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New Owner - New to Hot Tubs Questions


LarryJoe33

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Hello all,  I recently bought a new home that came with a hot tub that I just got going.  I had a new pump installed.  I have a few questions and observations that I would like to run by the community.

Make - Thermospa

Model - Chesapeake, I believe 5-person, it is most likely between 8-12 years old.

The controls are pretty straight forward I think.  Three buttons - Pump, Blower and Light.  Up/Down for setting the temperature.  On push of the pump is low, second high and third off.  Correct?  Question, if I use the hot tub and have the pump on high and leave it, will it eventually power itself to "low".  I think I left it on high last night.  The blower automatically turn off at 30 minis correct?

 

The unit has a "1900D" controller and the LED's to display the temperature are failing I believe.  100 looks like 170 for example as well as other anomolies.  This makes it hard to set the temperature an not know whether you are going up or down.  The thermospa brand controller is $225 and there is a Balboa replacement that looks suitable for $115:

https://www.spaguts.com/products/balboa-topside-kit-digital-duplex-vl404-51223-6941.aspx?keyword=&gclid=Cj0KCQiAg_HhBRDNARIsAGHLV53MEV85HWr6odEPd_XC70MIw97u2NFXuCvImkVvYenbrtc00cLhqXgaAu7qEALw_wcB

Any experiences here with Balboa?  Should this work ok?  These look like they are hard wired into the controller and then plugs into a panel with an ethernet type jack.  The thought crossed my mind to cut the cord of the old and splice in the new to save myself trouble of removing the side panel.  The hot tub is sunk into a deck.  Bad idea?  I am fairly adept at splicing, soldering and heat tube shrinking.

The cover it came with was the original and really old, ripped and frozen water-logged (very heavy).  I was still using it but losing 3" of water every 24 hours.  I have no leaks to speak of.  It is 20 degrees here in New England I a believe it was evaporating quickly because of the poor cover and insulation.  I got a new cover a few days ago and I "think" the water level is holding.  Can a poor, old, ripped cover cause evaporation?

I am keeping it set at 100 and even though it is tough to read, I have a thermometer to support it. 

I think that's it for now with questions.  I am going to read the other thread.  Any tips, answers, words of advice greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Joe

 

 

 

 

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The pump, when put into High speed, will automatically shut down after 20 minutes.   If you're in the tub, you just turn it on again, if you leave the tub, it will turn itself off.

If it "power's itself to low," it's either in a heating or filtering cycle.  If you've just been using the tub and it's winter, no doubt the temperature has dropped and the tub is just heating itself up to the set temperature.

The Thermospa topside IS made by Balboa, with a Thermospa label attached.  Balboa's part number is VL404.  They make different overlay's for the VL404, so make sure you buy it with the correct overlay or the printing won't match the button function.  Fading digits is a sign of an old LCD display and it happens to all of them.

Balboa makes the topside panels and control packs used in about 90% of Thermospa tubs.  As well as about 50% of every other hot tub on the market.

Dave

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Awesome Dave, thanks so much for weighing in, this is very helpful.  In terms of my questions about cutting the cord and splicing in the new Balboa, I am guessing this is not advisable?  As I mentioned, my tub is sunk in and I am trying to avoid opening it up to plug in the new control panel by doing everything from the top?

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Decks suck, don't they? 😀

Technically, there's no problem in splicing the wires, unless the splices are bad.  Some of the topsides have a ribbon connector that holds the cable to the control panel, not sure if yours does.

Sometimes, rodents will chew through the cables resulting in a malfunctioning topside caused by a bad connection.  IF that's the case and you splice the wires, you will only have a new topside with old wires, not working, and still have to go under the deck to replace/repair.

It wouldn't be a horrible idea to cut an access panel into the deck for future servicing, but that's your call.

Dave

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