Hot Spot, not so hot!

[r5ran]

Hi,
A good friend of mine asked me to help him out with a problem he is having with his hot tub, and I thought it best I run it by some experts before tackling.
It's a 2006 or 07 Hot Spot Sorrento, (Watkins) with a single 2 speed pump that uses the lower speed for heating and filtration. The issue is, that when the pump turns on in low speed, (either by selecting it via the jets button or by itself for heating/filtration) it will run for a short time (about 10-30 seconds) then you'll hear a click, (most likely a relay), the motor will turn off, and the control panel display goes to all dashes and dots. It stays in this error mode until it is manually cleared. Pressing the jets button will always clear it, and the pump will restart, only to fail in low speed again. It does not fail at all in high speed mode.
He already replaced the pressure switch and the thermistor, with no results. I have not opened the covers yet to investigate, but since the pump runs on high speed just fine, I am suspecting the relay or the logic board?
Any help or advice on how to diagnose would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Randy

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

Is the click coming from the pump or the circuit board? 

The pump has two circuits - one for low speed and one for high speed.  A Thermal overload protects the circuits from burning up.  It could be the low speed thermal overload in the pump  is failing.

Dave

[r5ran]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply.

I have not had the covers off yet, so don't know where the clicking is coming from. It definitely sounds like a relay, though, hence my thinking logic board. However, if it is the thermal overload opening,  I would think that could cause a relay to open, too? Each circuit has it's own thermal overload, doesn't that seems kind of unusual?  Do you know of any test points I can put a meter on to verify if indeed a thermal is opening or where the failure is starting?

Thanks for your help, and are there any other knowledgeable minds out there that have any other suggestions?

Randy

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

You can test the voltage to the pump through the spade connectors on the circuit board.  You should see 230VAC  (or 110 depending on how the tub is configured) across the red/white wire and across the black/white wire.  Either black or red will be high speed/low speed, depending upon how the last person who fooled with it hooked it up.

High speed should turn off when low speed is on, and visa versa. 

When you select low speed, watch your meter.  It should show you voltage at the spade connector.  If the voltage remains on when the pump stops, (ie.  the circuit board is sending power to the pump, but the pump's turning off,)  that means there's a problem with the pump .  If the circuit board stops supplying power to the low speed connector and that's what stops the pump, then the problem is not the pump.

Dave

 

 

[r5ran]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for your reply. That's pretty much how I was planning on attacking this bug (it's a friends and I am going there next week).

Was not sure of the wire colors though, that will be helpful. If it is the thermal. is that replaceable or do you have to buy the whole pump?

If it's not the pump, is there some type of relay that can be replaced, or again, do you have to replace the whole logic board?

Thank you,

Randy

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

I'm sure someone out there has a way to replace the thermal overload circuit in a motor, but I've never done it.  The motor's already 10 years old.  I don't know how much more you hope to get out of it, but there's a point where replace makes more sense than repair.  Perhaps you can find an old motor that's seized that you can cannibalize for parts.  From the pumps I've pulled apart, there's usually a single circuit board mounted in the back of the motor - not too complex or overloaded with components.

Relay's can be replaced, there are several on-line web sites that offer circuit board repair specifically for hot tubs.  I've had about a 60% success rate with repairs.  Just think, if a 10 year old relay has failed and you spend $130 to repair it, what are the chances of another component on that circuit board going bad?  I think there's a point where  it doesn't make sense to repair something.  I know the Watkins boards are exceptionally expensive - maybe it's worth a gamble to try a repair before giving up and replacing the board.

If you're skilled with circuit board soldering, you could probably replace a relay yourself.  It's just not my forte.

Dave