I have a sundance sentry 724....here's what's been done since I rented this house (spa has been here since it was new in 1989) I've changed the heat sensor...because it was reading 100 degrees for cold tap water....I've tightened the heater manifold...because I was getting a water leak from around it....I found all the screws were able to be tightened...some needed several turns to become snug......

Here is my (hopefully) last problem....when I turn on the spa, and set it to heat....it will run for a few minutes...maybe 5 or so....then the breaker will trip....I can run the blower and the pump on high speed for as long as I want with no problems...but as soon as I turn on the heater it goes for a few minutes and quits.....this is a working installation, as far as the breaker size and all.....it trips even if I just run the low speed pump, with no blowers.....I'm thinking that the heater may be bad, but I'd like a second opinion from some of you with a little more experience with spas (this is my first one)

Thanks,

Dustin Tunget

If it is tripping the "breaker", get an AMP meter and do an amp check on the wires. It may be that it is drawing too much amperage. Possible the motor is bad on the low speed side, try disconnecting the heater and see if it trips. Breakers trip because of excess amps and heat, make sure all the connections are clean and secure.

it doesn't seem to trip when I run the jets on either low or high.....it will run as long as I leave it on with the jets running...and the blower.....so if something is drawing too much amperage, I would think it would be the heater......since when I leave the temp set to 80 so it wont come on the breaker doesn't trip....it's a regular 50 amp breaker with just the spa on it......if it is the heater, and it needs to be replaced...what am I looking at buying? Just the element? or are there other parts I need?

Also.....how do I go about checking the amperage on the wires? is there a way to disable the interlock on the service doors? I have a multi meter I can take a reading with.....just need to have the spa running with the doors on......

Thanks for the quick response!

The heater is the old Plastic housing heater, 5.5kw, at 220 that is about 23 amps, the motor would be pulling the remainder. Check you amp draw, total, then each component individually. Still could be a bad breaker, loose connection, or bad wires.

ok....scratch testing the wires for today....my little multimeter doesn't have a setting for AC amperage......just DC.....unless that will work I'm going to have to try to borrow a tester.....

Also...I just noticed that the "proper polarity" light on the front of the circuit board housing is not lit.....should I reverse the wires? or does that matter? I'm sure that it's always been that way....

Yep, get one with a hoop that looks like this:

If it is incorrect, correct it. The "polarity" indicators I am familiar with would alert you to the "neutral" being in the wrong place. Yes I would make it right.

http://cgi.ebay.com/1000V-DC-750V-AC-DI ... dZViewItem

will that one work? I hate to wait on one to ship to me....but they are $50 at sears.....and the only one radioshack has says it only goes to 30 amps....I can get this for $20....unless I can find someone at work that has a tester....I don't think I can get an electrician to come over and take a look for $20...

Thanks!

It looks like it would probably do the job.

How do I replace the light bulb in this thing? What kind of bulb? Can I do it with water in the tub?