8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last night and I noticed even though the blower was running the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make it behave that way?

On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last night and I noticed even though the blower was running the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make it behave that way?

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning on the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared the wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected to the wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I don't have to turn off the power do I ?

On 5/18/15 8:43 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last
night and I noticed even though the blower was running the
condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that
didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I
call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too
chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make
it behave that way?

After switching your thermostat to Cool, it may wait several minutes
before it will signal the compressor to turn on. That's a safety feature
in some thermostats, to protect the compressor from being turned on too
soon after being turned off.

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning on
the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared the
wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected to the
wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I don't
have to turn off the power do I ?

If I were going to fool with thermostat wires, I'd first cut the power
to the control unit so I wouldn't damage the compressor. (see above)

On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 9:25:37 PM UTC-4, J Burns wrote:
On 5/18/15 8:43 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last
night and I noticed even though the blower was running the
condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that
didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I
call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too
chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make
it behave that way?

After switching your thermostat to Cool, it may wait several minutes
before it will signal the compressor to turn on. That's a safety feature
in some thermostats, to protect the compressor from being turned on too
soon after being turned off.

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning on
the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared the
wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected to the
wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I don't
have to turn off the power do I ?

If I were going to fool with thermostat wires, I'd first cut the power
to the control unit so I wouldn't damage the compressor. (see above)

well it is clearly wired differently than the other two thermostats. How do I cut the power to the control unit is that the white box on the side of the furnance? Or should I just cut the power to the house?

On 5/18/15 10:19 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 9:25:37 PM UTC-4, J Burns wrote:
On 5/18/15 8:43 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on
last night and I noticed even though the blower was running
the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three
zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what
the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again,
fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few
minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might
make it behave that way?

After switching your thermostat to Cool, it may wait several
minutes before it will signal the compressor to turn on. That's a
safety feature in some thermostats, to protect the compressor from
being turned on too soon after being turned off.

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning
on the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared
the wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected
to the wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I
don't have to turn off the power do I ?

If I were going to fool with thermostat wires, I'd first cut the
power to the control unit so I wouldn't damage the compressor.
(see above)

well it is clearly wired differently than the other two thermostats.
How do I cut the power to the control unit is that the white box on
the side of the furnance? Or should I just cut the power to the
house?


In my breaker box, the breaker for the furnace/AC control is marked.
(There's another breaker for power to the compressor.)

There's also a light switch beside the furnace, to shut off power to the
control box and blower. If I remove the cover to the blower compartment
on my furnace, I can see the control box. An LED glows if it has power.

If your thermostats let you switch on the blower without heating or
cooling, you could use that to see if you switched off the right breaker.

On Mon, 18 May 2015 19:19:33 -0700 (PDT), noname
wrote:

On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 9:25:37 PM UTC-4, J Burns wrote:
On 5/18/15 8:43 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last
night and I noticed even though the blower was running the
condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that
didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I
call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too
chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make
it behave that way?

After switching your thermostat to Cool, it may wait several minutes
before it will signal the compressor to turn on. That's a safety feature
in some thermostats, to protect the compressor from being turned on too
soon after being turned off.

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning on
the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared the
wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected to the
wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I don't
have to turn off the power do I ?

If I were going to fool with thermostat wires, I'd first cut the power
to the control unit so I wouldn't damage the compressor. (see above)

well it is clearly wired differently than the other two thermostats. How do I cut the power to the control unit is that the white box on the side of the furnance? Or should I just cut the power to the house?
Just turn off the furnace disconnect switch.

On 05/18/2015 10:19 PM, noname wrote:
How do I cut the power to the control unit is that the white box on the side of the furnance? Or should I just cut the power to the house?

It's called the process of elimination. Turn your breakers off, one by one, until the power to the "white box on the side of the furnace" goes off.

And for the love of God, label your damn circuit breakers.

On 5/18/2015 8:43 PM, noname wrote:
On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 6:22:20 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last night and I noticed even though the blower was running the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make it behave that way?

Ok tail between legs, for 9 years zone 3 only hasn't been turning on the AC unit because the thermostat was wired wrong! Compared the wiring to the other 2 zones and the yellow wire is connected to the wrong post (I think it is Y1 or something).

Gonna switch it over tomorrow when I have better lighting. I don't have to turn off the power do I ?


It is very wise to turn off the power when
working on wiring. Thermostats are typically
24 VAC, not enough to really be dangerous. But
why risk damaging transformers, etc?

--
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 5/18/2015 10:19 PM, noname wrote:
If I were going to fool with thermostat wires, I'd first cut the power
to the control unit so I wouldn't damage the compressor. (see above)

well it is clearly wired differently than the other two thermostats. How do I cut the power to the control unit is that the white box on the side of the furnance? Or should I just cut the power to the house?


Many or most furnace have a switch on the side.
Looks a lot like a light switch.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On 5/19/2015 4:33 AM, bubba wrote:

And for the love of God, label your damn circuit breakers.

HVAC techs the world around know who loves God,
the moment we start a job. We go glance into
the circuit box, and look for Sharpie marker.

Atheists and agnostics never label breakers.

Me, for example, I used three or four sharpies
to dryness in my panel box, I love God so much.
Wasn't sniffing solvent, honest!

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 7:15:12 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 5/19/2015 4:33 AM, bubba wrote:

And for the love of God, label your damn circuit breakers.

HVAC techs the world around know who loves God,
the moment we start a job. We go glance into
the circuit box, and look for Sharpie marker.

Atheists and agnostics never label breakers.

Me, for example, I used three or four sharpies
to dryness in my panel box, I love God so much.
Wasn't sniffing solvent, honest!

-
.
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
. www.lds.org
.
.

Ok fixed the wiring for the 3rd zone. No luck! It seems Zone 1 turns on the AC just fine. Zone 2 and 3 the condenser fan never starts spinning. I verified they are all wired the same to the thermostats.
What next? Could this be the AC control unit? Any other debugging ideas?

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 6:19:47 PM UTC-4, noname wrote:
On Tuesday, May 19, 2015 at 7:15:12 AM UTC-4, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 5/19/2015 4:33 AM, bubba wrote:

And for the love of God, label your damn circuit breakers.

HVAC techs the world around know who loves God,
the moment we start a job. We go glance into
the circuit box, and look for Sharpie marker.

Atheists and agnostics never label breakers.

Me, for example, I used three or four sharpies
to dryness in my panel box, I love God so much.
Wasn't sniffing solvent, honest!

-
.
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
. www.lds.org
.
.

Ok fixed the wiring for the 3rd zone. No luck! It seems Zone 1 turns on the AC just fine. Zone 2 and 3 the condenser fan never starts spinning. I verified they are all wired the same to the thermostats.
What next? Could this be the AC control unit? Any other debugging ideas?

I've never seen a multizone AC system, but I know they exist.
They key question would be how are these 3 separate thermostats
wired to the system? I would assume that they go into something
other than the normal one thermostat input that most ACs would have.
Would seem you need a controller of some kind before the AC unit
to work dampers to make the air flow go to the zone/s that need it
and not to the other zones. So, do the 3 thermostats feed into some
zoning gizmo?

The other thing that makes no sense is that you're saying that with
the non-working zones, the
blower starts up in response to the thermostat, but not the outside
condenser unit. I don't get that, unless some kind of zoning thing
is somehow involved. Single zone AC, the thermostat connects to
the controller on the air handler, which in turn has an output
that closes the contactor in the condenser, turning it on. I think
it all comes down to how this is wired and works, without a diagram
etc, impossible to diagnose.

On 5/20/15 6:54 PM, trader_4 wrote:
I've never seen a multizone AC system, but I know they exist.
They key question would be how are these 3 separate thermostats
wired to the system? I would assume that they go into something
other than the normal one thermostat input that most ACs would have.
Would seem you need a controller of some kind before the AC unit
to work dampers to make the air flow go to the zone/s that need it
and not to the other zones. So, do the 3 thermostats feed into some
zoning gizmo?

The other thing that makes no sense is that you're saying that with
the non-working zones, the
blower starts up in response to the thermostat, but not the outside
condenser unit. I don't get that, unless some kind of zoning thing
is somehow involved. Single zone AC, the thermostat connects to
the controller on the air handler, which in turn has an output
that closes the contactor in the condenser, turning it on. I think
it all comes down to how this is wired and works, without a diagram
etc, impossible to diagnose.

I believe a compressor can be wrecked if not enough registers are open
in the house. Maybe the system wasn't designed to turn on the compressor
with zone 2 or zone 3 only, because because neither has enough
registers. There may be a diagram and explanation online for the OP's model.

On Monday, May 18, 2015 at 5:22:20 PM UTC-5, noname wrote:
8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last night and I noticed even though the blower was running the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make it behave that way?

Find a handyman type neighbor.

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 9:16:15 PM UTC-4, J Burns wrote:
On 5/20/15 6:54 PM, trader_4 wrote:
I've never seen a multizone AC system, but I know they exist.
They key question would be how are these 3 separate thermostats
wired to the system? I would assume that they go into something
other than the normal one thermostat input that most ACs would have.
Would seem you need a controller of some kind before the AC unit
to work dampers to make the air flow go to the zone/s that need it
and not to the other zones. So, do the 3 thermostats feed into some
zoning gizmo?

The other thing that makes no sense is that you're saying that with
the non-working zones, the
blower starts up in response to the thermostat, but not the outside
condenser unit. I don't get that, unless some kind of zoning thing
is somehow involved. Single zone AC, the thermostat connects to
the controller on the air handler, which in turn has an output
that closes the contactor in the condenser, turning it on. I think
it all comes down to how this is wired and works, without a diagram
etc, impossible to diagnose.

I believe a compressor can be wrecked if not enough registers are open
in the house. Maybe the system wasn't designed to turn on the compressor
with zone 2 or zone 3 only, because because neither has enough
registers. There may be a diagram and explanation online for the OP's model.

I thought about that too. Like I said, I haven't seen a zoned
central AC system. The fact that you could only reduce airflow
so much with a typical system was a big problem. But now that
there are many dual stage compressors available, I would think
that may solve that problem. But IDK if they are doing that or not.

The essential problem here is what exactly are those thermostats
hooked up to and how? Air handler/furnace directly with the
zoning function built into the furnace? Never heard of that existing.
Or are they wired to some zoning controller before the AH/furnace?

I just came up with a third possibility. That the system isn't
really zoned at all. Those other two "zones" may just be thermostats
wired in to turn on the fan only. Like the upstairs gets too hot,
it turns on the system fan, to try to even out the temp. That
would explain why it works like it works. That's my bet.

On 5/20/2015 6:19 PM, noname wrote:

Ok fixed the wiring for the 3rd zone. No luck! It seems Zone 1 turns on the AC just fine. Zone 2 and 3 the condenser fan never starts spinning. I verified they are all wired the same to the thermostats.
What next? Could this be the AC control unit? Any other debugging ideas?


Sorry, can't think of anything from here.
Wish I could be more help.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Thu, 21 May 2015 04:36:49 -0700 (PDT), trader_4
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 20, 2015 at 9:16:15 PM UTC-4, J Burns wrote:
On 5/20/15 6:54 PM, trader_4 wrote:
I've never seen a multizone AC system, but I know they exist.
They key question would be how are these 3 separate thermostats
wired to the system? I would assume that they go into something
other than the normal one thermostat input that most ACs would have.
Would seem you need a controller of some kind before the AC unit
to work dampers to make the air flow go to the zone/s that need it
and not to the other zones. So, do the 3 thermostats feed into some
zoning gizmo?

The other thing that makes no sense is that you're saying that with
the non-working zones, the
blower starts up in response to the thermostat, but not the outside
condenser unit. I don't get that, unless some kind of zoning thing
is somehow involved. Single zone AC, the thermostat connects to
the controller on the air handler, which in turn has an output
that closes the contactor in the condenser, turning it on. I think
it all comes down to how this is wired and works, without a diagram
etc, impossible to diagnose.

I believe a compressor can be wrecked if not enough registers are open
in the house. Maybe the system wasn't designed to turn on the compressor
with zone 2 or zone 3 only, because because neither has enough
registers. There may be a diagram and explanation online for the OP's model.

I thought about that too. Like I said, I haven't seen a zoned
central AC system. The fact that you could only reduce airflow
so much with a typical system was a big problem. But now that
there are many dual stage compressors available, I would think
that may solve that problem. But IDK if they are doing that or not.

The essential problem here is what exactly are those thermostats
hooked up to and how? Air handler/furnace directly with the
zoning function built into the furnace? Never heard of that existing.
Or are they wired to some zoning controller before the AH/furnace?

I just came up with a third possibility. That the system isn't
really zoned at all. Those other two "zones" may just be thermostats
wired in to turn on the fan only. Like the upstairs gets too hot,
it turns on the system fan, to try to even out the temp. That
would explain why it works like it works. That's my bet.

I wouldn't have thought of that, but you are right. That does make
sense given his symptoms.

On Mon, 18 May 2015 15:22:16 -0700 (PDT), noname
wrote:

8YY old Bryant central AC. Moderately used, just popped it on last night and I noticed even though the blower was running the condenser and fan outside weren't. Tried each of three zones, that didn't make a difference. So today I said what the hell, before I call the service guy I turned it on again, fired right up. Too chicken to run it for more than a few minutes.

We've only had it on like once or twice this year, what might make it behave that way?

Since you've had it on so little, it feels neglected. Like plants do.
You have to sing to it, or at least talk to it.