Cal Spas Help Needed... Short?

[Neilan]

Hi there. Looking for help and I thought maybe this forum could help out.

I have (or my landlord does - I'm renting and the hottub was part of the deal) a cal spas 2002 model 2100. When I apply power at the breaker, the breaker trips instantly. If I disconnect the heater/heat exchanger, the thing will run (just obviously not warm up). So this points me to believe the problem is in the heater.

Here's where I'm confused. The Heat Exchanger is just a wire heater - in effect a short in itself. If I ohm out the heater, I get almost 0 resistance - which to me makes sense (low resistance in a wire creates heat and voila, heated water). But the problem isn't constant. If I fool with some of the wires, occassionally (and by occassionally I mean VERY occasionally) I can get it to run and heat for a few minutes - never more than 5 however.

So, is the problem in the heat exchanger, or on the circuit board? I've confirmed that the hottub does not apply power accross the heater until a little bit after it's completed it's boot cycle and began circulating water. So if my guess is correct, that the heat exchanger should show a short condition when ohm'd out, then is the problem there or in the controls?

I know - call a service rep. I'm trying to get the landlord to do that, but he hasn't yet. Was hoping some of you experts could help me out.

[kcspaguy]

One slight correction, power across a wire WITH resistance causes heat.

[Rolexor]

Hi there. Looking for help and I thought maybe this forum could help out.

I have (or my landlord does - I'm renting and the hottub was part of the deal) a cal spas 2002 model 2100. When I apply power at the breaker, the breaker trips instantly. If I disconnect the heater/heat exchanger, the thing will run (just obviously not warm up). So this points me to believe the problem is in the heater.

Here's where I'm confused. The Heat Exchanger is just a wire heater - in effect a short in itself. If I ohm out the heater, I get almost 0 resistance - which to me makes sense (low resistance in a wire creates heat and voila, heated water). But the problem isn't constant. If I fool with some of the wires, occassionally (and by occassionally I mean VERY occasionally) I can get it to run and heat for a few minutes - never more than 5 however.

So, is the problem in the heat exchanger, or on the circuit board? I've confirmed that the hottub does not apply power accross the heater until a little bit after it's completed it's boot cycle and began circulating water. So if my guess is correct, that the heat exchanger should show a short condition when ohm'd out, then is the problem there or in the controls?

I know - call a service rep. I'm trying to get the landlord to do that, but he hasn't yet. Was hoping some of you experts could help me out.

I am having a heating problem with my spa as well and I found you can buy a new pack (control board & heater) on eBay for about $300.00. I haven't bought one so I don't know how easy it is to install but it seems affordable. I would lean towards that over hiring a technician who will probably charge you half that or so, to maybe end up telling you that's what needs to be done. You seem pretty well versed in how it works and the set up of the electronics, so if it's on the owners tab you might want to try that.

Finally, if the spa is part of the lease (in writing) I believe then you are within your rights, if the landlord does not or will not fix the problem to fix it yourself and then withold that amount from the rent. But that will probably make for an uncomfortable situation.

[Rolexor]

One slight correction, power across a wire WITH resistance causes heat.

Are you sure resistance causes heat? The reason I reply here is because I was under the same impression as the original poster. I was thinking that when you weld it is the lack of resistance that is desired and causes a large amount of "juice" to jump the gap and create heat that you would there by weld with, or another example is when you jump start a car you can get some sparking and heat (which is bad) if you aren't careful, and there is no resistor there.

I guess the answer lies in something more simple like a light bulb. Does the filament act as a resistor? Or is that just a short circuit? Well in either case I should probably go find the answer on an electronics forum not a pool and spa forum. But I just wanted to toss a couple cents in the ring.

[spa Dr.]

Hi there. Looking for help and I thought maybe this forum could help out.

I have (or my landlord does - I'm renting and the hottub was part of the deal) a cal spas 2002 model 2100. When I apply power at the breaker, the breaker trips instantly. If I disconnect the heater/heat exchanger, the thing will run (just obviously not warm up). So this points me to believe the problem is in the heater.

Here's where I'm confused. The Heat Exchanger is just a wire heater - in effect a short in itself. If I ohm out the heater, I get almost 0 resistance - which to me makes sense (low resistance in a wire creates heat and voila, heated water). But the problem isn't constant. If I fool with some of the wires, occassionally (and by occassionally I mean VERY occasionally) I can get it to run and heat for a few minutes - never more than 5 however.

So, is the problem in the heat exchanger, or on the circuit board? I've confirmed that the hottub does not apply power accross the heater until a little bit after it's completed it's boot cycle and began circulating water. So if my guess is correct, that the heat exchanger should show a short condition when ohm'd out, then is the problem there or in the controls?

I know - call a service rep. I'm trying to get the landlord to do that, but he hasn't yet. Was hoping some of you experts could help me out.

a 5.5 kw heater should run with about 11 ohms of resistance, the resistance creates the heat. There is a 4 minute prime on the PC board before the heater will try to turn on. If when the heater is disconnected the spa runs fine you need to replace the heater

[Neilan]

Thanks everyone...

I should've stated I was getting a very low resistance, not 0, that's what was throwing me off, but definately not getting 11 ohms.

I'll see what I can do about getting that replaced. On the box it says Lifetime Warranty or something of the like... wonder if that covers labor too

[spa Dr.]

Thanks everyone...

I should've stated I was getting a very low resistance, not 0, that's what was throwing me off, but definately not getting 11 ohms.

I'll see what I can do about getting that replaced. On the box it says Lifetime Warranty or something of the like... wonder if that covers labor too

The warranty applies to the original owner only. free replacement one time. Does not cover trip charge

[Neilan]

Technically it still belongs to the original owner since I'm renting. I figured there'd be a cost associated with the trip and/or labor at least.

[ciderjack]

The warranty applies to the original owner only. free replacement one time. Does not cover trip charge

Sorry for taking this off topic, but if the heater goes bad in one week of owning the spa, that means any other heaters that need to be replaced are not covered?