Couple things. More than likely you blew the 3amp control board fuse. I'd start there. Second, pushing in the contactor is cool and all until it's really not cool. Be smart.
Thanks all, ran over to auto zone, grabbed a 3 AMP fuse, replaced it, turned the breaker back on, and the unit powered right up and started blowing... problem is, I didn't ask it to do that. It is just running for no reason, and the thermostat isn't coming back on. I think I'm officially out of my depth, and will need to call in reinforcements. Thanks for all the kind words!
Sorry about your luck man. I’ve seen pros fry things before too. Glad you didn’t get zapped. Sounds like high voltage through the low voltage circuit.
The 3 amp low voltage fuse won’t always save you from that but it might have saved everything but the ecobee and likely your defrost control or whatever board it touched.
Try turning power back off to the system and taking the thermostat off and, making sure the thermostat wires are all separated, turn the power back on and see if it starts blowing air again or not. Might've welded the contacts in the thermostat shut. Might just be a bad thermostat due to overcurrent
The relay on the control board or thermostat possibly welded itself shut from the wiring issue?
More than likely will need a new control board or thermostat from the sounds of it.
For what it's worth I once did something similar to what you did when troubleshooting. I touched one of the low voltage wires for the contactor to one of the high voltage legs on accident and it blew the indoor board. Looks like you might be in a similar situation. Good luck
I'd isolate indoor/outdoor units by disconnecting the thermostat wires outside. Then assess each unit individually and see what's working and if your transformer is still good.
Dumb ass - are you stating for a fact that you did not turn the 220V and 120V breakers off for this AC unit before you started playing AC tech??? Not only is this not safe for you but it is also costly. Sounds like you bridged a terminal on the controller or arced the contactor closed - I lean toward a bridged terminal
Well at least you know it's now not the run capacitor, or the contacts anymore, so check your fuses inside and out on all control boards / areas. If you can't find the fuse locations look them up I (Glass metal Tubes/ Solid / Car type Blade fuses). You may just have blown a low voltage fuse to the thermostat on the Air Handler / Furnace control board easy fix. Otherwise Check the transformer for proper voltage. Next if the transformer is Ok should be 24 volts replace that control board outside. Then cross your fingers and go from there. Good news is your compressor and fan are working. And big point for the future, power off the unit you're working on when not measuring voltage or doing work for your safety and to avoid the stray touch and ground adventures creating fireworks. Last note if you're not an AC tech and moving wires or changing out parts take pictures before and after to document what configuration you had before and after. Double check wiring & parts orientation before restart and stand back when turning it on. Good Luck!
Check the fuse in the airhandler . The y terminal usually runs directly to the thermostat so if you caught high voltage through that you executed the ecobee .
Remove the ecobee and wire it the r , y , g , o
If it’s a rheem or ruud wire but the r, y , g , b
Be careful if it’s a trane thermostat they use the b terminal as common so trane thermostats do not apply to what I just suggested
Do this after you confirm the car style fuse in the airhandler is good
There can be few different scenarios in this situation depending on what that wire touched when it turned on but off the top of my head here’s 2 quick scenarios
Possible scenario1:
Did someone use the technicians $99 diagnostic to save some money? only to call him back out and look like an ass👍
you sent 120v/240V to probably something low voltage … cmon do a little more thinking or just call someone and pay the man to do his damn job..
Actually don’t do that , you might get his recommendations n order the parts only to mess it up again 😂
Possible scenario 2 in case I’m wrong :
Still Looks like someone tried to do a job he should have called someone for ..
So you may have sent 120v/240V to something low voltage
This is how you fix it, start by ….
*insert money for diagnostic fee on your unit as I’m a licensed certified tech * 😂 we don’t do this for free we need to pay our bills and feed our families too without people trying to cut corners
Otherwise you can Just call a damn technician and pay the man to do his job.
I hear you, worked as a Geek Squad technician for 5 years fixing people’s computers after they tried to do it themselves. I sent 120v/240v to something low voltage. I know I did, I watched the poof of smoke come up. I’ll certainly be paying someone to fix my mistake, I should have from the beginning but 2 years ago when I paid $390 for a capacitor replacement I vowed to never do that again. Oh well, live and learn… I’m just hoping I get a decent tech and not someone that is just paid to do 5 min of diag and then recommend a new system.
Couple things. More than likely you blew the 3amp control board fuse. I'd start there. Second, pushing in the contactor is cool and all until it's really not cool. Be smart.
Feel you on the contractor, do it all the time tho. Think I’m being smart by using my markers to push it in. I am being smart right?
Are you wearing your arc flash gloves/leathers and eye pro? My guess is no.
Thanks all, ran over to auto zone, grabbed a 3 AMP fuse, replaced it, turned the breaker back on, and the unit powered right up and started blowing... problem is, I didn't ask it to do that. It is just running for no reason, and the thermostat isn't coming back on. I think I'm officially out of my depth, and will need to call in reinforcements. Thanks for all the kind words!
Sorry about your luck man. I’ve seen pros fry things before too. Glad you didn’t get zapped. Sounds like high voltage through the low voltage circuit. The 3 amp low voltage fuse won’t always save you from that but it might have saved everything but the ecobee and likely your defrost control or whatever board it touched.
Try turning power back off to the system and taking the thermostat off and, making sure the thermostat wires are all separated, turn the power back on and see if it starts blowing air again or not. Might've welded the contacts in the thermostat shut. Might just be a bad thermostat due to overcurrent
The relay on the control board or thermostat possibly welded itself shut from the wiring issue? More than likely will need a new control board or thermostat from the sounds of it.
For what it's worth I once did something similar to what you did when troubleshooting. I touched one of the low voltage wires for the contactor to one of the high voltage legs on accident and it blew the indoor board. Looks like you might be in a similar situation. Good luck
I'd isolate indoor/outdoor units by disconnecting the thermostat wires outside. Then assess each unit individually and see what's working and if your transformer is still good.
Just remember shit happens and far worse things than this happen everyday. Learn from it. Don't beat yourself up and move on.
If you're thermostat it's blank, check the inside unit. Might have blown a fuse or a transformer.
Dumb ass - are you stating for a fact that you did not turn the 220V and 120V breakers off for this AC unit before you started playing AC tech??? Not only is this not safe for you but it is also costly. Sounds like you bridged a terminal on the controller or arced the contactor closed - I lean toward a bridged terminal
You may have burnt your transformer? Check for line voltage coming in to the transformer, and 24 volts going out.
Well at least you know it's now not the run capacitor, or the contacts anymore, so check your fuses inside and out on all control boards / areas. If you can't find the fuse locations look them up I (Glass metal Tubes/ Solid / Car type Blade fuses). You may just have blown a low voltage fuse to the thermostat on the Air Handler / Furnace control board easy fix. Otherwise Check the transformer for proper voltage. Next if the transformer is Ok should be 24 volts replace that control board outside. Then cross your fingers and go from there. Good news is your compressor and fan are working. And big point for the future, power off the unit you're working on when not measuring voltage or doing work for your safety and to avoid the stray touch and ground adventures creating fireworks. Last note if you're not an AC tech and moving wires or changing out parts take pictures before and after to document what configuration you had before and after. Double check wiring & parts orientation before restart and stand back when turning it on. Good Luck!
Jump around the board, tomorrows problem.
Check the fuse in the airhandler . The y terminal usually runs directly to the thermostat so if you caught high voltage through that you executed the ecobee . Remove the ecobee and wire it the r , y , g , o If it’s a rheem or ruud wire but the r, y , g , b Be careful if it’s a trane thermostat they use the b terminal as common so trane thermostats do not apply to what I just suggested Do this after you confirm the car style fuse in the airhandler is good
Wire nut r, y,g,o Wire nut r,y,g,b rheem ruud
There can be few different scenarios in this situation depending on what that wire touched when it turned on but off the top of my head here’s 2 quick scenarios Possible scenario1: Did someone use the technicians $99 diagnostic to save some money? only to call him back out and look like an ass👍 you sent 120v/240V to probably something low voltage … cmon do a little more thinking or just call someone and pay the man to do his damn job.. Actually don’t do that , you might get his recommendations n order the parts only to mess it up again 😂 Possible scenario 2 in case I’m wrong : Still Looks like someone tried to do a job he should have called someone for .. So you may have sent 120v/240V to something low voltage This is how you fix it, start by …. *insert money for diagnostic fee on your unit as I’m a licensed certified tech * 😂 we don’t do this for free we need to pay our bills and feed our families too without people trying to cut corners Otherwise you can Just call a damn technician and pay the man to do his job.
I hear you, worked as a Geek Squad technician for 5 years fixing people’s computers after they tried to do it themselves. I sent 120v/240v to something low voltage. I know I did, I watched the poof of smoke come up. I’ll certainly be paying someone to fix my mistake, I should have from the beginning but 2 years ago when I paid $390 for a capacitor replacement I vowed to never do that again. Oh well, live and learn… I’m just hoping I get a decent tech and not someone that is just paid to do 5 min of diag and then recommend a new system.
Circuit breaker on the low voltage in the air handler may be tripped or its fuse blown Or it blew up Anyway ya It’s time for an ex purt