2001 Sundance Spa Caprio St FL1 Issue

[storm180]

So over the past year or so I have had a random FL1 error on my hot tub.  Not a filter or airlock issues from what I can see as it happens randomly.  When it first happened I thought it was the flow switch which I replaced.  Unfortunately, the error was still there.  If I jumped the two flow switch wires the heater would kick on and the FL1 error would go away, I tested this on both the new and the old one.  During the FL1 error, both low and high jets work, just no heat.

For example on the randomness of this.  Just last week it was in FL1 for a few days and then it went away for three days and then FL1 appeared the next day.  A friend of mine though it might be the temp sensor on the sundance so I spent yesterday installing a new one.  When I refilled the spa, FL1 came on for 20 seconds which could have been from airlock from the filter but then went away and heated the spa all night until about 2:00pm today I am getting the FL1 error flashing.  Jumped the flow switch valve wires and sure enough, the FL1 went away.

So before I call a spa guy out I wanted to get some opinions. Here is what I am thinking.

New flow switch is bad or bad flow switch wiring harness (I just ordered a wiring harness for it to see if that is the issue.)

Board is bad.

High limit sensor possibly bad, the only reason I think this might be an issues is because when I was troubleshooting a while ago I disconnected both wires from the control box od the high limit sensor and temp sensor (already replaced) and when I plugged them back in and no FL1 error and it lasted all winter with no issues until the spring time when the temps got warmer it came up again.  Could have been a fluke.

Any advice would be awesome!

 

Sean

[Jersey Hot Tub Repair]

Four things can cause an FL1 error.  The following order is what I have experienced doing repairs:

1)  Dirty filters.  If your filters are more than a year old, don't clean them.  Replace them.  If it's a consistent FL1 error, try with the filters removed.

2) Bad circ pump (see this at least once a week)

3)  Bad flow switch.  (see this once or twice a month)

4) Bad circuit board (seen this once in 6 years)

I had an intermittent overheat error in a Master spa that we've been fighting with for a month.  After several trips to the customer, and several calls to their tech experts, the best guess was that it was a flo error due to a failing circ pump.

Went to replace the circ pump yesterday, and when I removed it, found several one inch pieces of glass in the pump impeller.   Asked the homeowner if he'd lost a wine glass lately.  Turned out they dropped it in a few weeks before the problem started.  They drained the tub and thought they got all the glass, but they missed just enough to restrict the flow enough to cause the overheat error. 

In other words, check your plumbing, especially between the circ pump and the flo switch.  I've seen hoses that were coated with minerals and chemicals on the inside that just restrict water flo enough to trigger a flow error.  (Sort of like cholesterol in a coronary artery).

Dave