ok, The heater light on the topside control is not coming on and tub is not heating? Is the control panel bad? or should i start with the heating element, or something else?

10 year old Jacuzzi, Balboa topside panel

Open up your control pack and check for voltage at the heating element leads first. If you have power at the leads, the element's probably bad. If you don't, post back and we'll work from there.

That's just probably the easiest thing to check first.

Shop also told me it is a good possibility that the pressure switch is bad?

It's possible. There are several things that can result in no heat. Pressure switch, topside control, heating element, heater circuit (in the control pack), loose/corroded connections...without more info there's really no way to know.

i did change the pressure control switch, Nothing... Can I use a simple Light meter to check for power?

should there always be power to the heater even if the Topside is bad?

Waiting on my neighbor who is an electrician to come with an ohms meter!

Do you have a temperature control on your control pack also? If so, disconnect the topside and try that. It's very possible the topside is bad, I was just saying there are a few different possibilities.

No, if the topside isn't working and there's no other way to control the temp, the heater will not have power. You really need a voltmeter to make sure the heater is getting the correct voltage.

There is voltage 120 going to the heater and making a circut thru the board! I do not think I have a manual temp control on the board.

Does this point to the heater Element, Or is there still a possibility that the topside is Bad not telling the heater to heat to 100. Again no heater light on the topside!(topside cheaper then Element)


Picture of the control pack

Is your control pack wired for 120V? From what I could find (not familiar with the Balboa) there's no temp control on the pack, just the topside. If you have power to the element, I would say it is bad. But the light on the topside not working is puzzling...how old is the topside? Maybe the light just went out?

When you checked the voltage at the heater, was the topside knob set to off or was it set to a heat position? If you had it set to heat, try to check voltage at the heater terminals with the knob set to off. If the voltage drops to zero, then I hate to say almost definitely the element is bad.

You can also disconnect the heater wires and check resistance across the heater terminals. Make sure the power to the control pack is off! Resistance should be 8-12 ohms, maybe up to 25 or so but not as common. If you get an open reading (open, OL, or 1), then the heater element is bad.

I'll do some research on the Balboa control packs and topsides, and see what else I can come up with. I'll do my best to help you get this figured out!

Thanks john, It is 120V... When we checked the Voltage the unit was on and the Topside was on (trying to heat)
The tub is 10 and I do not believe the topside was ever changed. i picked this up from friends(well?) spring 2009

The voltage was checked from the nutural to each post, Was told to check post to post also?(will do this today) Was also told to check OHMS on new pressure switch and adjust to lower setting if no OHMS show?

what should the OHMS reading be?

I do not believe in that Heating unit you can replace just the element. Ithink it's the whole tube $180-200


Dumb question? What tells the topside heater light to some on?

I do not want to buy a new circut board

POSSIBLE SOLUTION:
I HEARD THAT THE PRESSURE SWITCH SOMETIMES NEEDS TO BE CALIBRATED!!! I TURNED DOWN TO PSI 1 AND IT STARTED WITH THE HEAT LIGHT COMING ON AT THE TOPSIDE... NOW WILL WAIT TO SEE IF IT HEATS!

JOHN

Sorry I haven't responded sooner, it's been a long day! It's strange that the heater would have voltage if it wasn't heating, but like I said, I'm not familiar with the Balboa.

Yeah that pressure switch can be a doozy sometimes, hope it works for you! If it does work at 1psi, make sure the heater turns off when the pump is turned off. I wouldn't want your heating element to burn up!

My pressure switch is useless, the control pack is plumbed before the pump (got the tub used) and the switch doesn't work that way! I just have to be sure to turn the heater off when I shut down the pump. It's a pain, but I've got too much other stuff to do right now to fix it.

Regardless, hope it works like it should now, if not come on back!

NP. After checking the voltage again today at the two terminals connected to the heater it does have voltage!

Again, Thanks for your concern sounds like you have a good handle on the Spa stuff.. Will be sure to ping you if needed in the future

Temp is up to target, Pump turned off (calibration worked)

Tom