Please help pick control pack for cal spa rebuild

I have an older cal spa hot tub and would like to put in a new digital spa pack. I have the hot tub on 220. I am currently looking at two options (Balboa US 501 and one of the Smarttouch ePad series) and wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions and I had a few questions. I have several leaks in the plumping that I also hope to fix. Questions

1) The spa has the control that lets you pick which jets to use (whirlpool, reg jets, or the seat). You can see the 3-way on the 'right side' pic. I haven't noticed that you can do that with the digital packs. Can I just remove the control, and put in a new 3-way split and just pump all the jets at all times?

2) Does any recommend a different spa pack for my situation? Any companies on the net you prefer? I like this site and the spa babes sites, but I emailed them over a week ago and have not heard back.

I consider myself pretty handy, but this doesn't seem like a simple, water in, heat, and water out situation.

Thanks for any help,
Jeremie

Posted by on 2007-03-26 08:28:29. Columbus Ohio (9424)

Quote:

1) The spa has the control that lets you pick which jets to use (whirlpool, reg jets, or the seat). You can see the 3-way on the 'right side' pic. I haven't noticed that you can do that with the digital packs. Can I just remove the control, and put in a new 3-way split and just pump all the jets at all times?

That valve control is not part of the spa controller. It is independent of everything else and does not need an interface to anything. You could remove the 3 way valve yes, (all jets all the time), but you'd have to seriously upgrade the pump to a full 4hp, and plumb everything on the other side of the heater to eliminate all plumbing that is smaller than 2" pvc. From your photo the discharge side is not capable of anything more than what it's handling now - note the reduced plumbing size. Still no guarantee that it would work satisfactorily unless you were to install a third suction fitting for the new upsized pump.

Quote:

2) Does any recommend a different spa pack for my situation? Any companies on the net you prefer? I like this site and the spa babes sites, but I emailed them over a week ago and have not heard back.

I would prefer to install the standard Smart Touch Digital 1000, with the short heater. It'll give you a lot more room and flexibility to work with this thing. http://spapartsnet.com/Spa-Packs-Contro... 1_3_1.html Sorry if nobody's gotten back to you as we're quite swamped with the season's start. If you can't get through during the day, you may want to try in the pm after 6 or 7 est. Thanks.

Posted by on 2007-03-26 13:07:57. Metro Atlanta, Georgia Region (9430)

Hi, do you have a close up picture of your old spa pack? I recently purchased a Calspa spa with the same spa pack but most of the lettering has be removed. I would like to know what it says on it. Thank you for any help you can provide. <img src= " title="Smile" />

Posted by on 2007-04-07 11:27:37. N. California (9531)