Your Spa Pack is basically the brains, or motherboard of your spa. Its job is controlling all your spas components like your pump, heater, lights, and more. As the main control system, having a Spa Pack that is in good condition and working properly is very important. Thousands of spas are thrown out each year because of bad control systems, when the shell and cabinet are fine. Typically, you can save yourself thousands of dollars by simply replacing your control system rather than your entire hot tub. If your spa gets a lot of use or is over 7 years old it can be expected that the control system will need to be replaced. Spa cabinets and shells have a much longer life span than control systems, which means you can take advantage of that by replacing the spa pack once or twice during the shell and cabinet lifespan before throwing your tub out and investing in a new one.
When shopping for a new spa pack it is important for you to know a few things about your existing one. For starters, is it a 120 Volt or a 240 Volt system? What combination of items is your existing pack controlling? How many pumps do you have and how many speeds do each of those pumps have? Do you have an ozonator? What about lights? How many kilowatts is your heater? Do you have a blower, circulation pump, or both? Once you know what you need to control you can start shopping.
When shopping the easiest thing to start out doing is find control systems that match the capability of your existing system. For example, if your current system runs on 240 Volts and controls a 5.5 KW heater, a two speed pump, an ozonator, and a light that is what you need to look for.
There are a few other important things to consider when shopping for a control pack. Do you also need a new topside control system? Although you can keep your old one if it is working properly and you make sure it is compatible with your new system, we recommend looking at a Value Pack Control System like these from Balboa, they include a new topside control panel, your new spa pack, a new heater, all applicable cords, and an adapter plate to ensure your new topside control can fit correctly. You will also find that usually a Value Pack like these is much more cost effective than purchasing the items separately. You will also want to look for features that protect the pack against corrosion and water intrusion; the M7 packs from Balboa have a plastic enclosure included that will protect against these elements. When purchasing, also be sure to look for a manufacturer’s warranty on the pack just in case something does go wrong with it.
Once you have purchased a new spa pack, it is recommended to have it installed by a professional spa technician, but if you find yourself to be very handy and take the proper precaution’s for working with electrical parts, there is most often a wiring diagram and instructions for installation included.
