I have a 5 year old hot tub (don't know the manufacturers name) and the water will not heat up. The heater control is a GECKO (SSPA I think), and when I set the heat to anything above the ambient temperature, the heat indicator on the panel turns on, the pump starts, but the temperature stays the same. The panel displays the actual water temp OK, and shows me the setting (102 degrees) I want the water at. I am an electrician by trade, and did a voltage check on the heater element, and got 0 volts which rules out the element. Is there anything in the controller I can check, or where can I obtain a replacement controller. I am in Canada, and at this time of the year it won't be long before the water will start to freeze. I would like to get it rectified before I have to drain the tub.
Best regards and freezing.

Forgive me if this is a stupid comment, but is there a hi limit and/or pressure switch anywhere that needs to be reset?

I don see anything like a reset button in the unit. I did try turning the power off and on a couple of times in case that would work, but no luck.

sounds to me that the heater element may have gone south for the winter, so I would look into that. One way to check is to turn the tub on so it is calling for heat, then do a voltage check across the two terminals AT THE HEATER ELEMENT for proper voltage. If you have it there, you need a new element.

Barry,
I am in the middle of dealing with the same problem with the same spa pack in the same climate. If all is as you say and the light for the heat is ON then we have the same problem. I found a manual on a web site that said to check to see if 240 v are getting to to the heater(two insulated teminals on the stainless tube). The resistance in the heater should be 9-12 ohms and infinite between each terminal and the stainless tube( I disconnected it to test). The manual says if no 240v are at the heater connections and no faults are shown replace the spa pack.
I have a spa tech coming over in 30 minutes and he says he is going to check the upper and lower circuits. I will let you know what I find out.
Norm

Norm,
I took my heater control to a local dealer who told me that the circuit board was fried. There is no apparent fix other than replacing the entire unit, as the unit I have is an older control. I have ordered a new unit, so hopefully I will be in the spa by the weekend, the cost of the unit is a lot less than a new spa.
Thanks for the message Norm,
Barry.

Hi Barry,
Got the same prognosis from the guy who came out to service my spa. since the board is supposed to be toast anyway, I thought I would take it apart and have a look. The most noticable thing was a relay which connected to the PC board and was burned in the back where it attached to the right side teminal of the heater. This relay was an American Zettler model # AZ2150-1A-24DEF a 240 VAC 30 A Relay.
Someone else on this site mentioned http://www.relaycenter.com and I ordered four of them today. I had some trouble with ordering on their web site but had a great lady named Audry called me at home longdistance and helped the order go out this afternoon (best service I have ever experienced with any company).
Not being experienced with PC boards I should get someone to desolder the relay and resolder the new one. The four relays cost $6 US.
Time will tell if this is just "good money after bad" but I got a good feeling.

Norm

Norm,

desoldering is really easy, anyone can do it. All you need is to go to radio shack and get some desoldering braid. It absorbs the solder once it is heated (place the braid on the joint and heat with a 30W iron).

FYI those relays often fail due to their design (they are not intended for resistive loads, such as the heater element) and/or the element was too large. Those relays can handle a maximum heater element of 4Kw, so if yours was larger, that could cause failure also.

Charger,
Thanks, I think I might just try that. The element is definitely a 4 kw.
Norm