Troubleshooting "New" BP501 Controller

[berga610]

Just finished plumbing and wiring a cedar hot tub with a BP501 controller. When I switched on the breaker, I got no display on the topside panel (TP400t) and only a repeating "click" sound from a relay in the controller switching open and closed. Relay clicks every ~5 seconds.

Both the controller and topside panel are from eBay and I can't verify them as good. They were stated to be good, of course, but who knows.

• Controller is BP501. Technically it's a CL501X1 -- a Clearwater Spa controller. I'm not sure if that would affect compatibility to the topside panel or not. 

• Topside panel is TP400t. The backlight LEDs go on when I plug it in, however the LCD display does not. The status LEDs don't go on when I press any buttons, such as to activate the jets. Panel appears in "new" condition.

Some symptoms:

• The Pump #1 connector has 120v to the top 3 pins. I would expect these to be either 0v, or 240v depending if the pump should be running.

• I saw on a YouTube video that pumps should immediately start running if topside panel is disconnected, to indicate a problem. This doesn't occur for me (as above)

• I've tried playing around with the setting DIP switches but haven't gotten any behavior besides the constant open/close noise of the relay.

• I've pulled out each of the fuses and tested continuity.

So I'm hoping to get help figuring out which component is the problem child (or both? or neither?)

 

[CanadianSpaTech]

How did you select the topside? Did you buy from the same seller as the pack and did they recommend that topside for that pack?

I think you need a TP600. That pack has the potential for 3 pumps the TP400 is for a single pump @RDspaguy any Thoughts on this. I see the pack schematic indicates "TP" but that's all. Checking parts sites for Clearwater topsides I don't see anyone offering the TP400 only the TP600 and TP800

https://www.hottuboutpost.com/clearwater-spa-control-panels/

[berga610]

Interesting idea! I hadn’t considered that. 
 

I selected the TP400 because it was the most basic option that was (supposedly) compatible with the BP501. They were from different sellers with no guarantee they’d work together. I wasn’t aware of the software subtleties. 

[berga610]

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if it's unrelated to the topside panel. The clicking pattern is the same regardless of whether the topside is even plugged in. I also just tried unplugging all the internal jumper wires -- one at a time -- and there was no change in the clicking. I can feel it's the heater relays actuating, but there's no change in voltage on the heater plug.

[berga610]

Quick update. I disconnected every lead wire from the board to try to isolate the issue. One thing I noticed was that the “12VAC” outputs were only at 6v when I measure with a multimeter. Presumably this is the power that powers the “brain” of the board. 
 

Next I uninstalled the board from the enclosure and looked more closely. The largest capacitor was very wiggly - sure enough, one lead had broken. I will resolder it and report back! Perhaps this capacitor works in conjunction with the transformer to create the 12v signal. 

[berga610]

You guys won’t believe it. That did the trick! BP501 is up and running. 
 

Now to understand how this thing works. Earlier the Heat LED was flashing rapidly, but now it’s not heating and the pump is continuously running in low. Oh well, how complicated can it be. 

[berga610]

OK, here’s where I’m stuck now. After finishing the priming cycle, the controller has a behavior that I don’t understand. 
-The heater comes on only very sporadically despite temperature being 40 degrees under setpoint. (See pics. Setpoint is 102, current temp is 53, heater is not on)
-The pump runs in slow speed continuously and can’t be turned off. It just cycles between low & high speed when I press the Jets button. 
-It’s in Setup 3, which is where it should be. All DIP switches are off. 

-I haven’t messed with any of the Filtration settings yet. 
 

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong...?

[RDspaguy]

I haven't worked on one of these. How do you set it to 3?

The heater cycling on an m7 (2 sensors in heater) is often caused by low flow. I notice you have a pressure side filter as well. How many Amps does the pump draw? Was the filter sized to that system or did you just guess? What brand and model is the filter?

Try removing the filter and see if it starts heating.

[berga610]

OK I was actually able to fix this too. The DIP switches were incorrect. For my 50a service, I needed to switch on DIP switch #2 ("ADD 1 HS PUMP WITH HEAT").

@RDspaguy, the setup can be changed by following a specific sequence of button pushes in Test Mode. To activate Test Mode, you have to switch on DIP #1. 

Fortunately I don't have flow issues. If I did, the controller would throw a fault which would be viewable in the Fault Log. I wasn't seeing any unexpected faults in my fault log.

Hot tub is heating up for the first time as I type!!