I have a 1999 Cal Spas tub - not sure of the model name but it has a 2 pump system with no circulation pump and a 3 button electronic controller (Temp-Lights-Jets). I believe it runs on 230 V. It has a Cal Spas Whisper Power controller unit.
pic here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/cliff_b/3415445070/

About a week ago, it started running constantly on high speed. When I first discovered it was a little over temp. Pushing the jets button does not turn it off. I opened it up and determined that it is pump one that is running. If I unplug pump one, the jets button will turn pump two on and off.

Has anyone had this problem? It seems likely to be the controller but can anyone tell me how to diagnose that? Maybe measuring the output voltage at the controller? The jets control in normal operation went off-low-high 1-high 1+2-high 2-off.

Anyway, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, I'm responding to my own post- I have read a few more things on this site. Also posting here focused my thoughts and lead me in more specific diagnostic directions.

It seems likely that low speed output goes through the white and red and high speed goes through white and black. Pump one is getting 250V from the white and black in its current screwed up state. Pump two has no red wire - because it only goes on high, correct? It gets 250v through white and black when it is turned on through the jets switch. By the way, I'm assuming that the 250 instead of 240 or 230 is just experimental error.

I opened up the controller box and there is nothing obviously wrong on the circuit board. I am coming to the conclusion that I probably need a new one, though- does anyone know where I can get one and how much it would cost?

Thanks again

Update: The circuit board is actually made by Balboa and it has an C2000R2B chip. I ended up sending the board to spa-boards in Arizona, they thought it sounded like a repairable problem. So far my experience with them has been good, I'll post back what the final result is.

Well, I have good news and bad. The bad news is that I really misdiagnosed the problem. The good news is that message is actually in the right forum!

So, I found a schematic inside the control box front panel (wondering why I didn't notice it before) and from that it is clear that pump one is red for high and black for low (opposite of what I thought from other messages on this forum). The black is common to where a circulation pump would be. So all the time my pump has actually been receiving the low speed signal, but running on high. Unfortunately, I didn't realize this until after I got back the board.

The good news is that Spa-boards is a good operation. They told me the board was testing out ok, but some of the relays were a bit worn. At that point I was hoping it was just a sticky relay that had come unstuck so I did have them replace a few relays. They did a good job, it was far cheaper than replacing the board, and hopefully will add to its life span.

But now I have to think about the pump problem- does anyone know why a two speed pump will run at high speed when it's getting voltage through the low speed wires? And don't say it's wired backwards because it happened after everything was working (well maybe it could be gremlins). Is replacing it the only option?

I removed the pump and decided to look inside it since I figured it had to be some kind of short or switch sticking. When I took off the back cover I saw a little area with some wires leading in from the starter capacitor. When I took the cover off of that a little piece of paper fell out. There was a little two sided switch inside. It looked like it was a bit scorched, and also there was a plastic piece that seemed out of position. It looked like the arms of the little plastic piece should go under the metal pieces but one side was over (see the pic). I cleaned it with contact cleaner, put the plastic piece where it looked like it should go, and reassembled everything. Now the pump seems to work correctly, but I am having issues with leaks at the pump unions- I ordered some fresh o-rings that I hope will fix that.

Well, my pump seems to be fixed, but now I have had one problem after another popping up. Not sure why really, as things had been working ok before the pump went bad.

I had to get a new o-ring to fix leaks at the pump union, but then I found I had a leak at a gate valve at the far side of the heater. I had to buy a new gate valve and plumb it in there. I refilled the tub and turned it on, and noticed a leak under the wet end of the other pump. I managed to stop that by tightening the bolts on that wet end.

At that point everything seemed ok, the pump ran for about 2 hours, went from 56 to 70 degrees then the GFCI tripped and wouldn't go back on. If I disconnect the heater terminals it doesn't trip, but pumps run ok. So I guess I need a new heater element. Cal Spas says on their heater that it has a lifetime guarantee- should I bother to take them up on it? Seems like it could just delay things even more and the part may not be that expensive.

I am really feeling cursed at this point. Does anyone know any spells to exorcise evil spirits form hot tubs?