spa water heating

[bhm1712]

i have not "conveniently" as you put it, modified the heater against manufacturers spec. i linked it out because it was broken and could not find a replacement which would fit. neither could the hotsprings engineer. i would hardly call removing a switch and soldering the wires together butchering anyway. if i had taken off the thermostat and hi limit stat and taped the wires together using sellotape...now thats bucthering

if you read the original post you will see that i have tested the whole control circuit and its fine. i dont believe the unit is on all the time, i know it is. there is 230 v at the terminals all the time.

if the hi limit stat failed then the fail mode is open so the contact would drop out and turn the heat off.

the insulating cover is on

simond, can i ask why you come on here picking faults with me, i never asked for an opinion of what i have done. i have clearly stated the control circuit is fine...

apart from the thermostat there is nothing different from the original spec .....this was removed well before this problem emerged.

 

[Agile]

simond, can i ask why you come on here picking faults with me, i never asked for an opinion of what i have done. i have clearly stated the control circuit is fine...

It would be better not to want to start an argument with Simon.

Not only is he a well experienced on satellite links but also heating systems and in addition he has a very similar setup.

What you are telling us does not seem possible as the water should be getting hotter IF its really on heating all the time.

My new approach is to wonder if there is any water leaking as obviously this would use up the power without allowing the temperature to rise. This would be about 1-3 litres per minute and can disappear into foundations etc. without being noticed.

To check this I suggest you close off the water supply and see if the level reduces.

Tony

 

[bhm1712]

the very fact it does not seem possible is the reason im asking here as im all out of ideas!

regardless of simons experience, i am also an electrical and instrumentation technician so for me its not exactly rocket science either. i hate it on forums when people seem to want to cause offence or aggrevation.

i am telling you all i know!

you turn on the pump and the heater, the contactors pull in and you get 230 volts at the heater terminals along with it drawing 26 amps. all 3 elements have 31 ohms resistance. the Pool cover is on.

the reason i posted here was because i dont believe it to be an electrical fault anymore.

i had already thought of the leak idea, and when its all turned off and isolated from the mains water supply the pool level falls to the level which is inside the balance tank under the floor. once its at this level it stays there... the system is designed to do this according to the original documentation

 

[bhm1712]

i have been thinking along the lines of thermal transfer again, if the heater was airlocked then the heat would not transfer to the water what do you think?