Hello I have a 92 hot springs prodigy, and the water only reaches about 80 degrees. The pump is working, but the heater just feels slightly warm to the touch, where it used to be fairly hot. I was looking on ebay for parts, but I couldn't find anything that resembled this. There were several elements for sale, but I can't even locate the element on my heater. Any help for this rookie would be highly appreciated. I live in western massachusetts if anyone knows anyone out here who could help. Thanks! -dave

Turn up and down the thermostat knob and listen for a click. If the water is lukewarm you should hear the click somewhat low on the dial and should have room to turn it up further. If you have no click you probably have a bad thermostat or possibly a bad relay in the control box.

Make sure the circulation pump is pushing water - you can feel for flow - the outlet should be on the wall of the cool down seat. If you feel flow unplug the circulation pump from the bottom of the control box for about 15 seconds - plug it back in with your hand over the circ pump outlet and see if you feel heat. Also remove the filters to make sure they are not impeding the flow.

Next I would check voltage where the heater plugs in - if you do have voltage it is probably a bad heater. Keep in mind it will only heat up about a degree and a half an hour.

Look at the right side of the heater canister - there are 4 bolts that hold the element in place. You can replace the element (part #31255) with water in the spa by clamping the hoses. Be careful removing the high limit sensor that goes into the cap of the heater - this is a capillary tube and not a wire - be careful not to crimp it.

If you don't have voltage to the heater it could also be a burnt wire in the control box or the thermostat (see above on the clicking).

Hey Pete thanks for the informative reply. I unplugged the tub, removed the filters, and plugged it back in last night. I turned the thermostat down and heard the click, and turned it back up to about 100. This morning it was still around 80 degrees. I unplugged all three plugs from the control box for 15 seconds and plugged them back in. The water coming through the heater return doesn't feel any warmer than the water in the tub, but the heater circulation pump is warm. I can hear the water flowing through the tubes. The heater itself doesn't feel warm though, and I know it used to. I'll have to go buy a voltage meter to check where the heater plugs in. Thanks again for the help Pete. -dave

Dave,

Where was the click on the dial?

Turn up the t-stat until you hear the click and then unplug ONLY the circ pump for 15 seconds and then plug it in with your hand over the outlet hole - if you don't feel flow with heat then check voltage.

Hey Pete- The temp control is a dial, set up rather strange. It's not digital. There are lines on the dial that get closer together as you turn up the temp. Towards the end of the dial, there are numbers (1,3,5,7,9) that the previous owner told me represent 101-109 degrees. The click was way towards the low end of the dial, before the numbers start, about the 4th line of the 11 lines before the 1-9 begins.

The outlet that the jet pump plugs into won't give a voltage reading (saw it hit 1.5 max) yet the jets work when I hit the button. The tub had an ozonator installed a few years ago I was told. When I unplug the wire going to the ozonator, the heater return stops pushing water, and when I plug it back in the water coming out feels the same temp.

What's weird is the outlet that the heater is plugged into gives me a reading (120v) but it's not heating up. So would that indicate a bad heating element, or a bad heater altogether? Thanks Pete!

OK - so you unplugged the circ pump with the t-stat turned up - waited 15 seconds and plugged the circ pump back in - no heat - you do have voltage to heater. It is a bad heater element. Just replace the element part number 31255.
The dial doesn't designate 101 - 109, you need a thermometer to tell what number gives you which temp.
Back then the ozone ties into the circ pump cord so that is normal.
You won't get voltage to the jet pump recepticle unless you hit the jet button - but if it's working it's fine.
Make sure the jet pump isn't plugged into the heater recepticle. I think the jet pump should be the one toward the front of the spa and the heater toward the rear.

Let me know how it goes.

Cool thanks Pete- I'll go order the heating element now. You mentioned clamping the hoses to avoid having to drain the tub. So I guess that means the element can't be replaced with the water circulating? So the heating element is actually in contact with the water? Since the tub and hoses are old I'm probably better off draining the tub so I don't break a hose. Is replacing the element pretty self-explanatory? I really appreciate the help Pete!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hot-Springs-Spa-Hea....m20.l1116 this is cool right? cheapest one i could find.

Just replaced the element and the heater is heating up. now the jets and the little pump won't work. Im extremely frustrated. Any idea why they're not working? They were working fine until I replaced the element. Thanks.

Try the two red reset buttons on the side of the black control box. If the circ pump had air in it or didn't start up right away one of them may have tripped.

Then reset the GFCI and make sure that the circ pump is indeed pumping water.

***If the heating element is still too hot the button will not reset until it cools down.