so I don't know if there's any electronics in there. In their Ye series of packs Gecko uses a simple y-connector with 3 amp connectors, so I wouldn't be surprised if the splitter is just an overpriced y-connector. Maybe someone else viewing this thread will be able to jump in with an answer to that. As far as the heating issue goes, if the heater is working normally and you have a 2 or 3 hp pump running continuously, that pump is generating friction that's heating the water. That could be why the water is too warm. Your heater doesn't even need to come on. Of course, if you're in a below zero climate, I don't think friction from the pump will do that much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 19, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 Sorry for the delay and thanks for continuing to help! will try this today! And I think your spot on with friction, we live in Louisiana which is very warm already. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted January 19, 2017 Report Share Posted January 19, 2017 We see overheating in NJ once in a while. If we get a couple of days in the high 90's, some customers who have their heaters set for 100 + degrees will get overheat errors just from the filtering cycle's pump friction. Just turn the heat down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C4wilson Posted January 28, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2017 Ok! So great suggestion (i'm thinking this may a huge step!!) I pulled the plastic pieces off of Pump 1 and 4, swapped them in the splitter, and pump 1 stays on. This makes me think the splitter or XM units are the problem? Should i go ahead and look for a new splitter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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