Lennox Healthy Climate Humidifier - Running w/o furnace running

I had a recent furnace replacement that I believe is wired incorrectly as the Lennox Healthy Climate Humidifier will run nonstop if the dial is turned up from 0%. It should only run when the furnace is on? Right now, if I turn it up, the water starts filling the filter. This sounds like a wiring issue, no?

https://www.lennoxpros.com/healthy-c...786?clear=true

 

Yes.... that is incorrectly wired.
It requires 24vac applied to solenoid for operation.
If you have the manual humidistat then either you need a way to sense blower operation or connect to 24v HUM terminals if the furnace has them.

 

There's a manual dial that can turn off humidity control and then turn it up. I believe it can ONLY run if the furnace blower is on. Should be quick fix.

 

It can actually be setup to run anytime but with no blower it would be just dumping water down the drain.

If you're going to handle this.....
post a picture of the control board down in the blower section.
post the board part number or the furnace model number. (on plate on sidewall near burner)

 

Contractor will under warranty but wanted to understand and to be able to explain proper usage

 

If the contractor used the supplied transformer that comes with the humidifier.....then he would need to supply a sail switch that manually detected blower activity. He could also use a current sensing relay.

He could use a relay to switch that 24v with a connection to wither the thermostat or control board.

The bulk of all control boards have a HUM connection.
Some are switched 24vac which is exactly what you need.
Some have a switched 120v which would require the transformer to be connected there.

 

The technician connected the humidifier to the W2 on the board and it was working fine UNTIL I configured the stat for 2 stage heat. That means that the humidifier wouldn't work on W1 (1st stage), correct? I must be missing something.

 

Yes... that is correct.
Using the W connection... it will only run based on which stage the stat selects.

That's why I mentioned the HUM provision on the control board and to post a picture
of it or post the part number off the board.

 

I checked pictures of the board and couldn't find it. The furnace is S9V2B080U4VSAD but I'll see if I can find it later tonight. It sounds like that approach won't work for any 2 stage unless you are OK with it only working on a specific stage.

 

I found some weirdness. After setting the Ecobee to 2 stage, the W2 must be hot because it is always powering the humidifier. Ecobee will only run the furnace Stage 2 UNLESS I remove W2 from stat and furnace board. Something isn't right.

 

If the furnace was setup for one W1..... you can't just connect a W2 wire.
There is a dip switch that needs to be changed to 2 stage thermostat operation.

I'm at a loss. I cannot find that board. I found approved replacements that are not the same.
There is no 50V44.... it's 50v41 which is not the same.
I highlighted the EAC/HUM area. It looks like there may be wires already connected.
If yes.... they may run to the main 4" electric connection box.
Those are 120v HUM connections.
You would need to connect the transformer that comes with the humidifier to HUM and Neutral.

 

Well, that's the picture of the board. Yes, I couldn't find it either with Google search.

With that said, the technician said they set it up for 2 stage and fixed the issue where the humidifier would always run. I went to the Ecobee and configured it (confirmed by Ecobee support during troubleshooting this problem) to 2 stage. I am not sure all of the changes by the technician but they repurposed the G/FAN wire to W2 on the stat and W2 on the board and then used a jumper between G and O. Ecobee support said this was incorrect and it should br G/Y1 but I didn't notice any difference when I tried it that way.

 

It's G and Y1. When Y1 A/C gets powered it also turns the G blower line on.
O is from O/B and is for a heat pump.
Y1 and O would not power the blower on.

 

"Y1 and O would not power the blower on" referring to A/C, correct? If so, the tech wired it wrong but I tried Y1/O and still had the problem. It's still unclear why W2 is getting powered impacting the humidifier and why the furnace is stuck in stage 2.

 

Forgot to mention there’s a jumper between Y1 and O

 

IDK if this would help, but found a 50V44 board on ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/28553395878...MAAOSwV~ZlO4cS

 

Thanks. I missed it.

Strange.... the only link found is on eBay.
Wow.... new but open box for $75. If I used that board I'd snag that.
That board type is $350 and up.

 

HVAC tech said the HUM is not communicating with the manual stat and will replace it with a free digital one like this: 60 - Aprilaire 60 - Digital Automatic Humidistat w/ Outdoor Sensor (supplyhouse.com)

He said one thing that I didn't quite understand. I have Trane 2 stage gas furnace/cool. He explained how the staging works (e.g. 2nd gas valve opens up for stage 2) but that the furnace fan doesn't increase. Shouldn't the fan adjust with each stage?

S9V2C100U4VSAD
4TXCC007DS3HCBA
4TTR6036N1000A

 

As far as I know.... the inducer changes speed based on stage.
You should definitely know when the furnace is changing cycles.

Your tech doesn't inspire me much.
The HUM terminals supply 120v switched whether in stage 1 or stage 2 and the burner fires.
That 120v is connected to a small 120v ---> 24vac transformer which is used to power the humidifier.
It doesn't matter if you use a manual or automatic humidistat.
Actually it's better to use a manual h'stat because with W1 and W2 there is no single W to feed the automatic type humidistat.

 

I can 'hear' it but the board only shows the Stage 1 vs 2 as it changes so you can easily miss it.

There's a bit of a language barrier but the word "doesn't communicate with the older stat" was mentioned. I

 

This is an Aprilaire unit but is wired identically as yours.
It doesn't care about one or two stage or the thermostat.
When the burner fires it powers the HUM terminal.

 

Agreed. The difficulty is trying to explain this to the technician. With that said, I don't see a major negative for replacing an old stat with a new stat even if the old stat could be re-used. My bigger concern is the RPMS of stage 1 vs 2.