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LA Spas HEET CP Tripping Breaker


Hicks6

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Those instructions are for a non-circ pump system, those with a circ pump function as you describe. I would say that your circ pump is faulty or you have some flow restriction on the circ pump, such as clogged filters or debris in the impeller. It is possible that there is a check valve that has failed and is restricting flow. 

You keep saying "flow switch" but is it a flow switch or a pressure switch? Post a pic.

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It is a flow switch. Photo below. So maybe I'm just paranoid and its working fine? The temp is slowly rising. I checked for flow out of the CR, and it is pumping. Does the flow switch need to be fully closed in order for the heater to engage? When P1 is off, I have the 3 blinking lights on the topside. 

 

 

flow.jpg

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Sure, but if P1 is not on, and in high speed mode, the flow switch is not closed all the way. I don't know if these have some type of resistance that the board can read depending on how far apart the contacts are, or if it is a contact on/off type of switch. If it is just on/off, the I suppose I do have an issue with my CR pump. If not, I might be fine, except for the 3 blinking lights on the topside. The blinking lights can mean blockage, air lock, or a high limit condition. 

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Are the filters still out or did you put them back in?

The flow switch toggle should be touching the post and making contact. What happens when you turn pump 1 on? does it make the toggle touch the post? 

On the inside cover of the spa pack please verify that the "Jumper Settings" are positioned in the correct positions. Jumper 2 for "circ" pump and Jumper 3 for the TSC-44 topside control. The jumpers on the circuit board are located lower right area

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Ya, the filters are still out. I have them soaking on cleaner right now. I have to have P1 on, and in high flow mode in order for the switch to make contact. If P1 is off, or in low flow it does not make contact. If P1 is off, and only the CP is on, then it will throw the 3 light trouble code and turn off after about 30 minutes. I double checked and verified that the jumpers are all in the correct positions. My thoughts right now are  either I have a faulty high temp sensor, or more likely a problem with the CP since the flow switch isn't making contact when only that is running. 

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I am having trouble as to why the pump would have any effect on the circ pump. They are usually plumbed as 2 separate systems. At the bottom of the heater there are 2 red lines...where do they go? Do they run over to the main #1 pump face where I can see 2 red lines in the video?

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15 minutes ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

I am having trouble as to why the pump would have any effect on the circ pump. They are usually plumbed as 2 separate systems. At the bottom of the heater there are 2 red lines...where do they go? Do they run over to the main #1 pump face where I can see 2 red lines in the video?

well  for MY sundance altamar 2001  the recirc pump turns on when it needs heat  BUT  when you turn on pump 1 the water ALSO goes through the heater  I can tell this because the flow is much stronger

 

OP  my sundance I was getting OH  errors as my RC pump was running BUT not pushing enough water  I had a spare pump  once i swapped it in problem went away

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51 minutes ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

I am having trouble as to why the pump would have any effect on the circ pump. They are usually plumbed as 2 separate systems. At the bottom of the heater there are 2 red lines...where do they go? Do they run over to the main #1 pump face where I can see 2 red lines in the video?

They run between each pump and the heater there. The pumps all have a barb on the impeller housing for them. One line goes up under the filter area, disappearing into the foam.  

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25 minutes ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

Curious.. if you have the circ running but not fully closing the toggle to the post and leaving pump #1 off and you turn pump 2 on high does the flow switch fully close? 

Interesting question. It does not. It will only fully close if I either have P1 on high, or it also closes if I have P1 on low, and the P2 and 3 on. 

At risk of asking a dumb question; is it possible to pull out the flow switch and bend it a little bit so that the pressure from the circ pump will close it? 

Also, as a piece of probably irrelevant info, I do not have the OZ  hooked up since that went bad. I let the intake tube for that suck up and fill with water then plugged it.

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7 minutes ago, contact634 said:

you probably could  should you,  NO  if your not getting enough flow  you could overheat and damage your heater

 

if you had another flow switch you could swap in that would eliminate the switch being the problem 

Touché. I figured the same thing. I did take it out previously to test it while the board was out getting checked out. I thought it might be a possibility that I had bent it the wrong way when I did that, but its not likely. On a positive note though, I went and reset the hot tub and went through the programming for the filter cycles as layed out in the manual, and it seems to be working better now. Its at 80 degrees now. Started at 54 this morning. So its heating. After setting the filter cycle programming, P1 is staying on in low speed and the flow switch is closed. I don't know if it maybe it needed to be programmed after startup to work right. I'll update this thread tomorrow. (I've been juggling messing with the hot tub, painting living room ceilings, and watching two infants all at the same time, I'm pretty beat). Again, I really appreciate all the help. 

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3 hours ago, Hicks6 said:

is it possible to pull out the flow switch and bend it a little bit

Should you no...but I have with success (but also knowing it was the problem). I would remove it and check it for "alignment"...wink wink.

What I have done is to position the toggle up against the post and then I run my thumb along the metal "tape" of the toggle gently pressing it up against the post to keep the metal "tape" straight and inline...and just take a bit of the bend out of it. I will make sure that it will still separate from the post and "disengage" the toggle. I will test it once installed as well. I might also try rotating the flow switch housing so the flow switch points with the toggle up to (possibly) catch better flow. 

 

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Some spas, such as Sundance, are designed to have the 24 hour circulation pump as an option. So the jet pump still pushes through the heater with or without a circ pump, the jet pump actually pushing through the circulation pump, and all that changes is the board logic. Without a pic of the equipment area I can't see the plumbing, but it must be that way here to have that effect. The issue is the switch not closing, which should happen from the circ pump or from the low speed jets. The fact that only the high speed will do it suggests that there is a flow restriction. Since the circ pump is pulling off of the main pump output either could be a factor.

I assume that it has worked with this flow switch before?

Post a pic of the equipment area. Pull out circ pump and main pump and check for obstructions or broken parts. Check any valves at the equipment.

Remove circulation pump and connect plumbing, and switch jumper 2 to the non-circ setting and try it without the circ.

Check sensors with a good ohm meter.

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I'll check the pumps when I get another chance. Probably this weekend. I feel like there is something clogging the line for the CP given what's going on. I'll pull the heater off and see if I can find anything lodged in there, or maybe in the pump. Here is a pic of all the equipment. Sorry, its dark when I get home.

 

Can I safely switch the jumpers to the no CP setting without disconnecting the CR? I assume that it would change the signals coming off the board and not engage the circ pump. I could even unplug it from the board for good measure. Just so I can check it out before I have the time to pull the pump out and give it a lookyloo. 


 

 

333.jpg

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Can I safely switch the jumpers to the no CP setting without disconnecting the CR? I assume that it would change the signals coming off the board and not engage the circ pump. I could even unplug it from the board for good measure. Just so I can check it out before I have the time to pull the pump out and give it a lookyloo. 

 

So I did that while the kids were preoccupied with bath time. It did its pump purging cycle and then dropped down to P1 at low speed to reach the set point as it should with the no circ pump setting. But the flow switch was still not closing and thus the 3 light error was popping up. So this weekend I'll see if I can try to see if I can find some kind of blockage in the pipes. I can only think that its blockage, or possibly my flow switch. 

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21 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

I assume that it has worked with this flow switch before?

OP had it out of the housing and has not run since. I have bent the toggle installing them before and it doesn't take much to deform it...and it could be as simple as that. In the video it looks a bit far from the post to me and if it has a little outward bend to it the circ might not close it. There also seems to be good flow through the housing in the video and I would check the amount of flow inside the spa at the heater related jet. If it has good flow there I would focus on the flow switch

In one of the videos of the flow switch housing it looks like green alge in the bottom of the housing and in the 3/4" line just before it. I am going to guess that this spa sat without water for a while. Lots of floating debris in the water. Throw those pillows out they are shedding debris into the water and will clog the filters and could get to the circ pump wet end. I would run a good Ahh-Some cleaning cycle through it and flush the heater tube and the circ pump wet end. That little circ has to push water up hill to get to the flow switch. Any build up in the heater tube or gummed up in the wet end might slow things down. Circ looks like it has seen better days and needs internal inspection and a good clean up.

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@CanadianSpaTech, I was thinking along those same lines. I'll put that switch out and see what I can do about it. I'll get rid of the pillows and see about getting some of that cleaner you mentioned.

Side note, is there any stand out good place to get a new cover from? Mine is shot and shedding stuff in the water that I'm sure is also contributing to reduced flow.

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So I "finessed" the flow switch ever so slightly to reduce the cap. And it really was very little, and now everything seems to be working. The circ pump now is closing the switch when its running on its own. I have the Ahh-some stuff coming in today, so I'll run that stuff through it this weekend. That stuff seems like its amazing, and I'm extremely interested to see what comes out of my tub (ewww). 

I read another forum post where you guys talked about covers, so I just emailed a couple of online suppliers to see who has a better price. This hot tub is a little odd since it has speakers sticking up on all 4 corners, so I can't fill in the parameters for that.

 

Any who, thanks so much for all of the help and insight! I learned an awful lot about how these things work and how to work on them. I really, really appreciate what you guys do on here!

Cheers!

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