No power to thermostat!!!!!!!!!!!!! - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 01:27 PM

Ok this is whats up. I do remodeling and we were running a duct to a new room just doing the duct work no wiring or anything technical. So the next day the homeowners said when they went to bed everything was fine in the morning they awoke to their thermostat being completely off. So i bought a new thermostat and still nothing help would be appreciated... Is there away to hot wire it to see if any juice is coming from the attic... Thank You.

Celtic · 08-16-2009, 01:30 PM

Is there power to the unit?
Is the trans. working?
Is there continuity from t-stat to unit [LV wire in walls]?

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 01:32 PM

All i know is that we didnt change anything all circuit breakers are in on position.

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 01:34 PM

I mean what the hell could change in just the matter of a nite and is there a way to touch two wires together coming out of the wall to turn on the fan or ac so i can tell its the the thermo or not.

Celtic · 08-16-2009, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

I mean what the hell could change in just the matter of a nite and.....

Things break all the time for "no reason"....are you under the delusion everything is supposed to last forever?

The house is under going some sort of "activity"....a loose connection, nicked wire, etc etc etc could have been jarred beyond it's useful point.

Things have a "life expectancy"....maybe one of this things simply expired.

Shat happens.

**Leo G** · 08-16-2009, 01:39 PM

Power to the unit is the first thing to look at.

Check power off of the transformer (24VAC)

Check power in at the thermostat.

If you have power to the unit, then there should be power input to the transformer. If you have power input to the transformer but no power output from the transformer, replace the transformer. If you have power output from the transformer then check for power at the thermostat, if you have power at the thermostat, then replace thermostat, if you have no power at the thermostat check wiring from transformer to the thermostat.

If all you did was ductwork and no work on the electrical system then it is likely a bad luck situation for you. You touch it, you own it. Most likely you will need to get it repaired even though it is not your fault.

If you can get a technician in there and have him troubleshoot the problem and report to the HO that there was no way you caused the issue you could get away with it.

Good luck.

CScalf · 08-16-2009, 01:42 PM

I had the same problem once at my house, I simply had hit the wire outside by the ac unit with the weedeater, look there.

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 01:43 PM

Thanks Leo so are there two colors to tap together to quickly see it thermo is getting juice i will try everything you mentioned.

Celtic · 08-16-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

So i bought a new thermostat ....

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

All i know is that we didnt change anything all circuit breakers are in on position.

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

..... is there a way to touch two wires together coming out of the wall to turn on the fan or ac so i can tell its the the thermo or not.

If you did not touch "anything", why are you getting involved in an area you are unfamiliar with?
You keep messing around with it [stabbing in the dark] - it's going to be YOUR unit.

Is this what you want?

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 01:48 PM

hey celtic do you have any useful advice other than the apparent. im not going to do something to mess something up so if not please go respond in the gardening section.

**Leo G** · 08-16-2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

Thanks Leo so are there two colors to tap together to quickly see it thermo is getting juice i will try everything you mentioned.

A thermostat is simply a temperature controlled switch. For a heating thermostat, when the temp falls below a certain level it closes a switch. On a AC thermostat when the temp rises above a preset level it closes a switch.

You can accomplish the same thing by shorting the two wires together acting the same as closing the thermostatic switch.

I don't know the common colors, so I can't tell you what colors do what. And there is no assured way to say the the installer followed the standard color code wiring in the first place. You should be able to do the same thing down at the controller on the heater/AC unit where the thermostat wires hook up to.

tomstruble · 08-16-2009, 01:55 PM

i was working by an a.c unit 1 time and it stopped working
[i didnt touch noting] I called an a.c guy,turns out a spider got crushed in a contact switch

you put 2 wires together and put power somewhere its not supposed to be it will cost a lot more than a service call

**Leo G** · 08-16-2009, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

hey celtic do you have any useful advice other than the apparent. im not going to do something to mess something up so if not please go respond in the gardening section.

You should really watch what you say here. All of these guys are giving you advice as per their opinion. Most of it is based on good hard facts. Most of us have gone through the school of hard knocks several times and paid for it dearly out of our wallets. You shouldn't knock a guy for him telling you what he thinks is so. If you don't agree with their advise, either ignore it or thank them for their time and experience and move on.

Insulting the guys here will only get you driven off this site. I have seen it done, I have done it myself for people who are generally ungrateful for the knowledge these guys have on this forum.

You have been advised.

bwalley · 08-16-2009, 01:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

I mean what the hell could change in just the matter of a nite and is there a way to touch two wires together coming out of the wall to turn on the fan or ac so i can tell its the the thermo or not.

if it is a straight cool, Tie the Red, Green and Yellow together, that should cause the indoor fan and the compressor to come on.

If it is a heat pump, you would have to energize the reversing valve if is set up to energize in the cooling mode.

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 02:02 PM

Thank you Bwalley you gave me what i wanted. And sorry to dad and grandpa for offending you... ya boot me off the site... Hmmmm i wonder how quick it would take to get back on with another Name...Hmmmmm

Warren · 08-16-2009, 02:04 PM

Tape the wires together with the blue tape!

tomstruble · 08-16-2009, 02:07 PM

but the one you got describes you the best

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 02:08 PM

Spank you... Ill take that as a complement.

bwalley · 08-16-2009, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by andeeznuts

hey celtic do you have any useful advice other than the apparent. im not going to do something to mess something up so if not please go respond in the gardening section.

Celtic does have a point, why are you doing HVAC work when you don't know what you are doing?

It reminds me of a client who tried to replace his own condensing fan motor, he bought a universal fan motor, it was a 4 wire fan motor instead of a 3 wire (not counting the ground) he didn't know what to do with the "extra wire" so he plugged it into the start capacitor for the compressor and smoked the start windings, so now he ended up buying a new condensing unit, instead of just paying someone who knew what they were doing to fix his A/C unit.

It may be cheaper for you to hire an A/C company, instead of trouble shooting it by replacing parts.

andeeznuts · 08-16-2009, 03:11 PM

Dude i was adding a duct a blind monkey could add a 6" duct come on are you guys serious i know everyone on here has to act like they are the absolute gods of what they do but come on now lets not get to godlike on this stuff. Just wondering short cuts my name is extremely highly reputable in the area...and no its not andeeznuts..