Hot tub not heating

[Tetti]

Desperately trying to find a solution to this since there are no local dealers that will work on an Artesian spa.

Our hot tub stopped heating. We've replaced the display panel because it was fading and needed done anyway. After connecting to power it would display Pr to indicate priming and then show a wildly high temperature when it's actually like 65 degrees. Turn the jets on and the display rapidly climbs to 110 followed by an overheat warning or HFL indicating that a significant difference between temperature sensors was detected.

So we bought a new HQ heater assembly and replaced that. Again it's showing a temperature much higher than it actually is. Would also sometimes display 'dr' indicating poor water flow or bubbles in the heater. LED for Filter 1 2 also lit but I don't know what that means--both are installed.

Running out of ideas. Bad circuit board?

 

[PoolStored]

When did you last clean the filters?

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Artesian Spas kind of disappeared! I had one and all dealers vanished from our area too!

Besides what PoolStored said, are you sure that you got the right display? Apparently some of their spas had displays that parts aren't available anymore. Bad temp sensor which in my tub was in the filter well. Bad flow sensor - if you have a circulation pump follow the path of the tubing and there should be a flow sensor in the path, it may be around the ozonator is. There may be a plug in for it in the main electronics box. Speaking of plug ins - check all of those and check to make sure you plugged the display in correctly - I would probably do that first. If you have a circulation pump. maybe put the heat all the way down and observe if the water is flowing properly assuming it allows you.

Our tub was 20 YO, the pumps were done and I was going to make it a project of replacing them in retirement. Then the mice found it which wasn't expected and not good, a tree limb put a hole in the deck so we just got rid of it. I have to say that I'm very disappointed in how Artesian just disappeared from the hot tub scene but I guess like a lot of stores and manufacturers they didn't have the business to sustain them.

Good luck troubleshooting! If you can't figure it out maybe there's an independent spa repair service around.

 

[RDspaguy]

Post pics of circuit board, wiring diagram, and equipment area.
If I had to guess, I'd say flow restriction (dirty filter, bad pump, etc).

 

[Tetti]

Sorry, didn't get notifications of replies.
The filters are pristine. Here's a picture of the circuit board that we took while doing repairs. Don't know if it's useful at all.
The pump seems to be working properly (except maybe when starting up/priming which I think it's supposed to and doesn't).

 

[VinnyinNJ]

Sorry, didn't get notifications of replies.
The filters are pristine. Here's a picture of the circuit board that we took while doing repairs. Don't know if it's useful at all.
The pump seems to be working properly (except maybe when starting up/priming which I think it's supposed to and doesn't).

Are you sure that's the correct heater for your spa? I had a totally different one but mine was a 2005. At one point Artesian had 2 different heaters that's why I'm asking.

 

[RDspaguy]

Ok. Balboa controls use 2 temp sensors to determine everything. So anything that causes disparate temp readings can cause many different errors.
Typically, high temps at the heater are the result of insufficient flow through the heater. The heater turns on and rapidly boils the water in it because it's not being replaced by cold water fast enough. But other things, such as debris stuck between the heater element and the sensor or even a faulty sensor can cause a run-away temp reading.
Did the new heater include sensors? If not, test sensors with an ohm meter or just replace them.
Did you just replace the heater element but not the tube? If so, installation errors are not uncommon.
If the sensors are good, water flow is good, and heater is clean, it's the board.
Try disconnecting the heater (but not sensors) and see what it does. If it's the board it should still error out.