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Home > Home & Garden > Heating & Air Conditioning   »   wiring a thermostat. eeek!

 
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 05:50 PM
kykceb
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wiring a thermostat. eeek!

Please help me! I decided to change my programmable thermostat that had been acting weird. SO while my hubby was out I thought I would surprise him and do it myself. Well the first thing I did was take off the old one . Then got the new one out and began reading the instructions. First do not disconnect the old one with out marking which wires are which...ooops. so now I have 2 red wires and two white wires and the old thermostat which reads w y g rc r and no idea where the wires were. Can anyone help me! oh and we have central AC as well

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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:00 PM   #2  
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If you have 2 red wires, and 2 white wires with no discernible difference between the 2 like colours...then no one is going to be able to offer much help. Can you not remember at all where the other wires were on the old thermostat?
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:14 PM   #3  
kykceb
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Thanks for answering so quick. No I dont know which wires were where. I have tried connecting red to rc and the other red to r white to w and white wire to g . I have tried switching the wires around and have the furnace cutting in when I have the cool switch on. Question: is it safe to be trying different combos.... what do I do ? Should I call an electrician. thanks again
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:15 PM   #4  
KeepItSimpleStupid
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Look closely. You could have red with white stripe and white with red stripes.
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:18 PM   #5  
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no I just checked. they are 2 red and 2 white. But there r five connections w y g rc and r ??
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:20 PM   #6  
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i think I need to call someone LOL. uggg
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:22 PM   #7  
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question: can I blow the house up trying different combos. I just read something that says if u dont know do not guess.. YIKES
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:41 PM   #8  
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Let me help you, with only four wires you are safe to try different combinations. First place a piece of mastic tape on each wire, (so you can write on it) next take one red wire and touch it to each wire separately until you hear the furnace fan run, now you have found the "R " and "G" wires (but we don't know which is which), now touch one of the wires that we have identified as "R" & "G" to one of the unidentified wires if the outdoor unit comes on the unidentified wire that you touched is "Y" and the wire that you touched to it is the "R" wire, the last unidentified wire when touched by the red(R) wire should bring on the furnace gas valve and this wire is "W" (if nothing works when you touch one of the identified wires to one of the unidentified wires then this is the "G" wire and try touching the other identified wire to the unidentified wires as i have stated above.Good luck to you, Mike

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JohnSnownw agrees: I stand corrected. I was opperating under the impression that testing that way was hazerdous. So, 4 wire configurations are safe...noted.
kykceb agrees: This was just what I needed.saved me a electrician bill
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:50 PM   #9  
acetc
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Also there shoud be a jumper wire on the new thermostat between "RC" and "RH" the wires when identified will go to the terminals as marked W, G, Y, with the "R" wire connecting to the "RC,RH" with the jumper. Let me know if you have any problems with this. Mike
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Old Sep 12, 2007, 06:53 PM   #10  
JohnSnownw
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*sigh* I meant hazArdous.

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acetc agrees: when you have five wires is when there is a problem , because one might be a common.
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