New heater came in. Still not getting hot.

[jiuchessu]

I have a Cal Spa 5900.
It was converted to 120v from 240v.

I installed the new heater yesterday. It came with its own thermometers and seals.

Here's the thing. It gets hot. Both of the Copper pieces that heat up the heater are working.
I can touch the heater and feel that the water heats up. But then it shuts off and pushes the water away, gets new water in, heats up, repeats.

The problem, i think, is that because its 120v, its not keeping the heater on while the jets are working. Maybe?

I'm out of ideas here. It just doesn't make sense that a little bit of water gets hot and pushes itself back into the cold (74degree) water.

 

[RDspaguy]

You have a flow restriction. Remove the filter and see what it does.
Wired properly for 120v operation it will turn off the heater when jets are on high. Is the pump 120v or 240v? If it is a 240v pump wired at 120v it will run at a fraction of it's rpm and result in low flow. Eventually it will burn out the motor.
Post a pic of the circuit board.

 

[jiuchessu]

You have a flow restriction. Remove the filter and see what it does.
Wired properly for 120v operation it will turn off the heater when jets are on high. Is the pump 120v or 240v? If it is a 240v pump wired at 120v it will run at a fraction of it's rpm and result in low flow. Eventually it will burn out the motor.
Post a pic of the circuit board.

Hello,

The previous owner changed it from 220v to 110v.
What you just said seems to be exactly what the problem is. The code is Dr (dry) which does mean there is a flow restriction. Hard to tell since all my jet's work fine.

Eventually FL code comes out, then ends with HL and the spa gives up on trying to heat up. I read that HL means FL came out 5x and has hit the limit of "attempts" to heat up and is now disabled permanently (until you unplug and plug in the spa of course)

Here is the diagram for my model

 

[RDspaguy]

Did you remove the filter? Does the pump start in low speed for heat as it should?
Turn off power, close the slice valves gently (we don't want them to stick) and unscrew the union on the pump inlet (the side not connected to the heater) and check inside for debris or a loose impeller (the fins you will feel inside). The impeller should turn easily but should not wiggle side to side.

 

[jiuchessu]

I've tried it with the filter removed. It came with an extra filter new in box too.

What are slice valves? If the are the knobs at the end of each heater side, I dont have them. I would have to drain the tub fully in order to check that. But Im not sure what you mean exactly. How would slice valves stick?

I can drain the water no problem.
If i understand you correctly, you want me to feel the motors inside by where it connects to the heater? I did not do that, I will do it now. I'll check to see if it wiggles

 

[jiuchessu]

Did you remove the filter? Does the pump start in low speed for heat as it should?
Turn off power, close the slice valves gently (we don't want them to stick) and unscrew the union on the pump inlet (the side not connected to the heater) and check inside for debris or a loose impeller (the fins you will feel inside). The impeller should turn easily but should not wiggle side to side.

When I turn it on it goes on PR mode. Does it's thing and ends up with HL and still runs the low pressure pumps after, but by this point the heating has given up so its just running pumps every so often.

Ok so I felt the fins of the motor, they spin and are solid. No wobble.

 

[RDspaguy]

Turn on power, it will go to PR, then press temp button and low speed pump should activate. Heater will come on shortly thereafter. Does it show HL before the pump comes on or after the heater has been on for a minute?

 

[jiuchessu]

Turn on power, it will go to PR, then press temp button and low speed pump should activate. Heater will come on shortly thereafter. Does it show HL before the pump comes on or after the heater has been on for a minute?

Filling it up now.

It shows HL after a while, not before the pump turns on. But I'll take notes this time and double check everything.

 

[jiuchessu]

Ok restarted it:
PR shows for about 5min.
Low jets kick in

6min mark: temperature is displayed
+
Hear clicking. Heater is getting hot.

Then small jets go on.

Hear clicking again. Heater is back on.

Clicking again, small jets activated again.

Small jets stop
30-40 seconds of silence
Clicking and heater is heating up again.

At 14m: HL comes up.

 

[jiuchessu]

After HL.

Dr comes up flashing.

 

[RDspaguy]

The fact that it runs for a bit suggests flow restriction. This could be a number of things. You said your jets are working well with good pressure.
You may have some debris in the heater at a sensor. The element is about 1/4" away from the sensor, and any stringy debris can bridge the gap and cause a temp increase on one sensor which could read as a HL error.
You could have debris trapped in the pipe or impeller. I have pulled all kinds of things out of pumps, including a little black dress. Nature2 cartridges have been sucked down from filters. Leaves, hair, kid toys, scumballs, dead critters, and unidentifiable pieces of plastic have been the cause of flow issues.

 

[jiuchessu]

The fact that it runs for a bit suggests flow restriction. This could be a number of things. You said your jets are working well with good pressure.
You may have some debris in the heater at a sensor. The element is about 1/4" away from the sensor, and any stringy debris can bridge the gap and cause a temp increase on one sensor which could read as a HL error.
You could have debris trapped in the pipe or impeller. I have pulled all kinds of things out of pumps, including a little black dress. Nature2 cartridges have been sucked down from filters. Leaves, hair, kid toys, scumballs, dead critters, and unidentifiable pieces of plastic have been the cause of flow issues.

I see.
The heater is new and doesn't have anything. But I'll check again.

Should I pull out the fins/fan part of the pump and check if there's something blocking it?

What about going through each pipe?

There's a rattling sound that comes from the pump whe it runs, but it gives the jets full power so I figured it's a part of the pump. I'm gonna record it and post a video of the sound.

 

[jiuchessu]

The light rattle

20200718_172757.mp4

drive.google.com

 

[RDspaguy]

That doesn't sound good. I would pull it out and remove the faceplate and check that impeller. It's hard to say from the video what the problem is exactly, it may be worn bearings, blocked suction, or a spun impeller.
You said the heater is new? Has it worked since it was replaced? Did you get the whole heater assembly or just the element?

 

[jiuchessu]

That doesn't sound good. I would pull it out and remove the faceplate and check that impeller. It's hard to say from the video what the problem is exactly, it may be worn bearings, blocked suction, or a spun impeller.
You said the heater is new? Has it worked since it was replaced? Did you get the whole heater assembly or just the element?

Just the heater. It came with its 2 seals, 2 temperature readers.

I also purchased 2 new copper mount/brackets that give power to the heater. Both show 110v

Ill pull it out and take pictures of the inside.

 

[RDspaguy]

You cannot test each leg independently. You must test from one leg to the other with a volt meter. As soon as you turn on power you will have 120v on each leg if the heater is good, but it will not heat because it has an open relay on the board. There are typically 3 relays in the heater circuit, 2 on one side and 1 on the other. 2 of these (one on each side) close as soon as power is on as long as the high limit does not read an overheat, the third is the "switch" controlled by the call for heat. So you will always have 120v to ground on your heater terminals, but no current flow until the third relay closes the circuit.

 

[jiuchessu]

That doesn't sound good. I would pull it out and remove the faceplate and check that impeller. It's hard to say from the video what the problem is exactly, it may be worn bearings, blocked suction, or a spun impeller.
You said the heater is new? Has it worked since it was replaced? Did you get the whole heater assembly or just the element?

Correction. I got the entire assembly. (tube and all). I assumed that its simply the heating element, but its listed as a full heater assembly.

gotta check the motor today.

 

[RDspaguy]

I ask because the wrong element will contact one of the sensors and cause the exact issue that you are having.

 

[jiuchessu]

I ask because the wrong element will contact one of the sensors and cause the exact issue that you are having.

I just opened the cover, nothing was wrong.

 

[RDspaguy]

Why did you replace the heater? Did it work before?
Where the filter attaches is it an open pipe? Could anything have been sucked down the pipe? If so, see if you can push a fish tape, hose, or something down to the pump. I have found nature2 cartridges inside pipes several times.
While the motor is out you might want to go ahead and rebuild it. Any electric motor shop can do it pretty cheap. Or you could do it yourself if you are handy and have a bearing puller, but figuring out what bearing it uses will be tricky.
Do you have an ohm meter?