I have a Tiger River Sumatran with a Watkins No-Fault 6000 Heater


'01 serial number (N3C1551) but purchased in September of '02, I am third
owner, unit is outside on 110v, no heat! This is the first time it has been outside,
(Orig owner installed in sunroom, 2nd owner boughthouse with tub in it) has been
working great since December 2nd when I got it.

No heat Sunday night, found out late. Early yesterday called dealer, described issue.
Dealer recommended removing filter and resetting heater. Opened access door and
pushed heater reset button. This seemed to work, as warm water was coming out of
the vent. Went to work, called stepdaughter later, unit was up to 92 degrees. Came
home from work, no power - breaker had tripped. Reset breaker, spa had power, no
heat. Tried reset button again, did not seem to click this time, no change. Nor does
powering down and powering back up help. Tried this a few times.

Started research, found this forum and saw the post about pressing button really hard.
Powered unit down and did that, button clicked. Reapplied power and went to bed.

Woke up this morning, no change, tub still at 80 degrees (thanks to the insulation!)

Note that unit is not in Summer Mode, circ pump -is- running, and heater seems warm.

I am wondering whether changing the power over to 220 would potentially resolve (i.e.,
does the heater have 2 separate elements in it, one 1500 watt for 110v and one 6000
watt for 220?) and am also looking for specifics regarding testing the unit with a meter
(I have a technical background, PC tech for well over a decade, very comfortable with
a meter etc, just do not know how to do it at this point)

(NOTE that I have the 220 wiring out there ready to go from previous old tub, just have to change breakers from 50A to the respective 20/30 Amps and I can connect it that way)

If I could get tips on ohming out the heater and associated parts (termistors etc) that
would be terrific. I called in late to work but will call out if need be. Bottom line is that
water is down to 80 (has been slowly dropping) and I need to know if I should drain it
for safety.

BTW - as an aside on how comfortable I am working on this unit - bringing it home there was
water in the one-way bullet valve which froze. Symptom was blinking power light, no power,
and screeching noice from circ pump. I only found that out after I had taken out the circ pump
and disassembled and cleaned the impeller area and put it back with no change. Then I took
out the one-way valve and patched in a piece of tubing which worked great til I got (and installed)
the new valve. Unit has been fine since, as stated earlier.


Dealer was helpful yesterday, this morning they wanted me to talk to service, who haven't called yet. I need to fix this asap and as cheaply as possible, as dealer is over an hour away in New Hampshire, so I am looking to avoid travel and labor costs obviously.

THANKS!!

UPDATE: Thermistors both test fine (I think)

On the 20k Ohm setting, control thermistor reads 7.93 with the temp at 80 degrees F. The hi-limit thermistor reads slightly higher, just over 8. Seems consistent with what I have read that they are functioning properly.

Heater is warm and LED indicates that it *is* on. However - there IS a definite "burnt electronics" odor inside the IQ2020 box. There are also scorch marks above/between the K1 and K2 relays in the upper right (I have pics but no way to get them to a public server right now), so it seems to be a relay messed up (as the heater is definitely warmer than the rest of the spa pack compartment as stated)

Calling dealer back in the hopes I can go get a few of those relays.

Thanks!

Douggo

You will need to replace that whole left side "heater relay board". I can send you one if needed. LMK.

Hi again and thanks!

Came to that conclusion today with the dealer. Drove the hour each way to get the part, $102.00

Replaced old - and wow was it scorched on the back side, yikes! Glad I opted to replace the whole thing. But I digress-

Powered unit back up, seemed to me that the water coming out of the return was definitely warmer than the water, I figured Problem Solved. Ummm... nope.

Just checked the unit, no steam, no warm water out of the return.
So I powered the unit down via the breaker, waitied 30 seconds and powered it back up. Haven't gone outside to stick my arm in it.

Obviously(?) my next move would be to pull the access panel and press the red button in hopes of that being the fix, which I will do soon.

Dealer DID say to me over the phone that oftentimes when that board goes the heater goes shortly thereafter. Hoping he is wrong.

Forgot to ask him if the heater has two separate elements, because wiring it to 220 is way cheaper than the new heater at an avg cost of $249-$269...

Will check it soon. Heater casing is definitely warm, I am hoping that if it IS the heater too that it is functioning enough to keep the tub -warm-.

Which brings me to the temp question. How Low should I let it go before I drain it? 60's maybe? Because the heater is warm I am wondering if that is why it seems to hover at 80 degrees. **hoping**

Thanks very much.

Douggo

It's the same heater, just a single element.

We've replaced many heater PCB's, and have not noticed any correlation to the heater PCB going bad and subsequently the heater going bad shortly there-after.

Do you have a cover?

RESOLVED!

Temp HAS Increased, almost at 90 now.

HOORAY!

Apparently I was just expecting much warmer water to come out of the return (but then again, I always have expected that and wondered why it did not seem warmer)

Thanks for the tips and being an overall terrific resource,
I shall be frequenting the forum from now on.

Douggo


"every once in a while you gotta pay yourself" Wayne Wilkin

You'll only gain about 2 degrees(F) an hour, and it only comes out about 4 degrees warmer than ambient water. Barley noticeable.

ENJOY!!