Rubicon01 Posted February 13, 2022 Report Share Posted February 13, 2022 My circ pump went out a month or so ago. Leaked the tub down to about half full before I noticed and ran to shut the breakers off. I then drained the tub since a water change was needed anyways and I needed to order part. It's been cold here in the north east and never realized I might have needed to do more than just a drain since I was not going to refill right away. My friend said something about blowing out the lines etc to ensure it was fully drained and empty for freezing of the lines could crack. Well did none of that and now I went to change the part out on a warm February day in the low 50s here and after refilling and doing the priming of the Jets as indicated in the manual, all seemed fine. The circ pump was showing water movement in the center of tub and it sounded to be running fine after turning off the Jets. I then flipped on the breaker for the heater and I hear a click but it never gets hot to the touch nor does the tempature of the water go up... Staying at 50 degrees. I saw a video about ensure there is no air lock or something in the heater and I tried removing the hose going into the body of the tub coming from the heater to ensure flow and it was flowing fine gushing out hard and fast. In pulling the hose off my hand broke the small hose nipple on the elbow of the circ pump and wind up having to drain the tub again... What a waste of 500 gal of water and what a bad design of that stupid elbow with nipple... Waiting to happen and it sure did. So I know I can test the heater with a ohms meter for 8 to 20 or so ohms as still good heater but need to pick up a meter. But does it sound like my heater went because of the half drain tub on the bad circ pump? Is there anything else to try once I replace the elbow nipple? Filters are cleaned fyi and only a year or so old. Also after stating to fill up the tub I saw some black residue in the water at the floor drain. I then quickly stopped filling, drained that little bit of water and then restarted the fill. I still saw more black residue on the next fill up but much less. Thanks in advance! J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubicon01 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 Really all those views and no replies or feedback?! 😏 ... No one has any experience with the above? Thanks 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castletonia Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 How old of a Grandee? Are there any error codes on the display? Rarely will a heater be the reason a Hot Spring doesn’t heat. I would be more thinking the heater relay circuit board and or a sensor but need more information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubicon01 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 2013 tub; no error codes on display. "Rarely will a heater be the reason a Hot Spring doesn’t heat." ... what do you mean by this? Its not heating so wouldn't the heater itself be a likely culprit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbiz Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 1 hour ago, Rubicon01 said: 2013 tub; no error codes on display. "Rarely will a heater be the reason a Hot Spring doesn’t heat." ... what do you mean by this? Its not heating so wouldn't the heater itself be a likely culprit? Not Necessarily. You could have a bad heater, you could have a bad relay. 9 times out of 10, the relay is either failed so that the contacts don't conduct or the relay contacts are shorted. Shorted contacts usually will cause a heater to stay on all the time, which will also overheat the relay and possibly burn the relay board on a Watkins tub. So, test the heater element. It should be in the neighborhood of 14 ohms if good. Higher (over 15 or so and lower especially 5 and under is a failed heater) Check to see if the heater is getting voltage when calling for heat. Is the heater light on the board lit? It should light up when the tub is calling for heat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubicon01 Posted February 16, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 7 minutes ago, cranbiz said: Not Necessarily. You could have a bad heater, you could have a bad relay. 9 times out of 10, the relay is either failed so that the contacts don't conduct or the relay contacts are shorted. Shorted contacts usually will cause a heater to stay on all the time, which will also overheat the relay and possibly burn the relay board on a Watkins tub. So, test the heater element. It should be in the neighborhood of 14 ohms if good. Higher (over 15 or so and lower especially 5 and under is a failed heater) Check to see if the heater is getting voltage when calling for heat. Is the heater light on the board lit? It should light up when the tub is calling for heat. Ok I heard 8 ohms to 15 is good for the heater so I will check that and see what I get. As for checking the power to the heater when calling for heat, I assume you mean at the heater itself or am I checking the output of the relay or somewhere on the main board? Is the relay part of the main board? Thanks for everyone's input Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cranbiz Posted February 16, 2022 Report Share Posted February 16, 2022 29 minutes ago, Rubicon01 said: Ok I heard 8 ohms to 15 is good for the heater so I will check that and see what I get. As for checking the power to the heater when calling for heat, I assume you mean at the heater itself or am I checking the output of the relay or somewhere on the main board? Is the relay part of the main board? Thanks for everyone's input You can check at the heater terminals. You should have 220V (if a 220V heater) across the heater terminals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
castletonia Posted February 17, 2022 Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 5 hours ago, Rubicon01 said: 2013 tub; no error codes on display. "Rarely will a heater be the reason a Hot Spring doesn’t heat." ... what do you mean by this? Its not heating so wouldn't the heater itself be a likely culprit? Having been a Hot Spring dealer for 5 years, I have yet to replace a heater due to the heater not heating. 2013 should either display errors on the display or have blinking logo lights if there was an issue with a thermistor, the pressure switch or water Flo issue. I'll preface this by stating I'm not a service tech, I'm in sales. But if I had to bet money, I would be looking at heater relay board or an incoming power issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubicon01 Posted February 17, 2022 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2022 12 hours ago, castletonia said: Having been a Hot Spring dealer for 5 years, I have yet to replace a heater due to the heater not heating. 2013 should either display errors on the display or have blinking logo lights if there was an issue with a thermistor, the pressure switch or water Flo issue. I'll preface this by stating I'm not a service tech, I'm in sales. But if I had to bet money, I would be looking at heater relay board or an incoming power issue. Thanks for the replies everyone! I will look into these suggestions. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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