maybe I am missing something - Nodebalancer

Hi, I created my debian 10 linode, I added letsencrypt cert, I selected redirect all traffic to https. I then installed a nodebalancer. I went back to apache2.conf and commented out any redirect to https and only listen on port 80. I went to the virtualhosts file for the domain and also commented out any reference to https. I restarted apache2 and also rebooted the server. I have opened ufw port 80 to the nodebalancer ip. I am listening on port 80:
~# lsof -i -P -n | grep LISTEN
sshd 512 root 3u IPv4 15043 0t0 TCP *:22 (LISTEN)
sshd 512 root 4u IPv6 15054 0t0 TCP *:22 (LISTEN)
apache2 601 root 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
mysqld 604 mysql 19u IPv4 15656 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:3306 (LISTEN)
apache2 611 www-data 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
apache2 613 www-data 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
apache2 614 www-data 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
apache2 615 www-data 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
apache2 616 www-data 4u IPv6 15117 0t0 TCP *:80 (LISTEN)
sendmail- 656 root 3u IPv4 15687 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:25 (LISTEN)
sendmail- 656 root 5u IPv4 15688 0t0 TCP 127.0.0.1:587 (LISTEN)
I see the 503 message so I know I am hitting the nodebalancer. The health checks say the node is down.
Have I missed a config somewhere, please send me your advice.
thanks in advance