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Relays for Balboa circuit board p/n 55340 that control the low speed and high speed pump


Aceman

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Have Balboa CB p/n 55340 Chip FREE300R1A/ 20120514. Spa Mfg is Watkins. The low speed pump is not coming on but the high speed pump works OK. Checked the voltage on the low speed pump and there is no voltage. High speed pump has good voltage. All fuses checked and are ok. Think it may be the relay on the CB that controls the low speed is bad. On the wiring diagram there are K1 thru K6 relays (thinking it maybe K1 or K6?). Which relay is it that controls the low speed pump? Is it a relay that is the causing problem or something else?
 
Thanking you in advance.
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They are often labeled on the board. It is usually close to the terminal for that component. A bad relay will usually (but not always) show damage on the back of the circuit board.

Are there any errors on the display? How long have you had the spa? Post pics of equipment area, circuit board, and wiring diagram.

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22 hours ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

Checked at the board or the pump end

In my original post comment did check the low speed pump for voltage @ the board and there was no voltage. The high speed pump voltage checked @ the board and the voltage was good.

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20 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

They are often labeled on the board. It is usually close to the terminal for that component. A bad relay will usually (but not always) show damage on the back of the circuit board.

Are there any errors on the display? How long have you had the spa? Post pics of equipment area, circuit board, and wiring diagram.

Yes there were errors on the display. Will list error message as the way they came up at different times. 1 dr 2. LF 3.dy 4. HL 5. dr. When I replug in the spa just to run the HIgh speed the circulate water the "dr" will show up again. Had the spa for 9 years. It is a Watkins spa.  Pic's attached. Figure as I said above it maybe K1 or K6 relay. If you know the relay p/n that would be great.

A1 Circuit Card Pic Balboa pn 55340.jpg

A2 CC and Heating Element.jpg

A3 Guts of Spa.jpg

A3.1 Balboa Wiring Diagram.jpg

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Ok. The errors you listed should cause the pump to run in high speed and you may be unable to turn them off or on low. Do you have good water flow from the jets?

These errors all originate from the sensors. Bad sensors or water flow issues, it is the sensors that trigger them. Do you have an ohm meter? Unplug the two sensors (black nuts on heater with gray cables) from the board and test them, in the 20k ohm setting if adjustable. Post results.

Is this spa new to you?

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17 hours ago, RDspaguy said:

Ok. The errors you listed should cause the pump to run in high speed and you may be unable to turn them off or on low. Do you have good water flow from the jets?

These errors all originate from the sensors. Bad sensors or water flow issues, it is the sensors that trigger them. Do you have an ohm meter? Unplug the two sensors (black nuts on heater with gray cables) from the board and test them, in the 20k ohm setting if adjustable. Post results.

Is this spa new to you?

The high speed will come on with no problem but no low speed. When I plug the spa and after the pr is done on the control panel the light that says it is heating comes on but does not turn on the low speed pump to heat/filter. 

Yes, have great water flow from the jets when I turn on the jets but only the high speed comes on the pump. There is NO air in the lines.

Interesting about the sensors. Will have my neighbor (whose is a electrician) come to do the ohm test and give you the results. He also did the other tests mentioned in original post above. Did notice under the right sensor there is a little rust under the right sensor connection if that would have anything to do with it. (see attached pic). The left sensor is clean with no rust.1821973327_A3.2HeaterElementSensor.thumb.jpg.c5a36f541f7e5ceffc895e8e9d7352d4.jpg

 

I have had a spa since 1985 and bought the current spa in 2012 which is my 2nd spa. I am familiar with spas.

Thank you sir for your response.

 

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4 hours ago, Aceman said:

no low speed

Meaning it stops running when the low speed indicator is on, or it remains running in high (or the same) speed regardless of the button you push? Does it turn off?

4 hours ago, Aceman said:

have had a spa since 1985 and bought the current spa in 2012 which is my 2nd spa. I am familiar with spas.

Just needed to know if it was recently wired or possibly had who knows what done before you got it. 

4 hours ago, Aceman said:

there is a little rust under the right sensor connection if that would have anything to do with it. (

There is also rust on the heater terminals and corrosion on the straps. I would pull the heater assembly and check it out. There could be an issue with the element. If you have never replaced it, you are past the average lifespan anyway. They are pretty cheap. Sensors are, too. That is a balboa control system, btw. You can get sensors, heaters, and and such from them direct, but the board may be proprietary. If it comes to a board, I would get a new balboa aftermarket system.

It could be a relay on the board. I rarely see them fail and not burn the solder joint on the back of the board, but it can happen. It could also be the circuit board itself. 

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Answer to your questions:
1. "Meaning it stops running when the low speed indicator is on, or it remains running in high (or the same) speed regardless of the button you push? Does it turn off?"
 
You mean when the heat light comes on the control panel it does not go into low speed to heat/filter. The high speed does turn off. I have to turn it on/off using the control panel. It will go off or on if I push the button on the control panel. The dip switch is set to heat/filter only on low speed.
 
2. "You can get sensors, heaters, and and such from them direct, but the board may be proprietary. If it comes to a board, I would get a new balboa aftermarket system."
 
I tried to contact Balboa directly and there is no way to do it. Tried to find out which relay is the low speed relay. Called them and they do not talk to anyone. Tried to fill out two of their forms on there website and both came back as undeliverable. Also you cannot buy from them directly only thru distributors/spa stores/online vendors. Try it yourself. Every item I checked it states "Out of Stock" on their website.
 
3. "It could be a relay on the board. I rarely see them fail and not burn the solder joint on the back of the board, but it can happen. It could also be the circuit board itself." 
 
Forget where I had seen this but someone posted that all he had to do was the replace the relay on a board he had and that fixed it with out buying a new board. Have a new board lined up to buy.
 
One other thing. When I plug in the spa and it goes thru the prime cycle on the control panel and the heat lamp comes on the control panel and then I hear a "click" from below. But it will not go into low speed to heat/filter.
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Yes, Balboa will not talk to individuals, just their distributors. Sorry for the confusion. What I mean is the board, if proprietary, must be bought from the spa manufacturers distributor, not a balboa distributor (which are everywhere). Aftermarket balboa packs, not proprietary, are available everywhere and pretty cheap. Proprietary boards go through the spa manufacturer, and they can charge whatever they want because Balboa cannot sell them to anyone else.

13 hours ago, Aceman said:

dip switch is set to heat/filter only on low speed.

So, you changed dipswitch settings? If so, post a pic of the wiring diagram with dipswitch chart.

13 hours ago, Aceman said:

all he had to do was the replace the relay on a board

And it could be the relay, but it could also be another issue. Do you want to throw parts at it or figure out what it actually is before you start buying stuff? The relay will be one of the two by the pump connection. You should be able to visually track the circuit from the black wire to the relay. I don't know which it is, but would recommend replacing ALL relays on the board if you are going down that road. Even the heater relays at the bottom.

 

13 hours ago, Aceman said:

When I plug in the spa and it goes thru the prime cycle on the control panel and the heat lamp comes on the control panel and then I hear a "click" from below. But it will not go into low speed to heat/filter.

That does sound like a relay issue.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Excuse me for taking so long to get back but my neighbor (who is a/the electrician) was busy working.
From you June 24 2021 Post to me:
"These errors all originate from the sensors. Bad sensors or water flow issues, it is the sensors that trigger them. Do you have an ohm meter? Unplug the two sensors (black nuts on heater with gray cables) from the board and test them, in the 20k ohm setting if adjustable. Post results."
 
We tested both sensors and there was a zero readings on both. I have attached a pic that shows the area (two square holes/silver area) where we tested them on the connector (that is the only area to test) We also took both sensors out of the heating element and they both looked fine. Not sure what the p/n is for the sensors. All that I could find was 000186 on both labels attached to the wire.
 
Then we turned Dip Switch A10 to the off position ("OFF" heater can run while the high-speed pump is running"). We believe we could feel the heating element tube getting warm. Remember the low speed pump will not come on only the high speed pump will. So not really sure if it is the card or the sensors. Remember also in my original post: "Checked the voltage on the low speed pump and there is no voltage. High speed pump has good voltage. All fuses checked and are ok." 
 
You wanted the dip switch chart. Here is a link to the replacement board (Balboa p/n 54604-01). It is the same dip switch configuration as the board that I have now (p/n 55340) that was set by the spa manufacturer. Go to page 6 to find the Dip Switch definitions and what each switch can do (On or Off).
 
https://www.spaguts.com/Documents/Balboa_VS300FLX_Circuit%20Board_54604-01.pdf
 
We also took the Circuit Board out and inspected that front and back and found no burns on either side of the board. Otherwise it looked in good shape but a relay could be bad.
 
It is the K1 relay that controls the low speed pump I found out.
 
When we were doing some tests when I pushed the button for the jets on the control panel heard it click for the low speed pump (low speed of the pump did not come on), pushed again and the high speed pump came on.
 
 Hope I covered everything
 

20210706_112825[1].jpg

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9 minutes ago, Aceman said:

zero readings on both.

Not possible. Sensors read temperature because the resistance changes with temperature, but will be in the tens of thousands of ohms. A reading of zero would be a dead short, which is practically impossible for one, and astronomically unlikely for both. More likely you got no reading (open circuit) because the tester cannot read resistances that high. 

The board is probably bad if you hear the low speed relay close but get no voltage. But equipment functions can be interrupted by what the computer thinks is happening based on sensor readings. I always verify everything before buying a board, because they can't be returned.

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