Heater/control board damage

[Dan Morrill]

Okay, I've located the problem with my spa (see picture). It's a Calspa, 5100 series.

Can you tell by the picture what I need to replace here? Just the contacts? Whole board? Heater too?

And what would have caused this? Anything else I should look at so this doesn't happen again?

 

[ajw22]

@RDspaguy may know.

 

[RDspaguy]

Loose connection or faulty relay. An electronics repair shop may be able to fix it. Maybe. Otherwise you need a board. I would get a new connector bar as well. The heater appears undamaged, but that doesn't mean it is.

 

[Dan Morrill]

How would I check the relays to see if they are faulty? And what would I look for or test to make sure my heater isn't damaged?

Current symptoms for my spa before finding this was that it was giving overheating warnings for a couple of days, then that stopped and it could only heat the tub up to mid 70's. Its currently 40F outside, so the heater is doing some work, but won't get it up to 100F. Could that be happening just from this circuit board damage or is there likely heater damage too?

 

[RDspaguy]

How would I check the relays to see if they are faulty?

You wouldn't. The relay didn't necessarily malfunction, the contacts inside could be worn and therefore getting hot. If the heat didn't damage it, then it will test fine.

make sure my heater isn't damaged?

Test it with an ohm meter on the terminals, and from one terminal to heater housing with water in it. Post results.
The pump running will produce some heat, I seriously doubt that heater is working now.
The OH is likely not a result of the board damage, but could have been a contributing factor in causing it. Especially if you had dry fire (heater on with no water in it) from an air lock or boil-out from a stuck relay. Had you recently drained and filled? Dry fire will burn out a heater.

 

[Dan Morrill]

@RDspaguy Hey, sorry for bumping this back up. It's been a couple of weeks and didn't have time to play around with the spa.

Used a cheap little multi-meter, and on the most sensitive ohm setting (200) it read 10.5 between the two terminals and no reading at all between each individual terminal and the housing. Is that making sense?

I cannot remember if I had cleaned it recently or not. How do I prevent an air-lock in the future?

 

[RDspaguy]

The element is fine. Which means it probably wasn't air lock. So a loose connection at the board or a bad relay is the culprit. Either way, get the relays done. The open terminal could be used to bypass the roasted foil. I'm sure the electronics guy can figure out how to connect it.

How do I prevent an air-lock in the future?

Fill it with the hose stuck down the filter pipe.