No 24vac power to Thermostat

[pennsylvaniaron]

hi:
this is my first post. hopefully someone with more knowledge can steer me in the right direction.

I've googled this problem which is becoming more common because the new wifi thermostats NEED 24vac to run. while my home has 3 wire run to all my zones my daughters older home in Long Island does not.

For christmas I got 2 new remote wifi thermostats for my house in PA. I took my existing NON wifi honeywell thermostats (6000 & 8000 models) and installed them at my daughters home. I wanted at least the upstairs thermo to run on 24vac and not just battery power. there are 3 wires at the old thermo which only ran on battery labled W R B. I hooked up the w to w the r to r and the b to c on the new th8320 thermo. still no power at the thermo.

in the boiler room i see the 3 wire coming down to a honeywell L8124a. whoever ran the wire cut the black wire short because there isn't any C (common) terminal on the L8124a. but there is also a taco sr501 relay nearby. looks like the basement zone is attached there with only a 2 wire even though the taco sr501 DOES have the Common terminal.

So I spliced a wire to the cut Black wire from the upstairs thermo in the boiler room and connected it to the Common 24vac in the taco sr501 thinking that who cares where the upstairs gets it power from. but still no dice.

I dont have experience with this type of stuff. I'm just trying to learn and also make things better here. It's not a big thing to run on battery but if they used 3 wire why not make use of it!
any help appreciated it advance.
regards.....



thx
ron

 

[IFIXH20]

Are you sure you didn't kill the low voltage side of the transformer , Are you checking voltage with a multimeter ?

 

[pennsylvaniaron]

Are you sure you didn't kill the low voltage side of the transformer , Are you checking voltage with a multimeter ?

I don't see how I could have done that. I just hooked up the black wire to the C terminal. is what I did and trying to accomplish (connecting the 3rd wire from 1 thermostat to a C terminal in a relay that has nothing to do with that thermostat) correct. should it in theory power the thermostat? regards...

 

[IFIXH20]

How are you checking voltage ?

 

[pennsylvaniaron]

How are you checking voltage ?

assuming voltage is good are my connections correct?
regards..

 

[IFIXH20]

Your quote -- I dont have experience with this type of stuff.


Ron, If you had/have some experience in wiring or electrical troubleshooting I would love to help you but with your statement and not having the proper tools and know how to troubleshoot. I am respectfully going to back away. With all respect call a professional because no amount of money is worth the safety of my Family. Good luck.

 

[pennsylvaniaron]

Your quote -- I dont have experience with this type of stuff.


Ron, If you had/have some experience in wiring or electrical troubleshooting I would love to help you but with your statement and not having the proper tools and know how to troubleshoot. I am respectfully going to back away. With all respect call a professional because no amount of money is worth the safety of my Family. Good luck.

thx for at least responding. I do appreciate your input. However I just do not see why you are unable (or unwilling) to answer the simple question. Can the upstairs thermostats C wire be connected to any 24 vac device since all we are looking for is power to the stat. In theory the answer is either yes or no. I get the impression that either you are a little inexperienced with this particular situation or just not understanding what I am asking. But thanks anyway. regards...

 

[IFIXH20]

Ron, I am quite clear on what you are asking me. It's not the fact that I can't answer your very simple question or have the experienced. It's the fact you don't understand the big picture. It's not about the t'stat it's about the VERY DANGEROUS equipment the t'stat controls and your inexperienced, for that reason as a professional I will not answer your question. There are 2 or 3 other professional on this fourm that can answer your question as well and I think if they thought it was safe for you or your family they would answer. I hope this clear up any misunderstanding.

 

[pennsylvaniaron]

Ron, I am quite clear on what you are asking me. It's not the fact that I can't answer your very simple question or have the experienced. It's the fact you don't understand the big picture. It's not about the t'stat it's about the VERY DANGEROUS equipment the t'stat controls and your inexperienced, for that reason as a professional I will not answer your question. There are 2 or 3 other professional on this fourm that can answer your question as well and I think if they thought it was safe for you or your family they would answer. I hope this clear up any misunderstanding.

Thanks for reply. However I really do not understand why you cannot (and apparently WONT) answer the simple question. I have some experience with boilers and electrical otherwise I would not be posting in a forum. Since I did not get power to the stat I was just trying to see if I was on the right track.

This is not a nuclear sub we are working on. It's an oil burner. Please don't reply that I can blow up the house. We are talking about a LOW VOLTAGE 24 vac wire question. The wire is going to a the C terminal on the sr501. The C terminal was engineered by taco to provide 24 LOW VOLTAGE power to a stat. What is your big picture issue. and yes I do give up after you will again respond with some safety or other big picture answer. You're a tough nut to crack. I guess I'll get the answer somewhere else. regards..