FLO error on sundance altamar after ahh-some purge

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K

Krulligo

Well-known member
May 18, 2022
148
Toronto
Pool Size
4600
Surface
Vinyl
Chlorine
Liquid Chlorine
TL;DR: Solid FLO error on Sundance Altamar y2000 spa after ahh-some purge and refill. FLO error first appeared when the jet cycles turned off during ahh-some purge. Water was swapped and spa was powered on. Everything was good - jets went and heater went on to heat water to desired temperture. Once temperture was reached and jets turned off, FLO error came back. Cycling power on and on breifly removes FLO error - all jets can be operated but once they are off, the FLO error eventually comes back.



I have an old Sundance Spa Altamar year 2000 that has been running flawlessly lately.

Yesterday I decided to swap out the water, but first did a purge with ahh-some following their instructions - remove filter and throw it in the water, add ahh-some, run all jets and bubbles with air open for 30mins to get the crud out of the plumbing.

After the cycle stopped I noticed I got a FLO error on my display. I flipped on and off the circuit and the FLO error went away.

I proceeded to swap out the water. Added fresh water by adding it into the tube where the filter attaches to so that water is filling the plumbing as it fills the tub. Once completely filled I turned the power to the spa on and everything was fine (display was showing me Cool, heater was on and some jets were running to heat up the tub).

I checked again this morning and I now have the FLO error again. The tub has heated up properly to the correct set temperature. When I flip the breaker on and off, the FLO error goes away and I can run jets, etc. When the jet cycle turns off, the tub eventually will show the FLO error again.

My thought is that during the purge with the filter being off, either I got some air bubbles in the lines or more plausible, there were some tree seeds in the tub when the purge was happening and some of these tree seeds entered the lines and clogged something during the purge when the filter was completely removed?

Any suggestions on why this happened and what I can do to remedy it? I'm thinking going in with the water hose and trying to blow water into the outlet that circulates out the hot water to try to release any crud or air bubbles? Any other things I can do?

Edit: the FLO on the display is solid and not flashing which from my understanding mean different things.
 
Last edited:
Methuselah said:
@RDspaguy, possible gunked flow switch?

(WAG...)
Click to expand...
That is what I am thinking to as this happened during the purge process and never had this issue before. If gunk did get in there seems like the instructions from ahh-some to take the filter off while doing the purge is a bit flawed. Would be highly unlikely that something mechanical or electrical did break at the same time. Although I have done ahh-some purge this way a couple times before without any issues.

Any way to try to ungunk this without access to the side of the spa? It's sitting in a built in deck and would have to take apart some of the deck to have access.
 
Krulligo said:
That is what I am thinking to as this happened during the purge process and never had this issue before. If gunk did get in there seems like the instructions from ahh-some to take the filter off while doing the purge is a bit flawed. Would be highly unlikely that something mechanical or electrical did break at the same time. Although I have done ahh-some purge this way a couple times before without any issues.

Any way to try to ungunk this without access to the side of the spa? It's sitting in a built in deck and would have to take apart some of the deck to have access.
Click to expand...
Since the flo switch is in the equipment area you will need access to it to repair or replace it
 
Just an update. So today I went inside the tub with a garden hose and a toilet plunger. Suspecting there possible are some bubbles in the circulation line, I attempted to blow out the line by turning on the garden hose into the outlet where the heated water comes out of. I did this in the past and I used to get lots of water/air coming out from where the filter attaches to. This time, I noticed that no water/air was passing through. So the verdict to me is that the circulation lines have become clogged from when I purged with ahh-some. It makes sense as during the purge, I am running all jets/circulation pump at max for 30mins with the filter taken off, and any crud that comes out of the pipes (plus it was a windy day with tree seeds falling) are being sucked back into the lines. That biofilm stuff is stuck AF and probably ended up going into the circulation line and clogging it since its a smaller diameter.

What I did which seemed to help a bit was used a toilet plunger on both sides - where the heated water comes out, and where the filter attaches to. This seemed to have partially unclogged the circulation line and now when I go back to the garden hose method and stick it into the jet where heated water comes out, I now can feel some of the cold water coming out from where the filter attaches to. However, I don't think its fully unclogged as I remember more water would come out when I did the garden hose method.

Rigth now, the FLO error is mostly gone and but still sometimes shows up for a second or 2 and then goes away. Seems like there is partial flow through the circulation line which slowly engages and disengages the flow switch which is why I still see the error pop up occasionally for a split second or so.

Is there anything I can do to blow out and fully unclog the circulation line plumbing? Is it possible that my circulation pump is clogged with debris (is this easy to clean out)? Seems to me that taking off the filter and running all the jets on high during the ahh-some purge is flawed instructions since it can cause such a headache? Any help is much appreciated.
 
I would first disconnect the circ pump and let both lines drain for a minute while running hose water backward through the pump to wash out any debris in the impeller. Cover control box with a trash bag to avoid water in the control box.
Solid flo indicates that the switch is closed when it should be open, which could be hair or debris in the flow switch. Remove flow switch and check operation.
It is possible that it is a bad switch or pump as well. Problems waiting for an excuse will come up at clean/fill. Happens all the time.
 
RDspaguy said:
I would first disconnect the circ pump and let both lines drain for a minute while running hose water backward through the pump to wash out any debris in the impeller. Cover control box with a trash bag to avoid water in the control box.
Solid flo indicates that the switch is closed when it should be open, which could be hair or debris in the flow switch. Remove flow switch and check operation.
It is possible that it is a bad switch or pump as well. Problems waiting for an excuse will come up at clean/fill. Happens all the time.
Click to expand...
When you say to disconnect the pump, do you just mean the cables or completely disconnect it from the hoses as well?

Is the pump impeller locked up when it is hooked dup to power? And disconnecting it will allow it to rotate again?

All in all it looks more like a sticky flow switch to me. Sometimes it unsticks and works fine but sometimes it sticks closed and when nothing is running it shows FLO error. I will have to disassembly my deck and do all this including taking a look at the flow switch to see if it is gunked up. Will try to clean it out or just replace.
 
Seems to me that taking off the filter and running all the jets on high during the ahh-some purge is flawed instructions since it can cause such a headache?
Click to expand...

As was said, it was likely an existing problem looking for the opportunity to happen. The filters are removed during the purge to increase flow, to keep from destroying them, and yes, it's always more opportunity for mishap but getting the lines clean is far more important than the health hazards faced for not doing so.

In your situation a screen over the filter area might have been prudent if you had debris issues. Hindsight is always 20/20, but there are definite benefits in purging.

OTOH, a hot tub requires access to the inards of the equipment cabinet. In a deck is fine as long as access is practical. It needs to be this way because heaters are an expendable item, and motors can easily be also (especiallyif it comes with a circulation pump) . If possible I'd consider cutting an access of some kind instead of working around the problem. There is almost certainly going to be a next time...

@RDspaguy's advice is spot on, he's quite expert
 
Thanks.

So I have a feeling that it is my flow switch that is faulty.

So I opened the side of the spa to look at the flow switch behaviour. Mechanically it looks fine - opened when there is no flow and closed when there is flow either from the circulation pump or pump 1 which has 2 speeds and controls some jets. When there is flow and the switch is closed, the spa works perfectly. However when there is no flow, the switch is mechanically opened like it should but that is when the solid FLO error occurs - which from what understand means the switch is reading as bring closed when it's actually open. Now when the FLO error occurs, I can tap the switch a couple times and the flow error goes away until it eventually comes back.

This makes me think the flow switch is faulty and not the circuit board or clogged lines. What do you guys think?
 

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+1

Flow switches are typically magnetic, a pivoted magnet and fixed-position glass reed contacts ... sounds like the reed is sticking.

I know nothing about the circuit, but from an electronics standpoint reed relays rarely stick because they are typically not used anywhere near rated current. Maybe it has relay current going through it, like I said, they usually don't stick closed. If "electronically inclined" and it does go to a relay, check for an open chatter diode across the coil?

Anyway bottom line, I'd definitely change it out and see if that fixes the problem - it's a lot cheaper than a service call, right?
 
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