Jacuzzi Gatsby Mechanical Operation And Repair

light is on all the time, you have voltage, and the resistance on the heater wascorrect even with the power off, then it’s likely the board. What can happen is theheater relay although closed and applying voltage to the heater, it’s not allowingenough current to reach the heater element to heat. To determine if that is theproblem, you need to test the amperage draw when the heater is on.What the spa tech will do is use his meter set to AMPS and test one hot wire tothe spa. He will note the amperage draw when the pump comes on. Then whenthe board turns on the heater and the heater light is solid he will notice the metershow a large demand again. If so, the heater should be heating. Yours would not.But if you don’t have a meter to check the amps or do not know how to, if youhave come to this point and can’t check the amps, then you should expect theboard to be the cause of the heater failure.If you are getting an error code, See the “CODES” failure section.Why do Heaters Fail?Heaters tend to fail one of two ways. They no longer pass current through theelement and therefore no longer heat.The most common cause of this failure is water quality. Over time water qualitycan cause the element to “leak” current and cause the GFCI to shut down thespa. The manufacturers of elements insist that if the water is kept to “optimum”levels that the element should last forever. Their claim is that the only thing thatwill harm an element is the on/off of the electrical current to the heater and poorwater quality that damages the element itself.Their claim is paralleled to a light bulb. If you leave a light on and do not turn ifoff, it will last a long time. It’s the initial startup that causes the bulb to fail (that’swhy this flash when you turn them on). The element on the heater is supposed tohave the same problem. Since they will literally be turned on/off throughout theday over the years, they fail. That along with the water quality determines thelongevity of the heater.Therefore you can extend the life of your spa by making sure the top and sides ofthe spa are insulated well (to lower heat lost) and keep the water chemistrybalanced and not using too much or too little chemicals.37