Hi folks-

The family and I went to jump in the tub last night, and when I did, noticed the temp wasn't right and the green light was flashing. Tub was set @ 102, was approx 99. No water coming from the circulation pump screen. Activated the jetpump and SUPER hot water was coming out! Waited til it was a more reasonable temp and shut it off, still no activity from circ pump. Powered unit down and back up, flashing light again, still no circ activity.

Could this be scale buildup, or an air bubble? I have a feeling that it is just that the circ pump failed, as it has been intermittently making a bit of noise now and then. I have turned the tub off (yikes - 21 degrees last night) and am looking for guidance.

Quick background. Tub is outside (obviously), I have had it less than one year. Replaced a one-way valve when I got it last December, and a power control board in January. Very Recently had it put onto the 220v from the 110v, dunno if that has significance. We also noticed the other night that the water was *unusually* hot coming out of the circulation return screen.

I am going to bypass and pull the circ pump when I get home (after rapping on it a few times, saw that tip a while back) and pull it apart to check for scale. Any way for me to throw a meter on the leads and determine of it is viable or not? Heater working fine, so I powered it down as it does seem that the hi-limit protect circuit is causing the blinking (seemingly pointing directly to the circ pump once again) and I am afraid of burning something -else- out...

Alternately, any good/cheap/quick source for OEM parts for the Tiger River line?

All input appreciated!

Thanks!!!

From what you have described it sounds like the circ pump. You said you got it last year but is it a used tub and more than a year old or is it new? The circ pump works 24/7 and is most likely the problem. The hot water was probably due to the heater getting hot and no flow from the pump.

Tub is a 1992 model, indoors installation through 2 owners (same house). I put it outside, also on the 20amp 120v as they had it, for the last ten months. Now on 20&30 amp 240v, though it seems this is somewhat irrelevant.

I removed the pump, disassembled and cleaned it. Noted an identical mark on bell and housing, seemed like it jammed or something. No scale in there but there was a decent amount of rust, high iron content in our water. I scrubbed both parts with a bunch of baking soda, rinsed well and reassembled.

Pump is running noisily and tub is rapidly coming up to temp, which was a major concern, it was pretty cold for a few nights in a row. However, the level of noise from the pump has risen dramatically in the last two hours since I powered it up, and I do not expect it to last very long.

For the record, this issue also caused a 'red light blinking, no power to tub' error as well. When I was troubleshooting it I was waiting for it to come upto temp and it went into thermal overload. I had to leave the door off for more than two hours before I could reset it - and it was still hot! Keep that in mind when troubleshooting a similar issue.

I am hoping the pump holds out long enough the get the tub up to temp. Then if it fails I should be able to ride it out 'til payday

SpaForums is a tremendous resource!!!!

Issue resolved, older pump died and went with new model. Looks like a toy but moves some serious gph in comparison to the old. And @ 15w less than the old one, double bonus.

Big Thanks to Dan the Spa Man for his valuable input.

~douggo~