NEW GAS FURNACE LOW VOLTAGE SHORT TO GROUND

[@RockoRocko-rz7kx]

1st step disconnect r and w from board. Jumper r to w. If comes on and fuse doesnt blow its the wiring to tstat. Go from there

[@jackzlotnik8349]

Hi Steve, I just retired after nearly 50 years in hvac. I always enjoy your videos. When you have a low voltage short 99% of the time it will be the tstat wire. I've never seen a shorted to ground transformer because it will blow within a minute and you will definitely smell it. Always disconnect tstat wires from tstat and at the unit check for shorts on the tstat wires. That will save you a lot of bs. The only other possibility is the low voltage string which you did check. Thanks for keeping me in the loop.

[@jwchicano]

You're getting continuity with the transformer connected because you're reading continuity through the coil to the common side which is grounded. I've been down that rabbit hole 😂 great vid Steve 🤘

[@Theisnation212]

Isolate Tstat wire immediately on a 3amp fuse trip, reset power. Fuse doesn’t trip, furnace isn’t the problem and cuts diagnostic time in half. Get the furnace running first then find the short

[@JamesAgans]

The guy lives there and he doesn't know if he has a thermostat upstairs???? You guys that deal with the public have my deepest sympathy. 😂😂😂

[@Longeno55]

There’s nothing more valuable than experienced troubleshooting. Your customers are lucky to have you there in your area. 👍🏻

[@darrenskinner5928]

I had one the other day someone did a drywall repair and put a screw in the thermostat wire nice job Steve is a real working man mama

[@fanofoldfans9238]

I love troubleshooting. I miss it when I was a Support Engineer at AGFA. Troubleshooting is universal no matter what machines you are working on. That rotted cloth insulated wire caused a ground loop and popped that fuse. It could have been the bridge rectifier on the board but, good thing you found the wire grounded out. Love watching your videos and learning about HVAC. No oil boilers here on the west coast though. Keep up the adventure Steve great job fixing another basket case.

[@jameeledwards8836]

I appreciate watching a true professional, get to the root of the problem step by step, until you find the solution. Respect Mr. Lavimoniere.

[@jchamasa12]

My way to find a short when u pop fuses is to isolate the Tstat wires out the control board. Then I run for cool on heating season or cool on heating season then to fan you’ll see which one will pop ..then I Ohm out to double confirm!!!! Just another way

[@raulrobles2961]

I didn't understand lol

[@philipwall1025]

Then after disconnecting and running,we start connecting a leg at a time from the tstat, we isolate and run...when it goes pop ,thatsthe bad circuit....DEFINITELY NOT A BAD TRANSFORMER

[@coolbluelights]

Reminds me of the time I installed a doorbell and I couldn't figure out why there was a short. Turns out I stapled the wires a little too tight and broke the insulation on the wire so the staple was shorting it out.

[@jdc9528]

Thanks Steven,and Molly .Your videos are my getaway from the politics of these crazzzzzy times we're living in.

[@cutabove9046]

Instead of the popper put a commercial short finder in its place. They are nothing more than a 24 volt bulb with two wires. This puts a known series resistance in line which will draw 2.5/3.0 Amps thereby allowing you to power the furnace without blowing fuses or damaging the wires. Then simply lock your current jaws from your multimeter around each wire going to and from the control board. The short will be the circuit drawing 2.5/3.0 amps. From that point it will either be the component hooked to that wire or the wire itself. If you want to find the short even faster use your thermal imaging camera instead of the current jaws. The wire carrying the 2.5/3.0 amps will run hotter and be very obvious to the imager. You can find a low voltage short in under five minutes. You can use the same procedure with cars but use a 12 volt bulb. Hope this helps you in the future.

[@eddygoodwin7089]

Wow what a good tip thanks man

[@progressplumbing5203]

The fuse is to protect the control board isn't risky to put bulb running for at least 5 minutes ? Did you try it before and nothing happened to board ?

[@dylandrymond3839]

I have rarely found a weak transformer that wasn't already burned out. I remove all the low voltage wires with the popper tool or whatever you got and then start touching one wire at a time, at the control board to 24 hot R terminal after fuse to find out where the short is coming from. Nice find on the thermostat wire and I almost always use the same thermostat wires when doing a new system unless I run a new line set then I eat the cost of new wire. Those type of things should last a life time and you did a great job showing patience on that one. You only changed the part of wire that was bad which is smarter then running a new one in my opinion. What most people fail to recognize is we are working off peoples budgets and have to keep the cost down to make money. So, we don't just go around changing everything making it new as business men. We have to go by the customers wallet and most don't want to spend the extra money. Thanks for the clip and I look forward to the next one when I have time to watch.

[@j.p.8304]

Full value for that left glove. Great troubleshooting.

[@Roadhardd]

Nice work troubleshooting that old wiring.

[@philipajarapoo7675]

Had one just like this, homeowner changed out the batteries in his thermostat and ended up shorting it out somehow. Changed the stat and it worked like a champ mama

[@danwittels5542]

Great video! Thanks for taking us along!

[@kennethbubser9601]

Always start with thermostat or wire bypass thermostat jumper from r to w first thing I do

[@mrrjtrevino]

Same here jumper

[@d.c2123]

Continuity test each wire first.

[@Randylazz]

Steve Lav loves a good challenge y’all............awesome video

[@sknight0391]

That one had ol' Steve on his toes!

[@NorCal-refrigeration]

Steve Lavs electric “ let us check your shorts “. 😂

[@tmactheplumber4966]

Most of my wiring is done by Electricians. That was a good troubleshoot. I've learned alot watchin ya.

[@adamnazar1886]

Great video Steve! Yeah its a pain in the ass but I enjoy the diagnostic work for the satisfaction of finding the problem. Your service tag was dated for 1/14/2020, done that a few times so far myself lol

[@williammarik6159]

Great vid Steve. I had this exact problem with an a/c install this past summer. The customers house had all of this ancient t-stat wiring which was changed to different combinations in multible places in the basement. I think the original installers would do this purpously to confuse an incoming service guy.

[@edcicione]

That was a pain in the ass. What is that you used for the door switch? I like that. Im not familiar with the push button you used in place of the fuse, is it a little circuit breaker?

[@dennismcnamara6377]

I don’t change existing stat wires on my installs either; you did good kid!

[@johnkatrich4259]

Steve is not only an HVAC tech but he basically is an electrician too!

[@markf350s]

hey Steve, how you doing? Hey great video. Sometimes you have to dig deep to find those issues and it kicks you in the butt when you realize what it is well I got your hey happy new year to you buddy. Hope it's a healthy happy prosperous new year. for you.

[@Fireship1]

Excellent detective work Steve!

[@Joseph-jx8bl]

All that and it was an old bare wire touching the duct work….pain in the keister! Good job Steve

[@Brad1237202]

Thanks for posting this video Steven! It was a learning experience for all of us. Thanks for showing "The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly!"

[@Onthejob374]

Pop fuse on board....always disconnect Stat wires from board and jump .....r and h........saves alot of time

[@aaronshoyt]

If it's popping the fuse you have a low voltage short, Start with the T-stat wires always.

[@J-Colt]

Nice job finding it. Thermostat wires sometimes work then give you problem. Thanks for video Steven!

[@OneManParade]

You're tenacious. I'll give you that.

[@LibertyLensOfficial]

the first thing I do is I go to the thermostat, wrap the red and white wires together , if the furnace kicks on, the thermostat is the problem. if it doesnt, then I go to the furnace and tie them there.. tell me where the break likely is. 65% of my heat calls are due to the thermostat.

[@PRO4XKEV]

At least you solved and fixed the issue. Good job.

[@billmiller5075]

Good troubleshooting Steve, next Level

[@jiffry58]

How do you charge for a job like this? The Cust is going to say the boiler is new, but the therm wire was pre-existing

[@henrygonzalez1201]

Another really great job by Steve

[@lar4305]

Its a good thing the short was on the low voltage side and not 120 volts end. old wiring are a danger and cause a lot of house fires.

[@sheldonlatimer6688]

Great job Steve

[@Gordonseries385]

Thinking of my tape deck I had in storage. I have to replace the power cord on it because the mice chewed up the insulation on the power cord.

[@rocker8692]

What do you test to ground?The fuse?Cheers

I love the short pro tool it’s awesome

[@geraldgreenwalt3725]

I love you're videos at least you go from start to finish or have a part two. I been watching some new guys they get right to a good part then the video stops don't understand they don't do oil so it's no loss I'll just keep watching good old Steve Lav.🔧🚽💰

[@Capt4141]

That truck has everything

[@yellowdeer7163]

I used to disconnect Tstat wire and tie together then check tstat wire with meter at furnace to check for a ground. I had a lot of shorts especially when damn mice chewed wires. Had to run new wire through attics. Not fun in crawling in attics in the middle of summer in Texas. 130 degrees or more in attics.

[@thomasbauer3991]

Always good to see you and miss molly cruising in the “rattling coke bottles express” old wiring is always suspect.

[@edp9743]

You unhooked only one Tstat wire on the board, that's what backfeed into the board.

[@PaulDziomba]

Awesome troubleshooting!

[@leemelroy3486]

I fix appliances for a living and sometimes the troubleshooting really gets to you, it was easy everybody be doing it LOL

[@natepeterson7145]

Kudos to you, I had to get out of that field too many junk appliance and energy guidelines plus the lack of experienced techs. Good money if you have the patience though. 👍

[@sydsyd]

That will keep you sharp! 👍👍👍👍👍

[@edwardboggs1808]

Good Job! Any of the cloth wrapped thermostat wiring can be trouble

[@Evansautorepair]

Happen me one time my outside AC unit my son got the weed eater s String wrapped up in a shorted together and he never told me about it

[@keepnitkool9042]

You where reading continuity off the ground off the transformer and ground on the plug

[@luiscastellano913]

Do you charge for that service or is it covered under warranty??

[@rhodysweet]

Interesting case Steve, thanks for posting!

[@waltradcliffe4482]

Any time I have a low voltage short I always pull the stat wires off the furnace first usually a chewed wire inside or out or a chaffed wire

[@brendanfisher2528]

Great job steve.. I've watched you almost everyday since you was brand new on KZbin.. I rarely comment but always enjoy you videos. My Mrs always goes mad when I put on you videos... Plumbings nothing like here in the UK but I've picked up a lot of tips and tricks from you and shared them with fellow gas engineers here in the Uk..

[@stevenlavimoniere]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@panama-sx2oh]

GLAD YOU BACK BRO HAVE NOT SEEN NO VIDEOS IN A WHILE BUT GKAD YOU BACK THANKS WHERES UR SIDEKICK

[@williamdawson6351]

you could have tested one wire on primary side of the transformer to the secondary say White to Red there should no connection between the two sides. If the thermostat was hit an 240 pulse from the shorted transformer that be a good reason . The perfect storm one issue leads to another.

[@johnwaby4321]

Fault finding is never an easy job . But you found it 👍👍

[@holtrussell]

Steve, great video, thank you! It was a bit hard to see on the video; were you checking for ground continuity with your meter lead placed on the “R” terminal or your lead touching the fuse terminal? Thanks!

[@derick441]

The old tstat wire with the 5 hidden splices gotta love it momma!

[@malcolmcroll7556]

did you take back the new parts you fitted ????

[@smitty1715]

Great work Steve love your channel

[@KG-yn9qi]

Steve had new package unit installed AC (roof top) worked Fine.1st time on heat lasted maybe 1 hr. Died. Took two weeks for a guy to come to fix he could not get it. So a secound Guy, two weeks latter. Finaly found the problem. When install new thermal wire to thermostat, they ran through the plenum. Wire was too close to the heat exchanger. Burned and shorted wires. So it would do exactly what you have there. Just blow the fuse. Ran new wire all okay now! Only thing was the day he found the problem was a little over one month from time i called to tell them it was down. Also to get working he ran new wire off roof through my dog door into den, to a temp thermostat. See the attic access is in a spare room closet. We put everything back in after the new install. So we would have to empty out closet to gain access. Okay thing also we were getting over the covid crap so could not let him in anyway as to why temporary wires. So after another month we cleaned home, empty closet. They ran the new wires and fixed it. So was just over two months to repair!!! From a new install!!! All december no heat, and sick with covid that's messed up.!!!!!!

[@ZAPATTUBE]

There is a special type of wire to use when in a plenum.

[@moeselec]

Yes, low voltage short could challenging sometimes. 👏👍

[@davkevstev]

Good one Steve. Nice Fix

[@bashirmohamed7982]

Good work denaro

[@andydelle4509]

Steve, I highly respect your knowledge and professionalism but allow me to offer some help on this one. I am not an HVAC contractor but a hands on EE and I do all my own house HVAC work. (don't let the guys on HVAC talk hear that!) The next time you suspect a winding short to frame inside a transformer, just check each lead to the frame or ground. They should all read very high resistance, like in the high megohm range. And then if you connect the primary to 120v and measure 24vac in the unconnected secondary, it's 99.99% sure that transformer is OK. Might save you some time. Also the reason the short was lifted when you unplugged the main AC power connector is that broke the ground connection between the control board and the metal frame. Now some transformers do ground one side of the secondary, like the large microwave oven transformers. But an HVAC control transformer should have a fully floating primary and secondary.

[@dylandrymond3839]

Some HVAC transformers still ground one side

[@Trainman0401]

A man of all trades! Good job!

[@Spector_NS5_RD]

I had a similar experience on a service call about a week ago. Older Trane/American Standard 2 stage 80%. I was the second guy to look at it. First guy said "unrepairable". I kinda felt bad for the guy before me. Looking down at the ground, near the furnace, i saw a pile of blown 3/5 amps blade fuses. I have one of those "Lil Poppers", so i didn't blow through my stash of fuses 😂. I spent about 15-20 minutes and found that one of the wires that tie all the furnace safeties together had worn through because of a super tight zip tie. Was going to repair it but the customer walked down the basement steps and said "Don't bother, it's 20 F-ing yrs old. Let's just put in a new furnace."😐 I said "Ok, it's your call boss!" 🤣😂. Put him in a new Goog-uh-duderman 80k BTU, 96% single stage.

[@fredjones3135]

I have a Nick in the wash or against the a metal housing never got a metal housing of the motor

[@fredjones3135]

Did you check the circuitry board check all the capacitors on the board

[@fredjones3135]

Check the wire green Knicks in it

[@peteflores5266]

Steve you ALLWAYS DO A GOOD JOB!👍

[@leonrodriguez7761]

Steve good jobs ..

[@lancelawrence3259]

Nice work

[@Longeno55]

Steve Lavimoniere wisdom: When in doubt change it out.

[@esomartinez5750]

Steve do your thing bro. Half of these knockoff are parts changers anyways. Keep up the goodwork

[@CHIBA280CRV]

Nice job 👍that sure wasn’t a filter and nozzle repair..

[@brocklambert8417]

Steve your the man bro!

[@robertpenczar8930]

You took the words right out of my mouth what a pain in the ass

[@CoachTobyXL]

Who knew Steve had ta taste for fashion

[@rfhousebustersllc3314]

great job steven

[@waterfuel]

My Powermate 3400W generator won't turn on my NEW gas furnace! It did run the old oil furnace. When utility power to house came back on, the furnace started. The generator sockets have 3rd ground hole The ground is already connected to neutral side. The power out at end of 3 prong extension cord was 60cycle AC 117volts. The cord was checked for ground at both ends. What's wrong? The male plug on furnace side has poor ground. The socket on furnace has loose connection for plug. Is the new gas furnace in lockout mode? Service sheet says no power. No red light on board. Door switch has power. Does the new Airtemp gas furnace have a timed off period before allowing main circuit board to turn on? No response from contractor. He has the plague.........

[@JohnnyCab]

Steve your a Surgeon!

[@carlosd5103]

Mechanical issues are usually easier to fix than electrical or electronic issues.

[@wmdayman]

That was fun.

[@ellisyork1817]

If the board was bad how would you check that .

[@WeatherNut27]

Really enjoyed this one Steve. Thanks! I was getting nervous we weren't going to find it. @8:12 I said "There it is" knowing the short cleared when you disconnected the TStat but then @9:12 it started shorting again but I dont see where the Tstat wire went. I think you temporarily hooked it back up to the board? Anyway -- Awesome video. THANKS!

[@1lefty123]

Anyone else thinking disconnect the t stat wiring,jumper r and w and check to ground before he started all of the other troubleshooting? All that being said Steve always gets to the problem.

[@kennethbubser9601]

You the man stevo.

[@service1956]

That t-stat wire looked as old as the house.

[@suzylarry1]

Jobs like this just keep you on your toes, don't become to complacent after most jobs seem to be regular stuff.

[@airtekhvacr5214]

he was done at 8 40

[@toddt.2682]

Great video. I thought it had you.

[@tucobenedicto109]

Megger the wire and you would have fond your answer. Less thank 200K ohms no good. Sure one fuse then pop inststant. direct to ground.