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HL/OH Codes -- Hot Tub Overheating?

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Jaycera:
Hi all,

Apologies if this is the incorrect place for this question.

I've had a Lifesmart Retreat DLX hot tub for approximately 3 years and it has worked wonderfully all along. Yesterday I came home to notice the "HL" error for the first time -- no pumps or heater running as far as I could tell, and the water was extremely hot to the touch. Note that ambient temperature outside was about 40F and I had the temperature setting on the tub at 102F, as per usual for us.

I uncovered the tub for about 10 minutes then restarted it, to be greeted with the OH code and a water temperature showing 116F, with the filtration system/pump running this time (and my inability to turn it off manually). I let it take in the cold outside air for a couple of hours with the cover off, but it had only dropped to 113F. I covered it for the night and awoke to it going back up to 117F, at which point I unplugged it and it has been unplugged since, as I am at work and was planning on attempting to troubleshoot further this evening.

We are in NY in November, so there should be no outside temp influence. Is it as simple as my HL switch being triggered? or is something more going on? I don't love that the temperature continually increases even after I cooled it off and with the temp set on 102 as it always is...

Thanks in advance for any insight.

ratchett:
HL indicates High Limit tripped, and OH means overheated - do not enter tub.

There's probably a chance either a thermistor to monitor temperature has come loose from the spa (or is defective), or the relay which controls the heater is stuck in the on position.

I would bet (hope) it's the temperature probe, but I don't know enough to tell you how to check/test.  Maybe find your local spa service technician to do some troubleshooting.  A good technician should be able to troubleshoot the issue fast.

Jaycera:
Appreciate the insight, thanks. Read in my manual that it may need to dip below 107 in order to reset, which I hadn't heard of before, so I let it get down to 100 degrees last night in the cold weather and am attempting to heat it up to 102 again today to see if it correctly stops heating at the set mark, otherwise will end up resorting to my local tech.

Jaycera:
Hello,

I apologize for replying to this topic from so long ago, but I am following up as the original poster. Please let me know if forum rules prefer that I start a new topic.

For context, the HL/OH thing happened a few more times in the winter of 2019-2020, and I set up an appointment with a technician in spring of 2020. The issue had not happened for awhile, he came by and checked a bunch of things (adjusted filter cycles down as low as they could go) and went on his merry way. The issue did not happen again for some time, but came back later in the summer. Often after a cold night. Since then, it is now happening MUCH more regularly as we've had a string of days in the 20s and 30s. I used to think it was related to sun, but now I believe it's related to cold ambient temperature.

As I'm writing this, the HL/OH trigger has taken place probably 5 out of the last 7 days. Each day I air out the tub and get it below that point and each following morning it's tripped again, often reading temperatures of 115-118F now. I also realized that on more than one occasion I could not manually turn off the heater/filtration system, whether I unplugged the tub or hit the button on the panel. This is now leading me to believe that the heater is often staying in the on position and ignoring the temperature setting. Since it's so cold, I've been deducing that the tub falls below the desired temperature, the heater kicks on, and it stays on all night, causing me to wake up to a tub that at 115 degrees when the air temperature outside is 25, despite the fact that the tub was at 102 when I went to bed the night prior.

Before I attempt to schedule another service appointment, I was hoping this additional information would help clarify some things and point me in the right direction. Is the heater setting just stuck on periodically (this does not happen 100% of the time), or is it some sort of temperature sensor issue? Especially noting that the technician could not find anything wrong with it last spring (though admittedly it was warmer and this issue was not nearly as pervasive).

Thanks in advance for any help that you might be able to provide.

Tman122:
Sounds like it could be the heater relay or the temp sensor in the tub itself.

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