OK. i have a VitaSpa L200 series spa that i've stumbled into ownership of. it's used and i have no contact with any of the old owners. when i turn it on, the water pump won't operate, and there is only about 15 seconds of buzzing from the main circuit board. i believe that either the motor is shot or a simple relay needs replacing, but i am wary of pulling on the relay because i don't know if it was made to detach. is there any way to test the motor before splurging on a new one? everything on the main board looks pristine, even the buzzing relay (i think that's what it is), which could be humming due to a failsafe mechanism. the pump motor doesn't even turn over once and the LCD flshes "FLO" when it tries to power up the water pump. of course, i'd rather replace the $1 relay than the $$$$$$ pump, but i need some direction before i arbitrarily start buying parts. can anyone point me in the right direction?

You can try seeing if the pump is bound up, try to spin the motor shaft or the pump impeller, they should spin easily. If it spins freely, you could make a jumper cord and temporarily connect it directly to power to see if the motor is bad or the relay you suspect. You could also disconnect the motor and do a voltage check at the receptacle, in fact you want to make sure the motor is getting the correct voltage.

sounds good and i already contacted an electrician friend of mine to test the circuit (funny, i don't like playing with house current). i assume that if the impeller or drive shaft are seized, i'll need to replace (or rebuild) the pump. i want to thank you for replying so quickly. sometimes the only requirement to successfully fix something is the knowledge that you're moving in the right direction.

No problem, when and if you need to order parts let me know.

...and from experiance, if the motor shaft is locked up, plan on replacing the whole works! I've destroyed many a motor trying to get them $&%* things apart after they seize.... and yet I still try