Finally Repairing the Spa

The story of the new spa equipment is a sad one. I unfortunately wired the first shipment of a new controller box incorrectly and blew out all the 110 volt connections by sending 220 to them. I sent everything back to the manufacturer and it languished for some time. I believe that the owner was reluctant to tell me that I had ruined it all. I said fix it and I’ll pay for it. So he put in a new control board and sent it back to me.

I did not get the peripherals back though. So I called and asked and he said sorry they are completely broken too. So I ordered another water purifier system but a larger on because I noticed the first one I bought was limited to treating spas of 500 gallons or less. Mine is 1000 gallons.

The new water purifier arrived while I was out of town so I just started to put the system back together. I called the dealer because the new one came with many pieces that the other one did not. Turned out they allowed multiple ways to attach the instrument. I had some of the items from the first install and support told me I could use the original ones that are already installed.

First I connected the water pipes on the spa to the heater connections on the control box. These are 3″ connections and I had a lot of trouble aligning them with the old pipes. It turned out I had to remove the former boards that held the box and install new lower ones. Then I was able to make the connections.

Pipes aligned and connected
Pipes aligned and connected

I used some of the included brackets to attach the ozone purifier to the spa piping which was convenient but it was unclear how they were supposed to attach. So I drilled some holes into the brackets and screwed short pieces of board on to hang the instrument from.

Purifier attached to plumbing
Purifier attached to plumbing

Notice the purifier label reads right side up but unfortunately the connection for the ozone was on the left side the unit. I did not think about the issue with the old installation but I called about the proper position for the venturi piece and it should be in the water line before the purifier, I had to hang the unit upside down which apparently does not matter to the operation of the purifier.

Purifier installed upside down
Purifier installed upside down

The error that I made in the wiring the first time was a lack of observation. Instead of noticing how the system was wired, I followed an installation diagram. In the erroneous wiring I connected White to Red, Black to White and Red to Black. Couldn’t have been more wrong. By observing the actual wiring the second time around the wire colors match.

Incorrect wiring ruined the system
Incorrect wiring ruined the system

Will not repeat that error
Will not repeat that error

I closed up the bottom of the control box but I can’t complete the installation. Unfortunately I realized I had sent in the electronic control panel too and since it was also destroyed I had to order a new panel as well and now wait for that to arrive. One step at a time apparently.

This entry was posted in Maintenance and Repair, Spa. Bookmark the permalink.