Heater Not Working

[MikeLWX]

Hi folks. I'm a brand new spa owner. Bought a home that has an indoor spa. I've got little experience with spas. I went to get things set up today, and everything went well except... the heater doesn't work. It's a Hayward C-Spa XI 11. The breakers are on, the pump runs (and appears to have good pressure. The valves are open. The filter is a clean one. Everything else appears to work as it should.

Any ideas or thoughts?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[JasonLion]

Welcome to TFP!

The first step is to check to see if power is actually reaching the heating element. If there is power to the heating element, the the element probably needs to be replaced. But if there is not power you can track backwards until you find the component that is failing to pass the power through and repair/replace it.

 

[MikeLWX]

Thanks, Jason. Any suggestions on how to check for power?

 

[JasonLion]

You need a multi-meter set for AC, and you need to know the basic safety rules for dealing with line voltage power. You will probably also need to open up the service panel on the spa so you can get at the heating element power connection.

If you don't already have some experience working with line voltage wiring, you might want to limit yourself to making sure the circuit breaker has not tripped, and leave the rest to an electrician.

 

[MikeLWX]

Yeah, I don't have the equipment to be messing with 220v. I do have a buddy who's an electrician, but he won't be needed.

I pulled the two heating elements out. One is badly cracked and split. The previous owner had left a 1.5" box wrench labelled "heating element removal tool." I'd wondered when I'd find a use for that... Anyways, I'll be ordering a new heating element. You've saved me a lot of worry and useless trouble-shooting. Thank you!

This leads to me my next question: Now that I've filled the spa, should I drain it until the part arrives? I've not added any chemicals yet.