geraldb82 Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 Hi I'm new here . But I was wondering if there was somebody I could answer a couple questions for me. I have an older coast ball with the TSPA1 board. As you know most of these boards have been discontinued and I was wondering if it would be a viable option to just replace the whole spa pack with something new or even a different brand or if you would just recommend sourcing out a replacement board as I'm pretty sure mine Is in need of replacement. If a new spa pack is in order what do you recommend ? I was looking at a BP 501 retrofit kit because I like the Wi-Fi feature. And was wondering what you guys think. thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted February 16, 2017 Report Share Posted February 16, 2017 I wouldn't spend a penny to repair a TSPA pack. The board is available and you can even find places to repair yours, depending what's wrong with it. Today you spend $300 for a circuit board. Next year you spend $200 for a heater. A year later you spend $200 for a control panel. May as well get a whole new pack with heater, control panel and electronics for only a couple hundred more. If you do the math, it's let getting one of the three components for free. You only have to do installation once, not 3 times, and the sensors are all adjustment free. Plus it's new, you can hope for quite a few years with no problems. The Balboa BP501 only supports a single 2 speed pump and a single 1 speed pump or blower. So if you have more than two accessories, you're going to lose them. Can't speak to the wifi reliability as I have only done a few, not enough to draw conclusions. We had a lot of problems with a wifi implementation last summer - the homeowner had a hardware firewall and the app couldn't be programmed to handle it. That wasn't a Balboa pack though, but it may be a good question to ask. That wasn't the typical installation, but it was a very discouraged homeowner. I've never used a BP501 but have installed about a hundred Balboa VS501/511, which are similar without the wifi. Good pack. Easy to service and very reliable. We also like the Gecko in.ye.5 It supports more pumps then the Balboa 501 at the same price point. Downside is the gecko heater is a complete assembly, you can't replace the element or sensors individually. The Gecko has a 4.0kW heater, the Balboa a 5.5kW heater. Of course, once your spa is up to operating temperature, the lower wattage is probably more cost efficient. But if you keep your spa at 85 degrees all day and kick it up to 100 to use it, the 5.5 will heat a bit faster. Just wondering - why do you think your board is bad? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldb82 Posted February 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 Thanks for all the great info Well when I tried to get my hot tub back it and going after last winter I notice the the water was no heating after 3 days the water was only 82 83ish so after looking around online and doing some checks with my multi meter I verified the resistance of the heater was in range so figured I check voltage and was only getting 110v at the heater on a 220v system so I'm assuming one of the relays on the board went or probably bad Sodier joint and with my circuit board experience be limited I came to the conclusion a new board would be what I need Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jersey Hot Tub Repair Posted February 17, 2017 Report Share Posted February 17, 2017 110V across the heater terminals means only one leg is turning on. Could be a bad pressure switch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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