I am so close. I inherited a 1989 Hot Springs Soveriegn Spa. wired for 110V 20A (yes that's right, but it was free). (BTW: because it is 110v, the main jets and heater cannot be on at the same time).

It has not been used for a while, so I do not know if it all working. Here is what I know.
The main jets seem to work ok in all settings. (yea)
I did not think the heater was working so I tested it based on posts found here.
When the heater is one, and the thermostat is rotated to kick on, the circuit is pulling approx 14 Amps (which I think is correct). The heater element when tested for resistance registered basically 0 ohms. Definitely not open. This coupled with the amp draw seems to indicate that the heater is on. (but I have never seen a post regarding 0 ohms)

The circ pump is working now that I purged the line of some air.
BUT.... The output of hot (HA, luke warm) water is very small. I suspect it will take a day (or more) to heat from 65 degrees. I'm tempted to fill it with hot water just to give it a boost.

So... I realize that this is an underpowered spa (running 110v), but does this sound right or is there something else to test/do.

Thanks
Ray

Well the 0 ohms sounds like you're using a meter that can't scale down to less than 200-500 ohms range. To accurately measure a heater element, you'll need to have a meter that can get down to like 100 ohms or less for a full scale reading. (On a typical 1k range scale, 10-15 ohms will look just like a dead short).

The 14 amps is normal. The low flow of water is normal. That's what the circ pump does, supply a very low flow of water. And yes, it will take anywhere from 15-30 hours to heat a 115 VAC spa. That's because you're heating anywhere from 300-450 gallons of water with a low heat capacity: - 14 amps - 1 amp for the circ pump=13 amps heater X 115 volts=1495 watts. Basically you're heating the spa with a hair dryer.

Because the water is so cold, it will never output HOT water directly from that heat system. It only shows a minute increase in the ambient temperature over time. Up the heater power to 230, then you'll see a bigger difference because now you're heating at about 6kw instead of the previous 1.5

But once it's up to temp, it stays there just fine. And fwiw, bazillions of these things are set up for 110 operation. Quite normal and they work just fine that way.

PS: You're already there.

Don't even try to fill this with hot water.

Your comments were dead on correct. The spa continues to get hotter.
I even threw in a 2nd hair dryer, but it didn't seen to help.

I do not know how you can find the time to answer all these questions, even on New Years Day. But I'm glad your out there.

It will be bubbles tonight....
Thanks Again