I've a three year old Aspen Spa with a Balboa 2000 LE controller. It has worked perfectly for those three years until last night. When I went to use it the main pump was running for one second and stopping, a sec later it trys to run again and stops, repeating this cycle over and over, despite a power reset. The water was 103 right where I left it but the main pump (used for filtering and heat) cycles on and off every second. The second pump responds to the topside panel control but the main pump does not. On occasion I see an Pr code flash by and assume it is "prime" I did so at the pump but there was no air in it.

I disconnect the pumps Molex connector from the controller and both the low pump and high pump relays are engaging and disengaging at one second intervals. The Molex pins are dark I guess from the motors constant cycle.

I've powered the tub off to save the motor.

Any ideas?

Bob

Your problem sounds like a keypad buffer problem that this procedure will fix. On the side of the controller (right side I think) in the pump cabinet, there is a tiny little switch panel with 'dip' switches that provide direct input into the computer program. These are also shown on the 'wiring diagram' in the manual in a little box in the lower right corner but are not otherwise mentioned by Balboa and are mostly undocumented and I don't think they want you to change them. You can manipulate the switches, however, to 'reset' the control program in the controller. First, you need to find the switch that switches Pump 1 to be 1spd or 2 spd. I think it is S5 but it might be something else so verify this on your controller diagram or label before starting.

S5 sets the Pump 1 to be 1spd or 2 spd and comes from the factory set at 2 spd. This is the switch you want. Follow this procedure. Don't do it in the rain.

1. Disconnect all power to your hot tub
2. Open the pump compartment and find the dip switch panel. It should be a tiny little panel with a row of switches on it on the side of the control box..
3. Verify the position of all of the dip switches and write them down in case you need to know what they are later.
4. Change the S5 switch from '2 speed' to '1 speed'. Use the tip of a ball point pen to (gently) move the switch if you need to.
5. Power up the hot tub for a couple of minutes or so, then power it down again.
6. Disconnect all power to the hot tub.
7. Switch the S5 switch back to ''2 speed''
8. Close up everything.
9. Power up the hot tub and all should now be well.. If it is not, repeat the procedure but change a different switch such as the one for 'one pump/two pumps'. By switching a dip switch and repowering, you force the controller to restart it's program with different inputs which is what you want.

If this fixes your problem, you can keep it from happening again by being careful to press the buttons one at a time and (most important!) count to three before pressing the Pump1 button a second time to switch to a different speed or before pressing another button. This problem happens because the buttons are not really control switches (even though they appear to be) but rather are really digital input keys like the keyboard on your computer and are 'polled' in the same way. Push a bunch of keys down on your keyboard at once and you will fill the buffer and the little speaker will beep and things will stop. On the hot tub, the Balboa controls don't have a way to manually clear the buffer (poweroff does not do it, probably for cost reasons)

If you are uncomfortable doing this kind of thing, show it to your tech and maybe he can do it for you.