DavidMcDaid Posted July 17, 2020 Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 Arctic Spa tub with 3.5kw heater. - With call for heat its only drawing 4 amps with a multimeter across the positive and negative terminals. - continuity test on the heater fails so there's definitely a faulty element, however.... - with or without a call for heat from the control panel, there's 240v going to the heater but the relays are not broken so something is telling the relays to close, regardless of the temperature set from control panel. What can ba causing this guys? Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 6 hours ago, DavidMcDaid said: With call for heat its only drawing 4 amps with a multimeter across the positive and negative terminals. ??? The heater, or anything else in the spa, does not have a positive and negative. It is AC voltage. And that is not how to test amp draw. 7 hours ago, DavidMcDaid said: continuity test on the heater fails so there's definitely a faulty element, Assuming you did that correctly, a non-continuous circuit cannot have any amp draw as it has no path for current to flow. 7 hours ago, DavidMcDaid said: with or without a call for heat from the control panel, there's 240v going to the heater but the relays are not broken so something is telling the relays to close If there is no heat indicator it is not turning on the heater. If you have voltage as you describe then you have a stuck relay or bad board. Pull the board and bring it to an electronics repair shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMcDaid Posted July 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 3 hours ago, RDspaguy said: If you have voltage as you describe then you have a stuck relay or bad board. Pull the board and bring it to an electronics repair shop. Assuming it's not the relay, because the relays test fine, then what board component could be sending power to the relay, causing the relay to close when it shouldn't? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 I don't know. I am not an electronics repair man, I am a spa repair man. But in 25 years I have seen countless stuck relays but only a handful of shorted control circuits, and those were usually due to water or critters on the board. I also question the accuracy of your test as I am not sure you know what you are doing with the tester. Your earlier post implies that you do not, as your results are contradictory. Is it wired to a gfci breaker? Can you post a pic of the circuit board? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavidMcDaid Posted July 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 I've attached a pic now. Yes, it's wired to an RCD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 RCD? How did you test the relays to determine that they are good? Turn off power. Take an ohm reading on the heater at the terminals on the circuit board, and from one heater terminal to the heater tube or ground wire and post results. Turn on power, check voltage at heater terminals on board. You must use a meter with two leads, not a no-contact voltage tester. Post a close-up of the circuit board and heater so I can see what's what. And a pic of the wiring diagram on the box cover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted July 18, 2020 Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 Where are you located? Looking at incoming power from the breaker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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