Hot Tub High Limit Stuck - need to run the pump!

[jimhaney]

Please be gentle - I'm a noobie!

I bought a house that had an old hot tub in it - 1991-ish. It worked fine for almost a year. The control box failed so we bought a new one (HydroQuip through spadepot.com). It didn't work just right because apparently the pump is "sucking" water through the heater instead of "pushing" it through. Then I got to where the High Limit switch tripped. There is no reset switch though - supposedly if you let it cool down it will reset itself. I totally disconnected the power for over 24 hours and when plugged back in, the "high limit tripped" light still comes on and won't let anything else happen. The problem at the moment is that it has been REALLY cold the last two nights - low teens - and I have had no heat. So cold that I am probably too late to prevent damage, but I am hoping to find a a way to just get the pump to run. Can I jumper something to get the pump to work until I can figure out the rest?

 

[x Wild Bill x]

Hmm, I am wondering if you ended up with an air pocket in the motor housing. This would prevent the pump from moving water and resetting the flow switch. Do you have a plunger you can fit over either the main water intake or drain and get water moving through the pipes (saw this idea in another thread in here and think it's a great idea). Or, do you have a sump pump you could drop in with a hose connected and run the hose to the filter inlet to try and force some water through the pump hopefully eliminating the air pocket and restoring flow. Worst case, I would jump the flow switch to at least get the water circulating and get some heat in the water to prevent the tub from freezing.

 

[DangerBoy]

I had the exact same sort of problem with my Hot Springs Grandee. It turns out that their high limit switch also has a low limit of 50 F (10 C) but it's undocumented/unpublished. I found that out from their tech support line. I just put a space heater in the pump compartment, closed the door and let the heater run overnight. In the morning I was able to start the tub without the high limit switch tripping and disabling everything but the circulation pump. Perhaps you've got the same thing happening there. Try doing what I did and see what happens.