HVAC Training: Finding & Repairing A Shorted Wire

[@patstansberry8189]

Ralph you do a good job. Sometimes crap happens. Have a blessed day

[@DEG1985]

One of the best videos on all of KZbin, thank you for your hard work and effort.

[@michaelcostello6991]

It would be nice if you mentioned what each of the 6 control wires were on the outside unit for newbies. The red wire you say is shorted appears to have been cut off and not in use. There is a white ,blue, brown , yellow,red and orange control wire connected. Was the red wire powering the defrost board ? Is there second stage cooling ?

[@DJV94022]

He made it pretty clear about the short Each wire is a point A to B Therefore the red wire was ending up on browns point A to B as well

[@DJV94022]

Red is 24v and brown is usually a non used wire but because the red wire was touching with brown somwhere in the line the brown wire was touching somwhere metal thats why when he probed the copper or the air handler housing (metal) it made the beep noise so to make long story short the 24v red wire was touching ground(metal)

[@ThePete2432]

That's one of those calls that glue your ass to the seat in your van in the driveway until you let out every cuss word known to man. I had the same thing happen to me on a new install where someone messed up my 5 wire... I had no choice but to put in a wireless thermostat and call it a day. Great video bud

[@FoardFow]

I see that"Telephone Man 101" applies to HVAC also. Retired 44 year Phone man !! Great videos, since I am studying up on HVAC here in Cumming , Ga !!

[@HVACShopTalk]

Nice fix Ralph. Like the funny ending

[@EminHVAC]

great work Ralph. I really liked that zip tie idea I would've never thought of that.

[@over50txtech8]

Nice video Ralph, great idea with the tie straps. Keep up the good work. Ray

[@JuanSanchez-nn1db]

You ran the thermostat wire from the condensing unit to the air handler but not from the air handler to the thermostat? why not replacing it completely? good video

[@jimmaldonado-cy8hq]

You still around that's great 😊

[@jhhvacplumbing1944]

Nice job I like the zip tie idea and funny ending .

[@danielzamora3625]

Great Training video Ralph that's the kind of video we like!!! Also that's some good equipment you installed there ..👍

[@jimgill5706]

Very smart work around. You have to be innovative to make it as a service tech.

[@eddiehvac]

Nic vid Ralph.. I see u have the veto I love the open pouch bag.. Wish it was alittle bigger. But it works for me so far..

[@johnisraelhvac2019]

Great video Ralph!!! Love the end lol!!!

[@15901111]

Good video!!! Thanks for sharing your HVAC service calls. I have the same fieldpiece sc77 lol

[@hg2.]

Phew... "The end of the line for unfixable low-voltage shorts..." Low-voltage shorts: an HVAC genre all its own, right? (I have a separate playlist for them. ) Thanks for making.

[@pullingthestrings5233]

i recently installed a new 5 ton unit and it seems to never cool below 81 degrees. Do you think their can be a problem with the thermostat wiring? Thanks

[@realSamAndrew]

Did you ever find the problem? Can you describe what it was?

[@hvactecster79]

Good job Ralph !! Better late to comment than never,lol. I be catching up slowly. Take care, Brett

[@StephenShares]

Fuses on every wire ? Wow someone really didn't want to run a new wire... Someone has to do the dirty job lol Nice job and weird find

[@GlitchedPepsi]

Also 2x4 is nothing lol

[@jlaw1503]

ive had a short like that, we were out multiple times, ended up being shorted on the gutter where they ran it outside. would only blow when the wind blew and it tapped the gutter. sometimes you never know.

[@neweraccount5615]

I am not an hvac guy but damn I have been learning, spent 2 Ohio winters dicking with heating cooling companies here, air handler has heat strips heat pump is out side all I have needed this whole time is the thermostat wire or control wire what ever it’s called hooked up where it goes, Here’s why, foreclosed home and I believe the previous homeowner wanted to take the unit because he un hooked air handler and heat pump from breaker box, I hooked em back up and he switched actual thermostat “he probably had an expensive one he wasn’t giving to the bank” I can tell by the paint marks, but the wires going to heat pump were just laying on floor near handler, does this end go directly to thermostat along with the wires from handler, there is a plate on handler but no wires hooked up on inside...

[@SteveSam66]

Ralph, Running new wire can be a PITA. I don't envy the cable installers or electricians that do it on a daily basis.

[@dwight.bennett]

Thanks for the tip on how to keep low voltage wire tucked up behind vinyl siding.

[@FreddiesLab]

Thanks for the video learned a few new things. Keep up the good videos.

[@dcrickerson9775]

Nice job there Ralph.

[@bryantylerservices]

Great job! I tell you what ,those low.voltage shorts can make us contractors/ technicians, really get white hair.quick. I had a new install..2 months later.orange wire was just energizing the reversing valve.solenoid..( heat pump split system), well i used the black wire. Did not hear back from customer,than 3 weeks later same.issue.. Im scratching my.head..pulling my white hair out... Getting 17.6 volts.not.24-27 volts.. So i found a splice from previous fool.. Fixed that in wall.. Well 2 weeks later..same humming noise..customer irrate at this time. So i finally fished new 7 wire from air handler to condenser.. Guess what... Havent heard back in months.. Wait..just knocked on wood.. But i feel for you..been there.done it... But it can ruin your day.. 122 or not...any block #.. My best to.you.. Blessing to you. Thanls for your time and videos... Bryan Tyler Refrigeration Helotes,Texas

[@SkipsTransAm2002]

What red wire did you put your amp meter on? I guess it was the red 24 from air handler Can it be read on common to? Thanks

[@osbaldogarcia6623]

Skipper Estes I think it was a common brown wire!!

[@efman2k3]

Excellent video. Thanks..The end was hilarious!

[@stevenlavimoniere]

good job running a new t stat wire

[@stevenlavimoniere]

kiss my ass looser i do not know what i am doing mr pdf should me all i know ..lol losser

[@stevenlavimoniere]

Matthew Smith your a loser ,,clueless no buddy .. learn all you know from pdf .. from some one that never works your a super tech i am sure

[@fatdudeinboxers5889]

Matthew Smith you seem like a real winner

[@stevenlavimoniere]

Fat Dude In Boxers he is just a pdf seeker .looking for the next pdf video to be posted so he can learn something ????? he must be a new bee clueless

[@fatdudeinboxers5889]

steven lavimoniere when you say PDF you mean the instructions that get thrown away when someone opens a box.

[@martindeloach]

I'd make that be 8 wire, just so you don't have to do it again. Lol

[@Astrojamus]

i suggest using a go pro with head strap to record your videos / chest mount

[@Geonious]

I have the fan only "on" to circulate air in the house. No heat or AC is on. My blower fan is turning on and off just about every minute like it's short cycling. I've been searching the internet endlessly and can't find any info regarding this issue. Any ideas?

[@realSamAndrew]

Did you ever find the problem?

[@Geonious]

@@realSamAndrew I actually did figure out the issue. I realized when the HVAC was using heat I had no short cycling issues. Of course my multimeter didn't work when I needed it so I couldn't test the wires. To get around that I switched the wires from the fan and heat and lo and behold no short cycling! I changed out the blower motor (cost me $80) and my HVAC system has been working flawless ever since. Too bad I went through two HVAC technicians and neither could figure out what was wrong but charged me through the nose for failed efforts. Neither of them used a multimeter. If they had, they would have found the issue. I also bought a new multimeter for future troubleshooting. 👍

[@realSamAndrew]

@@Geonious I'm confused. It sounded at first like your problem was a bad wire. Then you said you changed out the blower motor. Why? And if the blower motor was bad, why would switching wires solve that? Thanks.

[@Geonious]

​@@realSamAndrew Honestly. I don't know. I watched some YT videos how to troubleshoot short cycling and every video from HVAC techs showed the first thing they did to test was use a multimeter. Mine didn't work the day I wanted to use it and I wasn't able to test certain components of the system that usually cause short cycling. During my frustration I remembered in the winter when using heat, the system did not short cycle. So, I took a WAG (wild ass guess) and switched the wires on the control board. No more short cycling. The wires I swapped ran into the blower motor. Replacing the wire inside the blower motor was not something I wanted to attempt. Also, there was a whining sound when the blower kicked on. My guess, it was a bearing inside the motor. The easiest solution in my mind was replace the blower. New bearing and new wire(s). $80 later and a little bit of time and effort I was back in business. If that didn't work, I was going to change the control board. All I can say is I fixed the issue that was plaguing me that the "professional" HVAC techs couldn't fix but they charged me a lot of money guessing what the issue could be with no results.

[@realSamAndrew]

@@Geonious I have stories similar to yours. I can't believe 2 techs in a row didn't bother to use a meter. In all your tweaks, you didn't change any of the tstat wires? The wires you swapped to test, which ones were those? I appreciate your replies. Edit: I see you said the wires on the control board. My guess is the different color blower wires control different speeds, and the speed tap for the fan on may have been bad, and you switched it to the heat speed. Before you got the new motor, did your test swap make the heat short cycle and the fan run constantly? The reverse of the original problem?

[@destincox]

just did a very rough attic over the weekend decent

[@mostlikelywedoitservices6926]

When stripping the wires. Banana peel the wires. Cut the first few inches of the ends of the wires then clip of the outer jacket. You will not damage wire jackets this way. I also do ethernet cable exactly the same way and those suckers are some tiny wires.

[@neweraccount5615]

Can those thermostat wires go directly to the thermostat inside the home?

[@AkiraX39]

Yes they are sold for all kinds of use, I would recommend 18 gauge with 8 wire if you want future proofing. Usually sold as 18/8 thermostat wire 👍

[@neweraccount5615]

AkiraX39 I only asked because a lot of people are saying it goes from heatpump to a plate on air handler and then a separate wire from air handler to thermostat

[@AkiraX39]

Yes one run connects air handler to condenser and then another one connects air handler to thermostat, so yeah two separate wire runs are needed.

[@waynehensley132]

Nice job Ralph

[@eagletek1]

Great job as usual!!

[@Dcthetruth85]

Damn you ran that t stat wire like a G.

[@softsmoken]

Lol.. indoor to outdoor wiring. Tons of fun. Gonna suck is right.

[@erikcable1755]

I like that Fishrod tool...

[@patrickfermo1564]

How did you train that dog to do that

[@acechoice45]

I hate Low voltage shorts that red wire was grounded somewhere in the wall good idea running a new t stat wiring to the outdoor unit. Good fix

[@harrydickson4575]

Lmao with the dog Great job Ralph

[@WinsteadClimateControl]

Nice job.

[@bobbyking5964]

Great video thanks

[@gerrymcadams7517]

Good video, thats funny at the end , was that your dog? and did you teach him that tick? lol

[@codyrobinson6025]

what kind of wire is that?

[@hardcooling]

Nice job done

[@gabrielvillanuevaiii3926]

Hey it works...they got ac now!

[@dieselhater]

great job

[@Andrew-xs4qy]

he keeps saying he playing around but he really trying to not run a new wire. we all been there lol.. also when you fish into the sofit you can push a little to much wire in and then go in the attic and hook it to you. also when you push wire into the siding you take rubber bushings and use silcon and you can push them in and it will glue them inside the siding with out damaging the siding. 5 years of pre and post wire.. i know all the tricks

[@tspriggsabq]

very nice.

[@marksteuber6751]

Why didn't you just use the green wire that wasn't being used and wrapped around the sleeve?

[@grantdepenasr4144]

thank you

[@davidgagnon9851]

Their is a really cool little Item called "Add A Wire" that i found at my Trane Supplier... It is a small module that enables you to Add a Wire to any existing control wiring config. when you have a short and have to abandon a wire or need an extra wire just like you found here....It costs just $12.75 and can save the hassles of making another full run of control wire....I keep one on my truck at ALL Times and they are awesome and a time saver..... P.S. it is small enough to tuck in a wall behind the t-stat, about the size of a box of matches. ADD A Wire module.....check it out.

[@sweetlou9730]

I cant believe how easy this was but even in these terrible times im being sold a 5k job.

[@coollasice4175]

Great job, Ralph, although I'm sure M.S. could have done a lot better. :)

[@avafleming1240]

Were you getting paid to come back on all those calls? With a fuse on every wire we know someone had been getting called back a lot. This was probably what was wrong with the old system. Since it is an apartment complex you may should have ran that new wire when you got the sale and did the install. Now your customer may call that other guy back for the next service call because you put a new one in and it didn't work, generating multiple callbacks. The bright side is 2-fold, you got the sale and you "fixed it". The other side is, customers are not dumb.

[@tommytmt]

Gross was that poop on the ground next to the outdoor unit??

[@leanorlando]

Great job Lol

[@ThomasBahamas]

2:37

[@Vfh........y]

He said it sucks to have to little thermostat wire. I'd rather say it freaking sucks. You just had a bad day if you already cut at the other end.....🤐😮😮😮😮😮🤐🤐

[@martindeloach]

Running a t-stat wire can't be that hard. Lol

[@DW-vl2wi]

It can..

[@propabilityfpv303]

why did i waste my life watching this lmao