Spa 120V to 240V conversion - not heating...

[dvanderveen]

Hello,

An electrician converted my hot tub from 120V to 240V on tuesday, and since then the heat has slow dropped and now sits at 95F - all other functions (jets, lights etc) are working. It's a Dreammaker single 2-speed pump and a Balboa VS3FL4AV (PN 56902) heater pack. The manual I have instructs me to remove the J11-J32 jumper and flip the A10 DIP switch to 'high amp mode' which I did. We started up the spa and heat started to steadily drop (despite being set at 103F).

I did some internet research and found documentation on resetting the persistent memory switch - J43 for my spa. This was not in the documentation I was given. I bridged that (there was a bridge clip on only one pin that I used to bridge the 2 pins), turned on, waited until the display went to 'Pr' (Prime mode) as instructed, turned off the spa, removed the J43 bridge, turned on again, saw the message '12' come through on screen at start-up, set the spa back to 'St' (standard mode) and temperature back to 103, and still the spa hangs on at only 95F (screen shot attached with temp at 97 was yesterday morning). My electrician is coming back to check things on friday, and my dealer has a call into the spa rep whatever timing that will be.

Anyone have any ideas on what I'm missing?

 

[Mdragger88]

Let me tag u a helper!
@RDspaguy

 

[Bama Rambler]

Does the wiring match what's shown in the manual?
Looks like switch 7 is in ECON mode. That may affect the heating.

 

[dvanderveen]

Does the wiring match what's shown in the manual?
Looks like switch 7 is in ECON mode. That may affect the heating.

Yes it does match, and everything worked previously (I used the tub at 120V for several weeks waiting on an electrician) including heat. In the spa menu I can select between St (Standard), Sl (Sleep), and Ec (Economy) and I have it set back to Standard. I did wonder if I should switch to permanent 'St' on DIP7 with this new 240V configuration. Wanted to get some feedback first though, better to change a minimum of things each iteration to help identify issues..

 

[Bama Rambler]

If the wiring matches and you're sure you have 240 volts to the pack, then I'd try setting switch 7 to standard.
If it's not that I'd start checking the heater to make sure it's getting 240 volt power to it.

 

[Newdude]

Mine had a similar setup and part of the upgrade was to remove a jumper wire from the 2 legs. The black relays just to the right of the electric connection have a very similar jumper to the one I had to remove so that they each had their own leg instead of sharing. There was a ‘cheat sheet’ of instructions on the inside of the controller panel. See if yours says to remove any jumpers.

 

[dvanderveen]

Mine had a similar setup and part of the upgrade was to remove a jumper wire from the 2 legs. The black relays just to the right of the electric connection have a very similar jumper to the one I had to remove so that they each had their own leg instead of sharing. There was a ‘cheat sheet’ of instructions on the inside of the controller panel. See if yours says to remove any jumpers.

The panel diagram in my first post (IMG-2658) describes removing the J11-J32 jumper, and this was done. Here's a before picture showing that wire (circled in red) before I removed it.

 

[Newdude]

The panel diagram in my first post (IMG-2658) describes removing the J11-J32 jumper, and this was done. Here's a before picture showing that wire (circled in red) before I removed it

Ok great !! Just making sure.

 

[dvanderveen]

If the wiring matches and you're sure you have 240 volts to the pack, then I'd try setting switch 7 to standard.
If it's not that I'd start checking the heater to make sure it's getting 240 volt power to it.

My electrician is already coming back tomorrow to verify the 240V supply, I'll try DIP7 after he confirms that. Thanks.

 

[dvanderveen]

If the wiring matches and you're sure you have 240 volts to the pack, then I'd try setting switch 7 to standard.
If it's not that I'd start checking the heater to make sure it's getting 240 volt power to it.

As a side note, I see in your signature a peristaltic pump - is that for chlorine dosing? If yes, do you have more info on your set-up (how you integrated that into your pool and/or plumbing) to share? Thats been on my list to do for a while and I haven't gotten around to it.

 

[Bama Rambler]

Yes the Stenner pump is for chlorine dosing.
I started out with an Intermatic timer on it, but now I use an Insteon Outdoor Timer.
The pump hangs on the wall just above a 15 gallon blue drum. And the injection fitting is threaded into the return plumbing just past the filter. The pump has been converted from an adjustable model to a fixed output model.

I think I have some pictures on here somewhere, but it's a pretty straight forward install. Much like a lot of other installs here. You can search the threads for injection pump and find plenty.

I'll be glad to post pics if I can find them.

 

[RDspaguy]

Everything looks good from here. Are there any errors on the topside?
Check for voltage at the heater terminals during a call for heat (topside indicator on). Test resistance on the heater.
By doubling the voltage you also double the amp draw and quadruple the watts (which means heat here). If you had a worn relay or heater element, the increased voltage could have finished it off. How old is the spa?

 

[dvanderveen]

Everything looks good from here. Are there any errors on the topside?
Check for voltage at the heater terminals during a call for heat (topside indicator on). Test resistance on the heater.
By doubling the voltage you also double the amp draw and quadruple the watts (which means heat here). If you had a worn relay or heater element, the increased voltage could have finished it off. How old is the spa?

Hi, the spa is only 3 weeks old so hopefully nothing is fried yet. No errors indicated on the panel either. If the heater tests ok, where do I direct the electrician for relay testing specifically? Thanks for your help!

 

[RDspaguy]

If you have no voltage to the heater and no error on the display with a heat indicator it is a relay, wire connection, or breaker. If you do have voltage then you probably burned out the heater, which can happen from running dry or air lock.
Of course, new does not always mean good. That's why you have a warranty. I would have already called the dealer.

 

[dvanderveen]

Hey everyone just wanted to update for those who were helping me out on this. Everything is working great now! Here’s what happened.

I ordered a thin style breaker for my old stab lok panel on amazon (they don’t make the stab lok anymore). Electrician installéd the thin breaker connected to only one pole, although it might have been able to straddle two poles, my electrician didn’t realize when he did the install so I had 120V supplying a 240V configuration - that obviously doesn’t work... I converted back to the 120V plug n play version and I ordered a double wide breaker online. After installing the new breaker everything seemed to work. The electrician left and I came out an hour later to find the spa off. I poked around a bit and a loose wire arced slightly when I moved them - my electrician had forgotten to tighten the neutral. I did that and have had no issues since.

Additional note, there was no mention in my manual about the ‘persistent memory’ reset when changing DIP settings. Adding that here for future forum searchers like myself when troubleshooting similar issues.

thanks all for your comments and help.
DJ

 

[Donldson]

they don’t make the stab lok anymore

That would be because of their 30% failure rate. I believe the professional designation is "death trap".

 

[Bama Rambler]

I ordered a thin style breaker for my old stab lok panel on amazon (they don’t make the stab lok anymore).
DJ

Even though Federal Pacific doesn't make the breakers anymore, a few companies make replacement breakers for those panels and they are safe. The panels weren't the problem, it was the FP breakers. As long as you buy new, tested, replacement breakers you'll be fine.