Daves_hottub Posted January 15, 2022 Report Share Posted January 15, 2022 Hey all, I am helping a buddy with his hot tub and it's puzzling me completely. The Eco-Pak motherboard says it is the Global Spa Rev 3.06 Copyright August 2013 He replaced the element last weekend because it wasn't heating up. After he replaced it though he still has no heat. It runs through it's startup sequence and tries to fire up the heater. Both pumps work fine and as expected. So we started checking it out. The heater has resistance of about 11 I think so that seems good. We checked the pressure switch and even bypassed it to make sure it was working and it was all good. The heater only has three wires, black , white and green. The ground was good and black and white hooked up to the board. When I checked voltage on each leg I got 110v to ground on each one. But when I checked between black and white I got 0 volts. There are no error codes on the display and it just keeps running. If I disconnect the heater and check voltage I have 240 between the terminals. I also "think" there is voltage on each terminal right away when I flip on the breaker and I thought there shouldn't be until it calls for heat but I might be wrong on that. I also disconnected the black wire hooked up a lead to that terminal on the motherboard, turn on the breaker, verify I had 240V, hook up the black wire to the lead and then boom I had 0 volts again. One final check was to check voltage between white and black heater wires and the red and black power coming in. heater Terminal Block Voltage White Red 240 V White Black 0 Black Red 240 Black Black 0 Some of my tests were probably useless but wanted to let you know everything I did. Oh also the old heater tested exactly the same for resistance. And ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RDspaguy Posted January 16, 2022 Report Share Posted January 16, 2022 20 hours ago, Daves_hottub said: But when I checked between black and white I got 0 volts. 20 hours ago, Daves_hottub said: I disconnect the heater and check voltage I have 240 between the terminals. This is contradictory. Do you have voltage to the heater or not? There is no reason for it to start working just because you disconnect the heater. 20 hours ago, Daves_hottub said: also "think" there is voltage on each terminal right away when I flip on the breaker and I thought there shouldn't be until it calls for heat but I might be wrong on that. One leg is hot immediately, so you will read 120 volts to ground off both terminals with the heater connected even before it turns on. 20 hours ago, Daves_hottub said: heater Terminal Block Voltage White Red 240 V White Black 0 Black Red 240 Black Black 0 So only one leg of the heater is hot. It's either not calling for heat, or you have a burned relay. But there should not be 240 at the terminals if the relay is burned up. I need some clear, not contradictory, info. And pics of the circuit board, wiring diagram, and equipment area. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves_hottub Posted January 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2022 1 hour ago, RDspaguy said: This is contradictory. Do you have voltage to the heater or not? There is no reason for it to start working just because you disconnect the heater. I know it doesn't make sense but that is what I was seeing. if the heater was not connected i could read 240V between the two legs on the board. As soon as I connected the heater the voltage between the connectors dropped to 0. Because they didn't make sense I double and triple checked the readings. It was definitely calling for heat. He broke down and bought a new motherboard and swapped it in. Yup, the main heater relay was fried and blown out on the back of the old board. He is up and running now and plans on getting a replacement relay and swapping it in just in case the new board dies at some point. Thanks for looking and the advice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivorm Posted April 25, 2022 Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 Any update on what the issue ended up being on this hot tub? I'm having the same issue with my Arctic Spa, although I didn't try disconnecting the heater lines and checking for voltage at the board with them disconnected. Mine is calling for heat but no voltage across the black and white heater wires. Heater has continuity. I'm guessing it's the heater relay but unfortunately I don't know how to change one of those and don't want to ruin my board by doing something stupid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves_hottub Posted April 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 9 minutes ago, ivorm said: Any update on what the issue ended up being on this hot tub? I'm having the same issue with my Arctic Spa, although I didn't try disconnecting the heater lines and checking for voltage at the board with them disconnected. Mine is calling for heat but no voltage across the black and white heater wires. Heater has continuity. I'm guessing it's the heater relay but unfortunately I don't know how to change one of those and don't want to ruin my board by doing something stupid. It was definitely the relay as he is still up and running. He hasn't tried replacing the relay yet on the old board though. If you pull your board out of the case it should be very easy to tell as there were burn marks around his. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivorm Posted April 25, 2022 Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 Thanks, I'll try that this evening to see if I can see any burn marks. Based on the wiring diagram it looks like the heater relay is the one in blue on the picture below, but that relay looks like it's soldered on the board. Am I reading that right? The little LED light that says D14 next to it is lite up on mine if that means anything. The ones clouded in red seem to to be replaceable but I don't think those are for the heater? edit: I just re-read your post and it sounds like he replaced the whole board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves_hottub Posted April 25, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 25, 2022 yeah, he replaced the entire board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivorm Posted April 26, 2022 Report Share Posted April 26, 2022 It looks like my heater relay is toast to, sucks that they make you replace the whole board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daves_hottub Posted April 26, 2022 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2022 wow, yup, I would say that is toast. His wasn't nearly that bad, I would be worried about other stuff around it even if you could replace it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Penguin Posted April 27, 2022 Report Share Posted April 27, 2022 5 hours ago, ivorm said: It looks like my heater relay is toast to, sucks that they make you replace the whole board. Wow! That's worse than mine was. Relays are cheap ($7.00 ish) but repairing the PCB likely not economical, and you have to know what you're doing to DIY it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted April 27, 2022 Report Share Posted April 27, 2022 Me...I'm replacing the relay. A local electronics repair shop should be able to replace way cheaper than a new board. I usually get them to replace all the relays and freshen up the board. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivorm Posted April 27, 2022 Report Share Posted April 27, 2022 Where do you source these types of relays (Zettler az2150-1A-12DEF)? I tried a couple places locally but they couldn't get the ones with the "F" on the end, which stands for class F coil wire (rated for 155 degrees C), the other option appears to be class B coil wire (rated for 130 degrees C). I can find some online but they'll probably take at 2-3 weeks to get here (I'm in Halifax, NS). Also, it looks pretty burnt up around one of the pins, do you think that is still repairable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbiz Posted April 27, 2022 Report Share Posted April 27, 2022 Usually Amazon. You can also try Digikey or Mousser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanadianSpaTech Posted April 27, 2022 Report Share Posted April 27, 2022 A good electronics repair shop should be able to replace the relay and also repair the foil if it is damaged as well and re-solder. I have a guy in Guelph,ON but you would have to ship and wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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