Spa heating issues

[Dan Morrill]

Hey, I was hoping someone could help me troubleshoot my recent spa problems. I have a CalSpa, round, portable, 5100 model. Three things have happened....

1. Something tripped the circuit breakers for my spa. Went outside after not looking at it for 3 days. The water was cold and breakers were flipped.

2. Upon resetting the breakers, everytime my spa started heating up close to temperature, it would trigger the overheating warning code and turn off. Spa temp stopped just shy of 100F each time before triggering the overheating warning.

3. After several days of trying to figure out why it was saying it was overheating when it wasn't, the spa now won't heat up to temp. Semi-warm water is coming out of the jets, enough to keep the water feel luke-warm or cool, and not ice-cold.(northern climate). Overheating warning obviously has stopped because it's hardly producing any heat at the moment.


Any thoughts or insights for me on why it did any of these things?

 

[RDspaguy]

1) Could be any number of things. Lets focus on the current issue and come back to this if it comes up again.
2) The OH is triggered by the high limit sensor, which is located in the heater, and can be triggered by low water flow through the heater from clogged filters, debris in the pump, or a bad pump. The actual temp in the tub is not too hot, just the heater is. First step is to remove the filters.
3) Repeated OH errors can disable the heater in some systems. Reset system by turning off breaker for 30 seconds and resetting.
This is not the only possibility, just the most likely. If it keeps acting up we will go from there. Let me know.
Post a pic of your circuit board and wiring diagram so I know which system you have in there.

 

[jimmythegreek]

And be careful....frozen piping is a nightmare to repair, get on this quick before temps hit below freezing consecutively

 

[RDspaguy]

@jimmythegreek knows, you don't want to do this. I don't even want to do this, but it's how I pay my bills...

 

[Dan Morrill]

Turning breaker off did not fix the heater. I think I feel luke-warm ish water coming out the jets, warmer than the tub, just not nearly enough to heat to 100F. Is that possible? Might explain why it's been keeping to 65F even though it's almost freezing at night.

What else should I be looking at next?

 

[RDspaguy]

Do you have a multimeter? Check voltage at the heater terminls.
Post a pick of your circuit board.