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Balboa vs504sz - pump 1 runs only on low speed


jkillion

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Hi folks,

I recently got a free hot tub.  Hawkeye, from around late 2000s.  When I got it the pump was completely frozen (220V 56 Frame 3HP AO Smith 2 speed), so I bought a new pump (Waterway executive 56, 3hp 2 speed 220v).  The issue is that it only seems to run on the low speed.  Here is a layout of the system I have.

Service: 220V, verified 220 going into the spa pack.

Control Pack - Balboa VS504SZ

Pump - Waterway 3721221.  10.0/3.5A I believe.  Wired with the black wire (Balboa low speed) going to the low on the pump, the red wire going to the high, the white going to the common.

 

The pump circulates the water and heats it up, when I press Pump 1 on the control panel to engage the high speed, I hear a click, it *sounds* like the motor is trying to go to a higher speed, but there is no difference in the output on the jets.  When I press pump 1 again the pump cuts off (as expected, unless the heater is going then it just stays on).

So, here is what I have done to diagnose it.

Pump 1 Low speed: 220volts between black and white.  Used a clamp on amp meter.  Amp draw on black wire is 3.5ish (it is a 10/3.5 pump, so that is what I was expecting). Amp draw on red wire is nothing substantail (< .2A, but it could be residual stuff or my amp meter)

Pump 1 High speed selected: 220volts between red and white wire.  5.9A draw on the red wire, low (again < .2A) on the black wire.  This was not what I expected.  Since it is a 10A pump, I assumed that it would draw closer to 10A.

 

Any ideas of stuff to try?  All the dips look like they are in the right place for my setup, and the jumper wires all look like they are going to the right place according to the sticker on the spa pack cover.  Does it seem like a problem with the VS504SZ board, or did I just get a crappy pump?  Any way to isolate whether its a pump problem or a board problem?

Any help would be appreciated! 

Thanks!

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Ok, I’ll try and see if I can get some pictures to that effect.

If I just swap the AMP plugs for Pump 1 and Pump 2 (currently a single speed pump that does work), can I do a quick test to see if the pump works well when plugged into Pump 2?  Or will that screw something up?  My thinking is that Pump 2 is currently only sending high speed to a single speed pump, maybe it’ll make my dual speed pump actually go into high gear?  Obviously not a fix or something I’d run more than a couple of seconds, just trying to think about how to eliminate things.

Ill get those pics as soon as I get the kiddo to the grandparents.

thanks!

Edited by jkillion
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