822. Support: Freeze Protection on Balboa M7 Systems

Note that the temperature under the spa skirt will be different from the water temperature in the spa or hot tub. Therefore it is recommended that there is appropriate ventilation under the spa skirt during the hot months, and that there is appropriate insulation for the cold months. Also keep in mind that the water volume inside the heater metal housing is a lot less than the water volume inside the spa or hot tub. Less water volume means that the water will cool down faster. If an M7 system detects that the water temperature inside the heater is lower than the set temperature, the system will run the heat pump to circulate the water from the spa through the heater to determine if the water needs to be heated. This is called a water temperature check cycle. If the water does need to be heated, the pump will continue running with the heater activated for the heat cycle. In colder months and cooler night time, the water temperature will drop and allow the water temperature check cycle to run more often (depending on how low and how often the water temperature inside the heater has dropped). Normal Freeze Protection: If the water temperature inside the heater drops below 45 degrees F, the ICE error message will appear. All equipment will automatically activate regardless of the spa status. The equipment stays on 4 minutes after the sensors detect that the spa temperature has risen to 45 degrees F or higher. Freeze Protection with the 22312 Freeze Sensor installed: Freeze protection on older pressure switch and early M7 systems would turn all pumps on to high speed and cycle the water until the temperature rises above the freeze point. On the majority VS/EL systems it will turn all pumps on to their lowest speed and cycle until the water temperature comes up. On BP systems it will cycle between all available pumps turning one on at a time until the temperature comes up. Once the water temperature rises above the 40 degrees, the built-in freeze protection of the circuitry of the regular sensors takes over. You can also find freeze protection information on the user guides for the specific systems/panels.