I've been having a lot of trouble with my hot tub. It's a Jetsetter J, several years old. The switch keeps tripping and I have to reset it. For several months it wasn't used b/c of various problems (it's at my parents house). So I discovered the heater was working after resetting it. And I think I cleared out all of the air in the lines- I kept on turning it off and on to burp it. Then I had it going nicely and the temp was up to 95 or so and I added the startup chemicals and it started tripping off. At this point I couldn't get the heater to work- I can tell when it is working b/c the titanium metal gets really hot. I'm wondering if it's the circuit board that has gone bad. How durable are these boards when they are exposed to consistent heat like that? Or now I'm guessing it could be the damn filters again! Those things are a huge pain to clean and it's been about 6 months or so since they were cleaned. By the way, is there an easier way to clean the slime off of them?

So that's the situation. I'm guessing the filters are preventing adequate waterflow and the pump is overheating which causes the GFCI. I just wish there was an easier way to make the hot tub more reliable. Please offer any suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Hi,

The GFI shouldn't trip unless you have current leakage to ground. A poor flowing circulation pump would trip a high limit. If your spa is 1994 or prior you have 2 red buttons on the control box. If what you are resetting is the red button closest to you that is the heater high limit and dirty filters can cause that. You ask how to clean slime off your filters, if there is slime I wonder how well you are sanitizing your water? A properly sanitized spa shouldn't have slime on the filters. The way we clean filters is to rinse them at least monthly with your hose and to soak them at least twice yearly in a filter cleaner. The 3 things I like to tell my customers to keep the spa in good shape is to properly sanitize the water, keep the pH& Alkalinity balanced and keep the filters clean.

If you don't have a bunch of junk in the spa just pull the filters and see if your symptoms stop.

Hope this helps.

Pete
Your Backyard Superstore
20 year HotSpring Tech

ok thanks very much for the reply. I checked the filters and they appear to not be slimy. I think what was causing the circuit to trip was a massive air bubble. I thought I had gotten most of the air out of the system but I guess not. I'm not really sure where the air is coming from. I do know that when it was filled I didn't put the hose in the filter compartment. Anyway, what is the best way to get rid of air bubbles? thanks again for your help

A way I use is to unscrew the 3 standpipes and put your hose in the shallow hole, put a rag around it to force water thru the circ pump.

Pete