I have an LA Spa Hottub with a Balboa Serial Standard Digital 6 button touchpad panel. When I went to turn the jets on, the touchpad "sparked" and the system shut down. I discovered that the 30 amp fuse in the control box had blown. Do I need a new touchpad / circuit board? Can I fix what I have? I noticed that the board is protected by some type of sealant... Can I redo that? How is the touchpad held down to the spa? glue?

You're kidding right? You mean you got sparks out of the topside control pushbutton panel?

If so, it's time to replace the entire system. It's totally fried - and dangerous. The top panel should never have enough voltage to cause a spark of any sort.

That 30 amp fuse controls your pump, and when blown will also prevent the main power transformer from powering the circuit board.

To remove the topside use a razor knife to cut thru the double sided tape holding it down.

Thanks for the reply. Any suggestion on what I should go with for a replacement? Everythings working again now. Do I need a "control pack"? ie: control box, touchpad, heater?, etc?

Well if it's working again then you err'd in your mention about sparks from the topside.

I really do appreciate your attention to this. Obviously, I don't want to fry myself... I was soaking in the tub, I reached over to turn the jets on - touched the digital touchpad and could have sworn that I saw a small spark between my finger and the button (I didn't feel a shock).

The spa turned off instantly. The next day, I checked the breaker and the main board (spa control box fuse). They were fine. I then checked the 30 amp time-delay buss fuse in the control box. It was open (no continuity).

I replaced the 30 amp buss fuse and checked the topside touchpad carefully for cracks, breaks, etc - and could not find any.

I turned the spa back on and everything runs fine. I put two layers of clear packing tape over the touchpad to further seal out moisture - if that was the problem.

Like I said, I don't want to fry - but I don't want to replace the control box and touchpad with a "spa pack" if it's really not needed.

I realize that the current running to the touchpad through the telephone-type connector is minimal.

Any last suggestions?? Thanks in advance.

What you may have seen, is sparking from the pump motor. The light from a current generated spark large enough to cause a 30 amp fuse to blow is quite extreme - as much as an arc welder if it was the cause of a direct short.

Imo, there's no way you would've had voltage of that magnitude at the topside control panel, arcing to your finger and then to ground thru you and the water in the tub - without destroying the board and the topside panel.

Balboa topsides are translucent and will transmit light underneath thru the plastic and I guess it's possible it could appear that there was a spark - and my bet is that your mind was playing tricks on you.

Thanks for your expertise. I appreciate this forum and your response.