Purchased spa used less than a year ago. Long story... Heater stopped heating about 2 months ago. Found wire burned up under panel. (see attachment) Panel is IQ2000.

Guys I bought it from did the non-standard wiring. Heater reads the correct resistance. Had a hard time from day one getting heater to correct temp. Had to set it much higher than display panel read.

Thanks for any assistance.

Replace the burned up wire.

Be sure it's large enough to handle the current load - that one in the photo looks a bit small.

I like to use the word 'Wrong" instead of 'non-standard' for the wiring. Looks like a few different wire sizes and a couple wire nuts that may be used to steal power from the same breaker? Is there just a 50 amp breaker or do you have a 30 amp and 20 amp breaker running to the tub? Can't really tell from the picture.

Is the burnt wire doubled up on the same terminal as the red wire? White wire used as a ground instead of green makes me wonder if it should be the ground or neutral wire, an oversized red wire on the neutral terminal. Lots of weird looking things in there...like to see a picture of the breaker wiring.

I know there are alternative ways to hook up these tubs, but one of these things probably caused the wires to burn.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I know the wiring is wrong, but it's the way the guys who sold it to me did it. I've shared your concern.

The White wire on the right is ground. Green is neutral. The Black wire is burned off the open #4 terminal, I should have moved it back for the picture. Both "hots" are split with a red wire and either a black or a white.

The breaker is 50A. I'm sure it's wired right, that part I know about. What I don't know anything about is whether this "non-standard" mess can be fixed (if it's broke) or what I can do to modify it.

Thanks again for all the help. Really appreciate it.

Dan's suspicious, as well anyone with expert level field experience should be. I am suspicious too, however, my only thing was, if it was working previously... and then recently just decided to go kaput, then it was 'probably' correct the way you had it set it up.

That wire that's fried is really a piece of junk (what is that thing? 14 gauge? Come'on now, that's too weak and just looking for a burn out!).... and the photo does leave a lot to be desired with the large wire nuts hiding the keys to everything.

Unfortunately I don't have access to a wiring diag for a 2000... I got lots for 2020's though. Dan should have them.

Hi Pageup. Thank you for the replies - much appreciated.

Everything was working previously. The only problem I had was that the temp was difficult to set. It was quirky to get it right, sometimes not heating enough, then heating more than I expected. In general I had to set the control display 2 to 3 "notches" higher than I should have had to for the temperature to match the indicator.

Beneath the two large wire nuts are the two 120 hots from the 50A breaker. Each is connected to two small wires, under the right blue wirenut a small black and small red wire, under the left blue wirenut a small white and small red wire.

I can take a photo of the IQ 2000 wiring diagram tonight, it's on the back of the cover. If I remember correctly, it calls for the 20A, 30A configuration that Dan referenced.

Thanks again,

Jim

Oh yeah, wanted to add that I am going to up the wire gauge. I also have to chase down a leak (aargh) and am hoping to order whatever parts I may need for the electrical before I put tub on end and get at the leak.

Well here's the thing...I'm not an electrician, but I have sold and worked on HotSprings since 1990. We sell tubs and it is the homeowners responsibility to have the unit wired. We do recommend electricians but many homeowners attempt to wire the tub themselves or have a 'buddy' do the work for them for a pizza and a few beers. I'm sure a lot of times this works out fine and I don't hear anything about it. However, I've been to dozens if not a hundred tubs that have been wired incorrectly. I can't tell you how many licensed electricians have even wired these wrong and fried components.

Somehow, some of the tubs will heat and actually run fine without a problem for a few days...weeks...some even go a year. Eventually something happens similar to what happened to yours. I don't know the electrical engineering behind why they work for a period of time before the fail, but that's what happens.

My recommendation would be to wire it exactly how it is diagramed on the inside cover to the IQ 2000 unit. You can even call Watkins directly and maybe get an answer to this but I don't believe it is possible to wire one of these tubs with just a 50 amp breaker properly. You need a 30 amp and 20 anp breaker just as it is diagramed on the cover. If the diagram is missing I can send you one. LMK

On a side note the IQ 2000's were pretty hardy, you may just need to replace the burned up wires and the terminal strip and it may work.