I just purchased a home with and the hot tub came with the house. I filled the spa and decided to test it. The panel door had rotted off so I replaced it and made sure the contacts were aligned when the door closed. The spa jets and recirculation pump work fine but there's no heat.

Is there a systematic step-by-step procedure that I can use to test the heating components so that I don't buy unnecessary heating parts to fix the no-heat problem? If so, what should I do first, second, third, etc. I have a VOM to test if needed.

Thanks.

Bill

First, you should know these suckers take a l-o-n-g time to heat..and may not heat up at all without a cover.

If you've had it covered for a couple of days, and had it turned up all the way, with the jets "off" then start troubleshooting.

Do you hear a loud "click" when you turn the t-stat all the way up and then all the way down? Yes? Probably a burnt wire or bad element.
No? Probably a bad t-stat, or htr. relay.

Have multi-meter? You can test everything, just ask

I tested the heating ability over a 6 hour period without the cover on and the temp stayed at about 67 deg constant. I was told by a service tech that the circulation pump showed a brown spot on it and if it doesn't operate, it won't pass water through the heating tube. If this doesn't happen there's no heat.

I've read several other posts about led lights and hearing the clicking sounds when kicking up the thermostat to turn the heat on. I don't see any of these nor do I hear any clicking sounds.

I'll get a picture and post the piping and electrical guts in a subsequent reply. It's a 220 V system.

If you have a Hot Spring 220v system, you have a seperate breaker soley for the heater, and a breaker (or two) for the rest of the equip. 1st thing, be sure the heater breaker isn't tripped. It can be tripped and the rest of the spa will function normally...

You should be seeing an increase of about 8 degrees an hour when the spa is covered and operating properly.


If you have contacts on the door, your spa is pre-1994 (and has no red led), and if your circ pump has failed, the (physical) heater high limit would throw, shutting down the entire tub until you physically pushed it back in to reset it...(unless there is a second failure in the heating system) So we might be safe in assuming the circ pump is ok. You might even see a lsight increase (a couple of degrees) in water temp due to the circ. pump running. Depending on the age, some older HSS have the circ pump running thermostatically controlled, so if the t-stat takes a dump, not only do you have no heat, but no circ pump as well.

But first things first- check the heater breaker for 220v with your meter. If it's giving you 220v, then move on...(be sure to test accross both poles, not one at a time)

This tub uses a mechanical thermoststat with a heater relay, and there should be a fairly obvious "click" when the t-stat calls for heat. If you aren't hearing that "click" then it likely a t-stat or heater relay that has wet the bed....

If you're feeling up to the challenge, post a pic of the control panel (where the buttons or dials are) and I'll tell you how to remove it so you can lower the control box and have access to the "guts"