Hi, new to hot tubs but after reading many posts I think I may need to replace the circulation
pump. I have removed the filters(2) and have good suction on the one closest to the opening but the back filter has no suction. Isn't it suppossed to have suction? I can get the circulation pump to run and blow water for a second or 2 by quickly cycling the breaker but then it will not keep running and heater ligths shut off. Help !!!! Ken

Sounds more like your heater is tripping the breaker. Try running the pump with the heater disconnected.

As for the filters, the second may be for a different pump. Be sure all your jets are running and check again.

Thanks. I have bypassed the heater hoses and unplugged all heater wires I can find and the circulation pump will run as well as both jet pumps. The control panel now flashes ps1 and ht5 which I guess means the heater is unplugged. It was running the circ pump for a few minutes and then off for a few repeatedly. How can I check the heater?? I have heard of thermistors but am not sure where they are. Ken

If the heater is tripping the breaker it will have to be replaced. If you can post a picture of it and some make/model info we can point you in the right direction.

Thanks. The breaker was only tripping after I rerouted the hoses to bypass the heater and stopped tripping when I unplugged the grey wire from the control box(pic).

Sorry, put in the wrong pic. Gatsby by Jacuzzi year 2002, model 11721067T. Ken

Follow that wire back and see what it goes to. Looks like the pressure switch (gray thing on the left side of the heater in the pic). Unplugging that will stop your breaker from tripping either because it prevents power from going to the heater or because your pressure switch is faulting.

To test this, be sure there is water in the heater, pull the wires off the pressure switch and jump them, and then turn the tub on. This will allow the heater to come on without the pressure switch being connected. If the breaker does not trip, the heater is fine and you've got a bad switch. If it does trip you've got a bad heater (or maybe a bad wire). In either case, turn the tub back off quickly as you don't want to run it for long without the switch hooked up.

If the wire goes to something other than the pressure switch then ignore all this and give us an update.

Thanks. I checked the heater coil with my ohm meter and got a reading so I figured it was ok. I found my pressure switch was nearly broken in half where it goes into the heater so I replaced it. Still popping the breaker so I jumped the 2 wires from the pressure switch and it popped the breaker. Could my heater coil be bad even with an ohm reading? I will try checking the wires. Ken

Yeah, the heater can still be bad even with good resistance. It's insulation to ground has gone bad which you can't test with a standard ohm meter.

I wiggled the ground wire and all is well !!!!!! Thanks, Ken