I have just bought a tiger river monora spa that has a 110 volt pack on it. The person I bought it from says if you run the jets and the pump at the same time that the breaker trips. Is this a problem or is this normal due to the amperage draw combined by running the heater and pump at the same time ? Any help here will be greatly appreciated. This is my first spa so I am a little lost

pump = 11-14 amps
heater = 12.5
total = up to 26.5 amps

Even a dedicated 120V circuit for a hot tub is max at 20 amps, so yeah, you are overloading the circuit by running both at once. The heater should only be on during low speed operation (or a circulation pump). if both run at the same time, it's wired incorrectly.

Does he mean the jets and the heater at the same time? Since the tub can only turn on the jets by running the pump.. well.. " title="Laughing" /> Your tub has a 24 hr silent circ pump, a Jet pump, and a heater. If it's properly wired for 110v, the heater will NOT energize while the jet pump is running. You need to go ahead and hook it up, and begin troubleshooting. I don't think he's giving you an accurate description of the proplem, so it's pretty tough to troubleshoot....

I took it as a typo and thinking he meant that the heater and the jets (pump) were on together and that is why I said that they would be wired incorrectly in that situation. A lot of "newbies" to hot tubs often don't know the lingo yet and do put the wrong word down for the right reason " title="Smile" />

Ok, I bought the tub from a guy who only intended to resell it for a profit. By the way, I paid $500.00 for it and it still looks to be in good shape. He told me when he went to pick it up that the owners told him " if the jet pump is turned on while the heater was operating , the breaker will trip".
Like I stated, I am new to hot tubs but figured that this was normal because of the amperage draw from the heater and jet pump would be high. If it is not normal, I wanted to know where to start looking for the problem.
I have not done any checks with my multimeter due to the fact that it has been raining everyday since I bought it on Sunday.
I apologize for my error in my original post, it should have read " The person I bought it from says if you run the jet pump and the heater at the same time that the breaker trips. "

I suspected you meant heater and pump, not jets and pump. If the heater is on, at the same time as the jet pump, the breaker will trip. The heater is SUPPOSED to shut off when the jet pump is turned on. If you have a cam switch (operated by a single push button on the tub, usually 4 positions) I would start checking there for the problem. Diagrams can be provided for proper wiring of these switches. They are defined by the color of the cam inside them.

I checked out my control panel and I have a push button jet pump switch which appears to be strictly on/off (in/out ), the light switch is exactly the same and the heater thermostat control is a rotory dial.. I checked the underside of the control panel and do not see any cam, only a circuit board , thermostat control, and associated wiring.

So, do you have a 2 button, one dial setup, with indicators for heat, light, and jets (maybe a 4th indicator as well) and the cord that goes to the control box has 6 pins on it?

The control panel does not have any indicators on it unless they are lights that are inside the buttons themselves. The cord has connectors that look like rj 45 type connectors, it has 8 wires.
I do apologize for being hot tub illiterate and I sincerely thank you for your efforts.

Thanks for the clarification " title="Very Happy" /> You've got a great little tub, and your problem will be simple to fix, with a little additional info. Do you have the serial number of the spa? (It will start with the letter "M" followed by six numerical digits, like: M-242131 As far as troubleshooting goes, I would suggest you fill the spa with water, and have a good 20 amp, 110v power source ready to plug into. I will go into more detail as soon as I know your serial number. Hot Spring (they make TR spas) had a habit of changing control systems every year or two during the 90's in your model...The topside you descibe had several variations, it was used with no less that 4 different control boxes. " title="Idea" /> Troubleshooting is different on each and every one

The serial number on my spa is m-240642.
I also believe this will be a decent spa for the money I paid for it once the little bugs are worked out. Everything I have read points to the hot springs /tiger river spas being pretty well made. I have noticed that replacement parts arent the cheapest though.

Some are, some aren't.... it seems nearly every manufacturer is charging a premium for their parts... A new circuit board(which is what you'll need if the problem was accuratley described) will run less than $250... by todays standards, that's right in line with other manufacturers...

Before jumping in and purchasing this part (part# 70374, retails for $235)
I would, without question, fill it up and determine exactly what is happening. Too many do-it-yourself customers replace far too many parts that were not defective before calling for professional service.

Good luck!

Thanks, I will be moving the tub to its place on the deck as soon as I get the deck beefed up to support the added weight. Hopefully I will have this done and the tub filled by tomorrow sometime.
I will post my findings then to see where I should go from there.
I do appreciate the patience and information alot.

Ok, I got the tub in its place and filled today. After filling , I turned the thermostat all the way down to test the jet pump and light, they were fine. I did notice a leak coming from something , but I dont know what the component is called,I am attaching a photo. The leak stops when the jet pump runs but starts as soon as the jet pump is turned off.
Now back to the heater problem. After operating the circulating pump and heater for about 30 minutes, the heater high limit switch ( I presume ) tripped, not the gfci. On my hot springs (tiger river) spa control there is a red button to the right of the gfci,this is what tripped.
Any info on how to fix either problem will be appreciated.

The leaky part is a safety suction filter, part number 71944, retails for $30.90

As far as your high limit tripping, well, that sucks.... hopefully, it's just a bad high limit. Can you feel the heater body? Is it exceptionally warm when the high limit trips? Can you detect any water flow from the circ. pump (small, 24hr.) output?

If you feel no water flow from the 24hr circ pump, there are several problems...
The heater should ONLY come on when there is adequate flow from the small 24hr. circulation pump, and the thermostat is calling for heat. There is a flow switch (it plugs into the control box on the far left side, right next to the topside harness)
So, for the heater to actually overheat (not a sensor malfunction), a couple of things have happened...
1)There is no flow when there should be flow-->likely culprits: bad circ pump, or clogged filter
2)The heater is coming on even when there is no flow--->likely culprits: bad flow switch, or stuck heater relay on the main circuit board

If you have an ohm and voltage meter, you can troubleshoot it yourself... If not, it may be time to call a reputable Hot Spring and TR service tech

Good Luck!

~Swine

Thanks for the clarification on the safety suction filter.
I can feel as well as hear the circulation pump running although I cant detect any water flow in the tub when it is running , I really dont know if I should anyway.
I did feel the heater housing after the limit switch tripped and it was not hot but nice and warm.
I do have a digital multimeter and if I can get the specs on what the readings should be , I will do some troubleshooting.
Thanks again !

Great! Be aware, most of the testing is going to be done while everything is energized, so you'll need to be carefull. Having a basic understanding of the spa will help tremendously as well. So alot of the discussion is going to be pretty boring, but it should help you in your troubleshooting! A couple of things to be aware, if you're not already, is the direction of the water flow through the circulation pump. You'll see a small 3/4" check valve on the suction side of the cirulation pump. This valve is partly made transparent pvc. The reason for this is so you can see the rubber (or plastic if it's been replaced with a new one) stopper inside the valve. It's imortant to see if the check valve has broken, as it can lead to problems down the road. The old style rubber stopper in these valve's can break loose " title="Smile" /> First things first, I'd take a good look at that check valve, and be sure the rubber stopper hasn't come loose, and is'nt just floating around in there... it could easily block the water flow going through the check valve when it shouldn't, causing low water flow and an overheating heater.... OK, as far as troubleshooting goes, the heater should NOT feel any warmer than ambient temp of the water in the spa. If it feels warm to the touch, we can safely assume it is not getting adequate water flow. However, we also need to determine why the heater is energizing with inadequate water flow, as it shouldn't be... OK, here's another little tid-bit about your 1994 Manora. If the spa detects (or thinks it detects) inaequate water flow via the small, 24 hour circ. pump (we'll call the little pump the "circ. pump" and the large pump that is activated by pushing the button the "jet pump") the spa will actually shut itself down. If you suspect the spa is shutting itself down for this reason, follow these steps... 1) when it shuts itself down, DO NOT try and reset the GFCI, or reset any breaker, leave the spa just as it is. 2) turn the t-stat dial all the way up, then all the way down, then all the way up again. This will automatically re-set the PCB when the low-flow function has activated. If this does not retrun power to the spa, your spa is shutting down for another reason... It doesn't sound like your spa is shutting down for this reason, but it's something worth noting... Try checking out the check valve, and see what happens, if that's not it, we'll move on to the next step :" title="Question" />

Swine,
I inspected the check valve and it is a newer model which looks to be recently installed, it is clear with the plastic valve inside, no rubber !
I had to remove the safety suction filter as it was draining the tub . In a 24 hour time frame it has drained down about 5 inches inside the tub. Will it be safe to run the tub for testing with the tube blocked off until I can find a replacement ? I have searched a few online spa stores with no luck finding the part yet, is there an alternate part that will work?
I know I am asking alot of questions and I sincerely thank you for having patience.

You'll only find the safey suction filter from a Hot Spring dealer. No problem to just clamp it off, just keep the filter clean " title="Very Happy" /> I think you should test the power at the heating elemeny first. Take the 6 screws off the top of the control box, and remove to two peice cover. Set your meter on voltage, and place the meter probes on both element poles. Do this quickly, as the Hot tub seems to overheat and trip so quickly. Also, continue testing the power going to the element under different conditions. What happens with the T-stat up? T-stat down? Jet pump running? Jet pump not running?... and all combinations. This will tell us a great deal about the condition of the main PCB. Good luck! ~Swine

I have repaired the safety suction filter. I cut the inlet nipple off and replaced the worn seal and spring , then put it all back together with no leaks as of yet.
I then powered the spa and did some voltage checks. There is no voltage present when the thermostat is all the way down, when the thermostat is turned up there is 114 volts present when it kicks in. When the jet pump is turned on the voltage drops to zero again as it should.
As of now,the heater has been running for 15 minutes with a constant voltage of 114. The heater housing is warm to the touch and I can hear water moving through the plumbing although it sounds like a trickle but this circ pump is only 1/50 hp.The water is probably in the 75-80 degree range as I have just filled it and left the cover on it.

Well SWINE, you were dead on with the check valve. After my voltage testing I decided to look at the check vale on the suction side of the circ pump again, this time in the daylight. What I found was the rubber broken complety off the plastic and cutting the flow off to the pump almost entirely. So, that is my problem without a doubt as far as tripping the heater high limit switch !
I also found a check valve going to or coming from a set of jets that has the nipple broken off, I suspect that is why a few of my jets were not working. There is no water leak here so I guess the valve did its job.
Now I need to find these two check valves and I should be in business.
Thanks again for steering this spa newbie in the right direction.

EDIT: yay! Well done. If you're ever looking for work, I'm hiring! " title="Laughing" />