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Master Spas - override 104 degrees


HerrimanCoder

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I have a brand new 2021 Master Spas Intrepid and I want to override the silly 104 degree limit and go hotter. The sales guy said there's an easy way via a dip switch or something (at the time he sold it to me), but then 3 months later when spa was delivered, he wouldn't tell me how over the phone and said it couldn't be done. So I don't know if that's really true, but there are youtube videos showing how to override via a simple resistor.

The problem with those videos is they're for much older spas of different makes. I'd love to avoid the scary resistor hack on a $8K brand new spa, but I'm willing to try anything. I don't care about voiding the warranty, but I certainly don't want to ruin anything either.

High-rez photo of circuit board: spa-circuits.jpg

Photo of circuit board and pdf of manual attached. Any ideas how this can be done?

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Classic Sales BS ...Tell you what you want to hear until you sign on the dotted line. I would say you are SOL on altering the new Gecko Packs and I don't think they even use dip switches anymore. It would have to be programmed into the spa using a Gecko IN.Stick and you would need to be a programmer/hacker to even begin. If you find something let us know.

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11 hours ago, CanadianSpaTech said:

Classic Sales BS ...Tell you what you want to hear until you sign on the dotted line. I would say you are SOL on altering the new Gecko Packs and I don't think they even use dip switches anymore. It would have to be programmed into the spa using a Gecko IN.Stick and you would need to be a programmer/hacker to even begin. If you find something let us know.

What about soldering a resistor into a wire, like the video suggests? How could I find out which wire is the heat sensor?

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Looking at your picture, the far right has the sensors. My guess (and it's strictly a guess) is the furthest right sensor (the plastic one) is probably the heat sensor. That would be the one that you would try to change the resistance to fool the pack into setting a higher  limit.

The easiest way to figure it out would be to disconnect the sensor and see what error is displayed.

Personally, I suggest living with 104 degrees. 106 degrees for any significant time is not safe and I have found that 104 degrees is actually too much for me and my family. My tub is set for 102 degrees and some days 10 minutes is all I can take.

Master's quality can be hit or miss. Despite what one internet shill will tell you. I wouldn't want to mess with the warranty on one. You could blow the spa pack and a replacement pack can be $700-800.

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On 9/30/2021 at 7:44 AM, cranbiz said:

Looking at your picture, the far right has the sensors. My guess (and it's strictly a guess) is the furthest right sensor (the plastic one) is probably the heat sensor. That would be the one that you would try to change the resistance to fool the pack into setting a higher  limit.

The easiest way to figure it out would be to disconnect the sensor and see what error is displayed.

Personally, I suggest living with 104 degrees. 106 degrees for any significant time is not safe and I have found that 104 degrees is actually too much for me and my family. My tub is set for 102 degrees and some days 10 minutes is all I can take.

Master's quality can be hit or miss. Despite what one internet shill will tell you. I wouldn't want to mess with the warranty on one. You could blow the spa pack and a replacement pack can be $700-800.

>> "the furthest right sensor (the plastic one) is probably the heat sensor" - could you be more specific, there's lots of plastic things on the right side. Would love to know which you're referring to.

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With the understanding that I am not responsible for you voiding your warranty, nor am I responsible for any damage that might occur as a result of this modification, Look at the heater. You have the first 2 wires starting from the left in your picture. Those are the heater wires. The third wire Is probably a sensor, possible the high limit  sensor but I don't know. Then you have a sensor in a metal collar. This may be the temp sensor but it also may be the flow sensor. The last one has a plastic body. This was the one I was referring to but that is probably the flow switch.

Now, in hindsight, I believe the temp sensor is the one with the metal collar.

Which Gecko spa pack is that? IN.XE, IN.YE, etc.

@CanadianSpaTechis our resident Gecko expert. He has weighed in with his comments earlier but he might be willing to confirm or debunk my observations.

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  • 4 months later...
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45 minutes ago, jageya said:

higher temps is NOT dangerous.Japan soaking tubs are 115 degress..but use judgement...the point is with the inline resistor you can still keep it at 104..duh....it will just read less on the tub..if you want it hotter and are in good health raise the temp then..and drop it for others..

Extended soaks at high temperatures IS dangerous (and apparently reading comprehension isn't your forte as I said above that 106 degrees for any significant time is not safe). A temperature 106 degrees or higher can cause Heat Stroke (in addition to other issues) as it will raise your internal body temperature and if one soaks long enough (yes, that extended time thing again) you will raise your body temperature to 106 or higher. Sorry, Heat Stroke IS DANGEROUS.

I don't care what soaking tubs in Japan can get to. US tubs have a maximum set temp for a reason and you telling people that higher temps isn't dangerous is plain wrong.

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  • 7 months later...
13 hours ago, Mark222 said:

When it's cold out 104 turns to 100 very quickly.

Please start your own post and post photos of the circuit board and the schematic on the inside cover and answer the questions below. 

13 hours ago, Mark222 said:

Just want temps higher...

Please don't ask us how to bypass 104. It is not safe to do so.

 

What size is the heater element 4KW or 5.5KW? What size is your GFCI 40amp 50 amp or 60amp? Most 50amp spas the heater will cut out once the secondary pump is put into high speed. You can run pump 1 on low and pump 2 on high and have the heater work but once you put both pumps on high the heater will cut out to prevent over amping the gfci breaker.  Some spas can be set up to run on 60 amp and be set to run both pumps and the heater at the same time. If your control system allows you to run on 60Amp and a 5.5KW heater element it will likely solve your heat loss issue and better maintain 104 degrees.

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Glad you folks all believe that 104F reading is actually 104.00F.  There are specification ranges for everything, and a spa could easily be 102F or something and read 104F, then owner is out of luck.

Even with a separate thermometer like I use, unless such thermometer has been certified calibrated (and checked/recalibrated routinely), it's just a good approximation.

My own spa is a 1988 CalSpa, well before government decided what temperature is safe; I use a $10 floating thermometer and just rotate a rotary dial, I have never had it cranked up all the way but know it can reach 110F without an issue, even though I typically do target 104F on the floating thermometer (which has never been calibrated).  I'm also fortunate as my old spa uses regular water heater heating elements from Home Depot or Ace.

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