Manual for Devore Electronics replacement circuit board

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These directions are for the Softub Replacement circuit board by Devore Electronics. It is a more reliable solution to the problematic stock Softub circuit boards. Softub® is a trademark of Softub, Inc. Devore Electronics is not affiliated with nor endorsed by Softub, Inc.

By default, this board uses a program similar to the stock Softub program, with a few usability improvements. 

If you are already familiar with the stock Softub program, here are the main differences: 

• The temperature will return to the previous stock temperature instead of the default 100°F. 
• Holding down the up or down buttons will quickly change the set temperature.
• Pressing the jets button when the tub is heating will stop the jets for 20 minutes.
• You only have to hold down the buttons for 4 seconds for the SP1, overnight and economy modes.
• There’s a safety feature to turn off the display if the temperature gets too hot in the board enclosure (see the new P02 error).

When the tub is first started, it shows the set temperature. Then it shows a “P”, which means that the system can’t show the current temperature (either because the pump isn’t running or else it has just started). The tub will show the current temperature after it has run for 2 minutes. The “heat” LED will illuminate if the system is currently calling for heat.

You can see the current set temperature by pressing the up or down buttons once. Then when the set temperature is displayed, you can change the set temperature by pressing the up or down buttons. If you want to rapidly change the set temperature you can hold down the up or down buttons to quickly change temperature.

The Jets button will toggle the jets. If the jets are not currently running, the jets will start, and run for 20 minutes. If the jets are currently running, either from a previous jets press, or if the tub is in heat or filter mode, then the jets will turn off. Then if it was heating or in filter mode, after 20 minutes the jets will turn on to continue that mode.

The light button will activate the lights. If your system has colored lights, turning on and off within 10 seconds will toggle it between the various modes. The light will continue until the button is pressed again, or after 1 hour it will automatically turn off.

Normally, the maximum temperature you can set is 104. This mode allows you to get to 105°F or 106°F. Hold the Up and JETS buttons for 4 seconds. That will set it to 105°F. If you hold the Up and jets button again, it will go to 106°F. In this mode the system will periodically flash “SP1” on the display. Also see the enhanced mode for a simpler way of setting 105°F or 106°F.  

 If the tub hasn’t run in 12 hours (either by the jets button or a call for heat), the tub will run a 15 minute filtration cycle, and the “filter” LED will illuminate. Note, that it is fairly unusual for this mode to actually be active, unless the ambient temperature is quite hot or you recently turned down the temperature a few degrees.

To enter the Enhanced mode, hold the up and down buttons together for 4 seconds. The display will flash “P”, indicating that the P display is disabled. To return to the Standard mode, hold the down and up buttons for 4 seconds. After the display flashes it will be back to the standard mode.

In this mode, the temperature is displayed in a more natural way. Instead of showing a P when the tub is off, it shows an estimate of the actual tub temperature. Also, when the tub is running, it will show better estimate of the temperature. The stock firmware essentially just showed the temperature probe temperature of the Hydromate instead of trying to calculate the tub temp.

Also, if it sees the temperature is starting to drop, it will call for heat so the tub keeps running. The tub would have to get quite cool before calling for heat with the stock firmware.

In this mode, if you press the temp up button the heat mode will turn on unless it is already up to temp. Also, if the down arrow is pressed, then the pump will turn off heat mode unless it is not up to temp yet.

Also, when adjusting the temperature, the Heat LED will flash, indicating it is showing the selected temperature instead of the actual temperature.

Finally, instead of having to use the special mode to set the temperature to 105 or 106, you can set those temperatures directly. Note that by default hot tubs in the USA are designed to not go above 104F. Before enabling this mode, please understand the health ramifications of using a higher temperature.

To return to the standard mode, repeat the operation by holding down the up and down buttons again, until “P” is displayed.

Overnight

This mode will run the tub normally for 12 hours, and the next 12 hours it will not run any heat or filter cycles. To enter this mode, at the time of day you wish to start the 12 hours of silence, Hold the Light or Reset button and the up button for 4 seconds. You will briefly see “12” on the control panel. The filter and heat LEDs will periodically flash twice to indicate this mode. Note if you want to change the number of hours the overnight mode runs, it can be changed in the service menu.

Economy

This mode runs a filter/heat cycle just once a day at a certain time. To enter this mode, at the time of day you wish it to run, hold the Light or Reset button and the up button for 4 seconds. You will briefly see “24” on the control panel. The filter LED will periodically flash once to indicate this mode.

Exiting Overnight or Economy Modes

To exit overnight  or economy modes hold down the light and down buttons for 4 seconds.

P: Shown when the jets are off or if have been running under 2 minutes when running in the standard mode.

SP1: Special temperature: Indicates that it is in the Special temperature mode, which allows setting 1 or 2 degrees over the maximum temperature.

IPS: Insufficient power supply. This means that the voltage is too low to run the Softub. See the Softub manual for details. The voltage at the outlet while the tub is running should be at least 105 volts.

P01: The tub was running for over 4 hours, without seeing an increase in temperature. This can happen if the cover was left off, or the air valve was left open. Press the jets button to reset it.

P02: This means that the temperature of the board was too hot (over 200°F). This can happen if the heat exchanger coil has become plugged or disconnected, or if an aftermarket heat exchanger has been installed. Have the Hydromate serviced.

While the standard setting are appropriate for most users, if you wish to customize your Softub program, see the service manual.