First Thanks for reading this it is long...
I have an A.S.I. Heater, I attempted to contact the company and the number has been disconnected. The address listed in my manual is Garden Grove, CA 92843.
I noticed that the water was 70F when I went to use it today. Tub has worked fine for years till this point. I turned the knob up to max and the heater/pumps did not kick in. Went outside and pressed the reset button using a screwdriver and got a big spark when the tip was on the reset button and touching the cover. Hmm?
I pressed the rocker over to clock mode and the pump turned on. Returning to the tub I measured the water temp at the jet and it showed an increase to 72F, making me think the heater is working. I returned outside to the access and pressed the rocker over to Thermostat. The unit shut off. Next I turned a knob on the unit that resemble a volume control for a stereo and the unit turned on. (I did not mess with the clock timer dial). The tub ran for a 10 min and then cut off. Then I turned the same 'stereo' dial further and the unit turned on again. (It has been running for an hour now.) Turning the temp control in the tub has no effect. The tub temperature has gone from 70F to 74F in about 40min.
Here are my questions:
1) A.S.I. = who, what where, how...???
2) Why did I get that spark when resetting the unit?
3) What is the 'stereo volume' dial what does it do?
4) Is the tub safe? I got no shock when I stuck my hand in the water!
5) Is this aproblem with the thermostat in the heater or a problem with the control unit in the tub?

Big thanks to all who help me out.
Please let me know if more information is required to solve this problem.

jmh911944

JMH,

The only thing I can think of it that it arced against the box when you pushed it.
Sounds like the knob (stereo dial ) you're referring to is the main thermostat... I take it you've been using the top side thermostat before. There may be a problem with that thermostat...where as the thermostat on the face of the spa controller may be working fine. Obviously you Have to have flow to make the heater work properly. If the topside thermostat is not turning on the low pump... you have a problem. If the other one does... try it for awhile.. If it reaches temperature and works normal .. then you may need to replace the the spa side ...

By the way... the fact that asi is out of business is probably not a big deal. We've got heaters galore...just go to spapartsnet.com and compare whats there. If you cant find it, give us a call ... 877 936 2223

Barb

Thanks for the help.
I happened upon a pool supply store today. They suggested that my mystery dial could be a freeze-up preventer. However, there was no way for them to be sure. Does this sound plausable?
Additionally, is it common for tubs to have two thermostats?
I guess my concern is that the tub reached 104F last night as is normal. But I had the intub thermostat turned all the way down. And the mystery dial turned all the way counterclockwise.
Could the tub heater/pump just be running to the high limit kicks in?
(That said, I think I have had the water to 108F before on a test years ago, but my merory is weak)

Thanks Again...

Babe's not in at the moment, so I'll follow up.

1. The asi pack doesn't have any means for using a screwdriver through a hole to push a reset switch. You did something you shouldn't have here. The high limit switch on the typical ASI chrome pack protrudes from the face of the pack itself, and it's a small red plastic button.

What you more likely did was stick a screwdriver through a hole and touched an electrical connection (screw terminal or something) and it shorted to the case.

2. The knob on the face of the asi pack is a heater thermostat, used in instances where a tub doesn't have a thermostat mounted topside. Normally, in your installation, the pack's thermostat should be turned all the way counterclockwise (off), to let the topside tub mounted thermostat do all the controlling for the heat...

So, what you did here was to determine that your heater thermostat in your topside control isn't working, but the one in the pack itself is. However, now I'm a bit confused. You said that you had your pack thermostat turned completely counterclockwise and it continued to heat up until it hit 104.... but yesterday, it was incrementally heating as you turned it up - a clockwise turn, not counter.

Possibly when you said 'counterclockwise' you meant clockwise and then it went up to 104 as normal? If this is the case, then your pack thermostat is working normally. Your topside control thermostat isn't.

Be sure that the 5/6 pin block plug that comes from the topside control panel is properly plugged into the right side of the ASI pack. Then be sure that this cable hasn't been damaged or chewed thru by rats and such.

The topside panel should have indicator lights that are working too.

If this still doesn't resolve the thermostat problem, then you've got two choices, the first is recommended, the second is more difficult and can be frustrating and time consuming.

1. Replace the topside control panel. Any of the top three should work on this page: http://spapartsnet.com/Control_Panels.html

2. Replace the thermostat inside the control panel. Now, if your topside thermostat uses a capillary tube, (copper sensor), then this is the part that will fit: http://spapartsnet.com/products/ELB3T60.html

A detailed breakdown of what this thing looks like inside is here:

http://spanet.net/cgi-bin/cs/index.cgi? ... =11022&p=1
This details recalibration and not necessarily replacement. Either way, this is a tricky procedure and is not recommended unless you've got a lot of patience.

Hope this helps.

Wow! Awesome Help. Many Thanks.
1. It really does say reset on the cover and there is a hole. But there was no red plastic on it. After reading your post and looking around , there was broken red plastic in the dust under the tub supports. I did stick the screwdriver in and touched something! Won't do that again. In the mean time I put a bit of rubber hose over where I assume the red plastic shoud be.

2. I think your are spot on here. I got the clock and anticlockwise wrong. The blood had rushed to me head looking upside down at the thing.

I will do some more investigation and be placing an order soon!
Y'all Rock!

They are indeed successfully still in business. They just moved from Garden Grove to Santa Ana. You can reach them at 800/537-5891 or search the web for "Action Spas".