EricT Posted December 30, 2018 Report Share Posted December 30, 2018 Hi all We own a Hot Springs Limelight Pulse, purchased new in August of 2016. A few weeks ago it started producing some sort of electrical failure, but only after usage. It does look like we're covered under a 5 year warranty per our included paperwork but I still wanted to ask the collective here what this might be so I can point the techs in the right direction. How this presents - after using the tub, and having the jets on for about 10-15 minutes, turning the jets off makes the system go into the old red screen/protection mode. Heater, pumps, everything shuts down, about 10-15 seconds after the jets are turned off. Resetting the breakers in the sub panel will reboot the tub and correct the issue, of course until the next usage when this will happen again. It never trips or has any other problems caused by anything else. But this issue is 100% reproducable, nothing intermittent about it. Other details on the spa - it does have everything. Ozone generator, ACE system and there's a silver ion cartridge rattling around in it. Wired w 220v. Yes the filter looks okay. The only other possible issue is that the ACE cell has been testing out super low as if not enough salt is in the system, even though no recent water change. I need to chase that issue down as well, just noting that here in case it's related. I've just been adding extra chlorine in the meantime. Everything else seems fine and it's been running perfectly until just the past few weeks. We keep it at 103 degrees. Don't know if there could be any other relevent details, but feel free to ask me to provide anything else. I can't imagine water chemistry could play a role here but if you want me to test it out, happy to. Again this has run for the past 2.5 years without any issue, it really is a great tub. For the price it should be! Any ideas let me know. Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castletonia Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 If everything is shutting down, it sounds like it’s going into a hi-limit trip. Start with the obvious. Check water level, clean filter and/or remove filter, try running the tub without the ACE cell in the standpipe. You either have a reduction in water flow causing the issue or an actual issue. Assuming water flow is not an issue, your dealer will need to troubleshoot onsite. Could be a hi-limit sensor or a control board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricT Posted December 31, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Thanks Castletonia. The odd thing is the jets will run fine, it only trips after you shut them off. I figure if it was a reduction issue they would falter at startup, yet they don't. But I'll check the things you listed above just to see. Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hot Spring Official Posted December 31, 2018 Report Share Posted December 31, 2018 Dealer need to look at the check valve between the circ pump and heater. If the valve is not operating properly the heater will get starved and go into hi limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricT Posted January 2, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2019 Just noticed another new behavior tonight while using the tub - did not engage the jets at all, just sitting there and the lights suddenly go off. Look at the panel and the tub was rebooting itself. It did come back in normal mode, not in protection mode. Heater and recirc pump was definitely on. No error codes or warnings. Just spontaneous reboot, wasn't working with the controls at all when it happened. Now I'm starting to suspect a control board is going out. Not great for a 2.5 year old tub! I'll be calling dealer for a warranty service tomorrow. If there's anything that new event points to feel free to let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castletonia Posted January 3, 2019 Report Share Posted January 3, 2019 It could also be a software issue. Your dealer can flash software to the circuit board and it may solve the issue. I have only sold Hot Spring for the last 20 months. I have had zero control board issues and 1 heater relay board on product I have sold. We took over for a dealer that went out of business and there had been Hot Spring representation for the previous 30 years. With current gen electronics (2013 - present) I have seen no control board issues, 1 heater relay board, 1 bad control panel and 3-4 bad wireless remote control panels. I am a small sample as I am only 1 dealer, but not seeing many issues. I would consider your situation an exception but as I posted in another thread, stuff happens. It’s unfortunate but that is why you have the warranty. I hope it is nothing other than software but if it is and you have a good dealer, they will take care of you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricT Posted January 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2019 Just wanted to reply and post what has, at least temporarily, fixed all of my problems. This is slightly embarrassing. New filter. The old one looked okay but was going on 2+ years. Dealer said it was probably gummed up with oil and causing the pumps to work harder than they liked. Just to placate them and heck why not if it works - picked up a brand new filter. No tripping whatsoever now, and to top it off - the ace system came right back up and was happy. Go figure. I kind of look at some of the dealer/manufacturer maintenance schedules with a grain of salt, in that they usually want to you to buy more product and do more cleaning than is reasonable. But in this case yup, that fixed it. Just posting this in case someone finds it and is helped by the information. Thanks to everyone that posted in here as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maryli Posted November 2, 2019 Report Share Posted November 2, 2019 We have a used hot spring that’s like brand new even the spa store that had maintained the hot tub said it was a great hot tub we have this protection mode 1 and I can’t get it to go off, we have washed filters, rebooted a few times removed filter with no help. Just ordered new filters. Anyone have any ideal how to fix? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RS1 Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 We have a 2017 Hot Springs Prodigy Spa. We already had to replace the Cell, a few months ago. New Problem: Spa went into PROTECTION MODE, we cleaned the Filters (3), turned the Spa off and on, and we can't get PROTECTION Mode off the screen. The jets won't work and the Spa is not warm. Any ideas of what could be wrong? We called Watkins Manufacturer and they suggested : taking the Filters completely out of the Spa, turning the Spa off and on, and this did nothing either. Still in Protection Mode. Watkins said it couldn't be the filters as it still doesn't work when filters are out. So unfortunately we can't use the spa until we can get a hold of the spa fix it people. Thanks- RS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratchett Posted December 28, 2019 Report Share Posted December 28, 2019 7 hours ago, RS1 said: We have a 2017 Hot Springs Prodigy Spa. We already had to replace the Cell, a few months ago. New Problem: Spa went into PROTECTION MODE, we cleaned the Filters (3), turned the Spa off and on, and we can't get PROTECTION Mode off the screen. The jets won't work and the Spa is not warm. Any ideas of what could be wrong? We called Watkins Manufacturer and they suggested : taking the Filters completely out of the Spa, turning the Spa off and on, and this did nothing either. Still in Protection Mode. Watkins said it couldn't be the filters as it still doesn't work when filters are out. So unfortunately we can't use the spa until we can get a hold of the spa fix it people. Thanks- RS What about the dealer who sold you the spa? My dealer charges nothing to come out and look at any spa within the first five years of ownership. If I were you I'd be calling the dealer for warranty service before trying to mess with things myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon0413 Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 Ours goes into protection. Mode we have new filters complete cleaning still goes into protection.mode after it is on for a hour had someone come out that worked as a spa dealer they had no idea why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted November 22, 2020 Report Share Posted November 22, 2020 In order of probability; filters, pressure switch, circulation pump, sensors. Post a pic of the equipment area and circuit board. Do you have a multimeter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickenDad89 Posted April 7, 2023 Report Share Posted April 7, 2023 Hi, i know this is an old thread.. but hoping @RDspaguy could expand on the last post as i'm experiencing the same issue. It started going in to protection mode (grandee 2011) a few months ago, and then to be honest i don't know what i did to fix it.. but it stopped, and now after about 6 weeks or so the protection mode problem has returned. Interventions thus far: - Power off for a full minute, flipped breaker back on - Attempted "burping" for an air-lock via the drain, and also by force feeding a garden hose in to the mineral cartridge tube, with all jet valves open.. no air bubbles came out of the drain - Today I replaced all of the filters Of note, there is a stream (i'm not sure how strong it's supposed to be but it's a nice light stream) coming from the little circ piss hole in to the filter bay. And yes, i have a multimeter and am quite electrically capable. Hope you can help, any ideas are appreciated! - Corey Quote On 11/21/2020 at 11:09 PM, RDspaguy said: In order of probability; filters, pressure switch, circulation pump, sensors. Post a pic of the equipment area and circuit board. Do you have a multimeter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChickenDad89 Posted April 7, 2023 Report Share Posted April 7, 2023 Update.. I saw that the control unplugged indicator was on down below, so i took the now obsolete topside (74959) apart, and sure enough it had a broken trace on one of the leads.. so i hardwired it to where that trace runs to. Protection mode problems solved.. cause: bad topside. However.. in the disassemble process i broke the LCD display ribbon clamp and now I don't think there is anyway to reattach it to the board. So one problem solved, and new one created. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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