Spa heater/control

• US 20070108185A1
• Filed: 11/16/2006
• Published: 05/17/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/16/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Joseph Elnar
• Original Assignee: Joseph Elnar
• Inventors: Elnar, Joseph
• Granted Patent: US 7,514,652 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 219/481
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 2201/5082 Temperature sensors
• CPC Class Codes: A61H 33/0095 Arrangements for varying the temperature of the liquid

Abstract

A spa heater/control includes sensors and processors to monitor and display indicia of common failures. The heater/control includes voltage sensors and processing to measure proper power connections to the heater/control. The spa heater/control further monitors various voltages, currents, flow rates, and temperatures within the spa to provide diagnostic information which is easily obtained by a spa owner to provide to a spa dealer to reduce the time and cost of spa repairs,

Claims

1. A heater/control comprising:

a heater assembly including a heater manifold and heater elements inside the heater manifold for heating a flow of water through the heater manifold;

at least one current collector residing in the flow of water, the current collector spirals out from the center of the flow of water;

a control circuit electrically connected to the heater assembly;

a current sensing circuit in the control circuit, the current sensing circuit measuring a ground current collected from the flow of water by the at least one current collector;

a comparing circuit comparing the measurement of the ground current to a first threshold for detecting an excessive ground current.

2. The heater/control of claim 1, wherein the current collector comprising a three dimensional helix both spiraling out radially from the center of the heater manifold and stretching axially as it spirals outward.

3. A method for controlling a spa heater, the method comprising:

measuring a ground current collected by a current collector in a flow of water through a heater;

comparing the ground current measurement to a first threshold; and

removing power from heater elements in the heater if the ground current measurement exceeds the threshold before a system Ground Fault Isolator (GFI) removes power from a water circulation pump providing circulation of water through the heater.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein comparing the ground current measurement to a first threshold comprises comparing the ground current measurement to approximately 3.5 milliamps.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein measuring a ground current collected by a current collector comprises measuring the ground current measured by a current collector comprising the current collector spirals radially out from the center of the flow of water

6. A method for controlling a spa, the method comprising:

measuring a normal current draw of a spa pump;

storing the measured current draw;

comparing the stored current draw to the present current draw of the pump; and

turning the pump off if the present current draw is substantially less than the stored current draw.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein turning the pump off if the present current draw is substantially less than the stored current draw comprises turning the pump off if the present current draw is approximately 40 percent less than the stored current draw.

8. A spa heater/control comprising:

a heater assembly including at least one heater element;

electrical terminals for receiving electrical power for the at least one heating element, the terminals comprising;

a positive terminal;

a common terminal; and

a negative terminal;

at least one control circuit electrically connected to at least two of the three terminals for measuring a voltage between two of the terminals; and

a spa owner observable display electrically connected to the control circuit for displaying the measured voltage between two of the terminals.

9. The spa heater/control of claim 8, wherein the display is an array of lights attached to the spa heater/control, wherein the illumination of the lights provides an indication of the measured voltage.

10. The spa heater/control of claim 8, wherein the display is a digital display mounted to a spa surface.

11. The spa heater/control of claim 10, wherein the display provides the flow rate of a spa pump, amps drawn by the spa pump and the heater, and the AC voltage to the heater and spa pump.