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Cal spa FLO code!


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8 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

??? What pressure switch do you have?

Here's an overview look at the equipment package.  A standard 5500W home water heater element screws in from the left.  Directly under the GFCI breaker box that I added is the housing for the pressure switch.

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Here's the pressure switch the pressure switch with its cover removed (picture 2)and with its cover (picture 3)

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Not wild about the exposed terminals on that heater, though. Get a 2" pvc cap to put over it to prevent any accidental contact. It doesn't have to connect and the wires can just go out at the open end.

I'm sure you love the $20-at-any-hardware-store element. I never understood why they stopped using those. They are standard in every home electric water heater, so easily obtained.

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18 minutes ago, RDspaguy said:

Not wild about the exposed terminals on that heater, though. Get a 2" pvc cap to put over it to prevent any accidental contact. It doesn't have to connect and the wires can just go out at the open end.

That's a good suggestion, and I was aware of potential danger.  I'm the only one who ever access that though.  The factory element had some electrical box silicone-glued  over the element end, was real funky and definitely NOT robust.  With that wooden cabinet door open, power is disconnected automatically, and with that added-by-me GFCI circuit breaker I now have a complete power interrupt at/near the spa, as it was wired up without any other power interrupt except at the main circuit breaker on the complete other side of the house.  Maybe such was not required by code, professional electrician ran 240 VAC through the attic and down through conduit especially for this.

My youngest daughter thought of drilling an access hole through the inner plastic liner so that after unscrewing the water heater element it could fit into that recess and then be pulled out, sure saved me time/effort/potential leaks of removing the entire stainless steel heating manifold simply to change an element.

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8 minutes ago, Cusser said:

such was not required by code,

Not in '88. 

9 minutes ago, Cusser said:

with that added-by-me GFCI circuit breaker

👍

10 minutes ago, Cusser said:

drilling an access hole through the inner plastic liner

What inner plastic liner are you talking about?

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13 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

Not in '88. 

👍

What inner plastic liner are you talking about?

It's similar to the plastic cardboard shield on automotive engines, to prevent splashing and dirt from getting into the engine; I think it's there so one cannot readily see plumbing lines and insulation so easily when opening the cabinet doors. I'll try to remember to take and post a photo this weekend.

As to my model's switch being a flow switch rather than a pressure switch: that makes sense, as I remember once when that switch wouldn't "close", it was due to the filter cartridge being clogged.  I'll also try to take photos of my home-made EXTERNAL filter housing, the 1988 CalSpa design was funky and cramped, and I had numerous issues getting it not to leak.

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OK, I took the suggestion to add a 2" PVC cap for safety, drilled a 1/2 inch hole for the wires to pass through.  The rust below the stainless steel heater manifold is from a leak over 25 years ago; as the water did not leak to the outside, I was unaware of it.  The CalSpa "remove all components without tools" due to plastic-capped set screws was a total joke; I replaced all with stainless steel hex head machine screws.

Here's how I re-located the new filter housing out of the spa cabinet for tons easier access.  There is the wood cover over the spa plus a wood cabinet to protect the filter housing from the sun.  This works, at least in Arizona.

This is the inner plastic shield I wrote about earlier.  I have opened this up more than just an access hole as I'd been searching for a leak.

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Oh. The equipment bay enclosure. 👍

Seeing your old *** tub makes me feel young again. I can't tell you how many of those I worked on back in the day.

I see you got to that jandy valve. That shows what good valves jandy makes.

Love the filter. Those old undercabinet filters are one thing I definitely do not miss.

Much happier about the heater now.😁

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Today I went one step further and took off the panel to investigate why the air blower function (which we hardly ever use) wasn't working; thought maybe the air switch or the air bower motor itself was bad.  Anyway, after taking the panel cover off, I suddenly noticed that on the underside was a tripped "reset", so I clicked that "in", and now the air blower works.  That reset button is under the panel in line with the timer, so absolutely NOT easy to see.

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9 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

Was it a gfci or high limit? Does your tub have a blower heater?

When new, the '88 CalSpa had GFCI only for the spa light circuit.  I added whole-unit GFCI myself about a decade later.  I have no idea why that blower reset did trip; I literally had to lie on the ground and look up under that panel box to even see it.

The blower does NOT have any heater capability.  In general, we only used that sporadically, and to cool the water by bubbling ambient-temperature air through.

 

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