OH/ FLO probelm with Sundance 850 Cameo

[ev in ca]

Hi,
I tried looking for a search function on the forums, so sorry if it has been asked before. We bought a house a month ago with this hot tub. Worked great for the first month, now we get an OH which says heater is deactivated overheat protection, and a FLO (heater is deactivated, pump may also deactivate, proper flow of water is inhibited or the flow switch has malfunctioned) warning after.
Trying to go through and see if there is anything we can trouble shoot. The manual says check for proper water level, clogged filter or clogged filter. The filter looks clean and the water level is high enough (up to the pillows).
We've had the error for about a week, but our tub is maintaining temperature from day to day (it just won't turn the heater on when we are using it).

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[Poolschoolgrad]

Symptoms appear to be related to reduced water flow.

Does your hot tub have 2 filters?

One should be a smaller fine particle filter that needs to be replaced every 3 to 6 months of operation. There should also be a larger filter that you can simply clean with a high pressure garden hose.

Replace the small filter and clean the larger one and your hot tub operation should return to normal.

 

[ev in ca]

Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, I checked the user manual and there's only 1 big cartridge filter.

 

[Poolschoolgrad]

Which model year?

Does your model have a pleated cartridge filter that can be cleaned or one of the disposable cartridges?

Is there a section in your owners manual about cleaning the filter?
How often does the manufacturer recommend to clean the filter?

The cartridge may appear on the outside to be clean, but upon removal you may find oils, and debris inside the folds of the pleated cartridge. White flakes of calcium scale can sometimes build up in the filter and cause flow restrictions. This may not be obvious with the filter installed, but upon removal you may be surprised at how much debris these filters collect.

The disposable cartridges need to be replaced every 9 to 12 months depending on your usage level and water quality.

 

[ev in ca]

Our Model year is 1998 or 1999. Thanks for the suggestion about the filter. It started working again, probably worked for a week with no errors, but then today the problem returned.

Have more insight into the problem. When The pump is off, it is giving us a FLO error, and the heater will not turn on. When the jets are on, on a low or high setting, the heater will turn on and hot water will come out of the appropriate nozzle.

 

[PoolGuyNJ]

Do you have a small circ pump? It may have died.

Scott