dogs chewed up a/c control wires ... need help
#1
04-18-04, 05:17 PM
dogs chewed up a/c control wires ... need help
i'm a fairly technical person, but thas has got me stumped, i'll try to explain this in a sensible manner.
there are 4 very small wires (red, white, green, blue) that run out to my airconditioning unit, behind my house. my dogs chewed these in two, so i've retwisted them back together and seperated all of them, but now, no a/c or heat. so i replaced my thermostat unit with a new one (which i'm sure i wired up correctly). once that was wired, still nothing. so i've taken my electric meter and started at my breaker box, both the furnace and a/c breakers have power. i tried to test my furnace, but no where i tested for power worked. i took off the front cover and there's a circuit board on bottom section (fan section). there are two little lights at the top of this board that are not lit up, i've tried testing for power on this board also, i get no juice, on my thermostat when i set the fan to go on and turn off the a/c and heat the fan still doesn't come on. i know my heater and a/c are good, they were working the day before the dogs chewed up the a/c controls.
i've checked all the breakers and everything is good to go. could it just be that i have the thermostat wired up incorrectly or am i overlooking something? (my heat is gas btw, if that makes a diff. - and for my furnace you don't have to light the pilot, it does it itself)
sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, if it is could someone who is a mod please move it to the right one.
thanks.
there are 4 very small wires (red, white, green, blue) that run out to my airconditioning unit, behind my house. my dogs chewed these in two, so i've retwisted them back together and seperated all of them, but now, no a/c or heat. so i replaced my thermostat unit with a new one (which i'm sure i wired up correctly). once that was wired, still nothing. so i've taken my electric meter and started at my breaker box, both the furnace and a/c breakers have power. i tried to test my furnace, but no where i tested for power worked. i took off the front cover and there's a circuit board on bottom section (fan section). there are two little lights at the top of this board that are not lit up, i've tried testing for power on this board also, i get no juice, on my thermostat when i set the fan to go on and turn off the a/c and heat the fan still doesn't come on. i know my heater and a/c are good, they were working the day before the dogs chewed up the a/c controls.
i've checked all the breakers and everything is good to go. could it just be that i have the thermostat wired up incorrectly or am i overlooking something? (my heat is gas btw, if that makes a diff. - and for my furnace you don't have to light the pilot, it does it itself)
sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, if it is could someone who is a mod please move it to the right one.
thanks.
#2
04-19-04, 07:41 AM
I'd suspect the wires that were chewed on first, they could be broken inside the insulations somewhere. Here's what you can do if you have a wire tester that can check continuity (or resistance).
Disconnect your control wire at both ends. I will use #1, #2, #3, #4 for my "colors". With the control wire completely disconnected: On one end, twist #1 and #2 together. Then go to the other end of the wires and read the resistance between #1 and #2. It should be close to zero Ohms, or give some small reading. Do the same for #3 and #4. If there is a high amount of resistance, you know there is a bad wire.
Also, if those wires are OK, make sure you have the panel cover back ON when you are troubleshooting. There is a safety switch that prevents the system from running with the cover off.
Disconnect your control wire at both ends. I will use #1, #2, #3, #4 for my "colors". With the control wire completely disconnected: On one end, twist #1 and #2 together. Then go to the other end of the wires and read the resistance between #1 and #2. It should be close to zero Ohms, or give some small reading. Do the same for #3 and #4. If there is a high amount of resistance, you know there is a bad wire.
Also, if those wires are OK, make sure you have the panel cover back ON when you are troubleshooting. There is a safety switch that prevents the system from running with the cover off.
