Checking Voltage on Thermostat. Explained!

This is a step by step explanatory video on how to test the voltage on your thermostat using your multimeter. Troubleshooting your thermostat, wiring, voltage starts with being able to determine if your thermostat is responding to the set... setting such as cool, heat, or blower motor fan.

Пікірлер: 115

  • @Ender63071
    @Ender630717 ай бұрын

    This was quite helpful to check power in thermostat wiring--not so much a thermostat. Turns out mine was reading 3v and i had a blown fuse on the furnace board. replaced it and everything is perfect. Thanks!

  • @jeffjones1986
    @jeffjones19862 жыл бұрын

    Great explanation. My mistake was that I thought 24V thermostat voltage was DC. But it's AC. Finally everything is making sense.

  • @robertquinones1032

    @robertquinones1032

    5 ай бұрын

    never to old to lean new tricks

  • @sniper4690
    @sniper46902 жыл бұрын

    First video I got when googling how to check the voltages! I was getting an error for the power on the Nest Pro saying power might not be on. So I went and tried to figure out why. Came across this video to figure out what it's supposed to be. Long story short. I apparently hit the kill switch in the crawlspace for the heater so even if the power was on, nothing was going to the thermostat. But I learned how to check what it's supposed to be and a basic intro to the multi-meter! Thanks a ton!

  • @jonnyperez2807

    @jonnyperez2807

    8 ай бұрын

    Thanks for saying you hit the switch. I went looking for mine after I couldn't find any voltage. Good Internet:)

  • @flashatm
    @flashatm5 жыл бұрын

    Thank you great job... You saved me $100 service call thank you

  • @agpenn7426
    @agpenn7426 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for this. Great explanation.

  • @martinezajr
    @martinezajr4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks, helped me solve my problem! I knew I bought a multimeter for a reason.

  • @dustinsegers8988
    @dustinsegers8988 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks for info because of it got the problem figured out

  • @marlenejollymore8296
    @marlenejollymore82963 жыл бұрын

    Thanks so much for this clear and precise information. Really appreciate this help!

  • @tedyum1415

    @tedyum1415

    11 ай бұрын

    ß'

  • @jarhead2jd792
    @jarhead2jd7923 жыл бұрын

    Excellent video no nonsense just business with every step included for the homeowner

  • @r0c1ndave
    @r0c1ndave3 ай бұрын

    Awesome help. Thank you

  • @amirgonefishin
    @amirgonefishin24 күн бұрын

    Thank you! Very helpful 😃

  • @firemusic82
    @firemusic82 Жыл бұрын

    Sorry my friend, but if you have 24 volts from R (red) to any other wire, that means there is NO call for anything. You’re simply reading voltage across the contacts in this video. So long as the equipment has power and the transformer is ok, you’ll always have 24v sitting on R only. The thermostat face plate is what switches that 24v from R to all other terminals depending on the call.

  • @milekh6681

    @milekh6681

    Жыл бұрын

    The thermostat is a simple N/O relay

  • @jeremyfrias7407

    @jeremyfrias7407

    11 ай бұрын

    Facts. He never checked a thermostat in this video. He was essentially checking contacts across the board and the wiring

  • @nucleusvision2837

    @nucleusvision2837

    5 ай бұрын

    Yes you have to create a jumper in order to test if the t stat is doing what it is suppose to. But you would have to have a fault somewhere first. For example the heat not working. You jump r to w and if heat turns on then it is your tstat if it still doesn’t turn on then your t stat is likely not the problem.

  • @jonschmitz50

    @jonschmitz50

    5 ай бұрын

    I got 26 volt on w and y but not g

  • @firemusic82

    @firemusic82

    4 ай бұрын

    @@jonschmitz50 Is this a heat pump? If not, you shouldn't have 24V on w & y at the same time. If this is a basic furnace, 24V between w & common means it's calling for heat. Also, if it's a furnace, there will be no 24V on G during a heat call. The thermostat only switches 24V to G during a cooling call. In heating, the furnace switches the fan on.

  • @carlosbenitez9435
    @carlosbenitez94352 жыл бұрын

    Hi Sam I'm wondering how to get the voltage lower than the existing coming into the thermostat, I'm getting 32/36.8V and supposed to have not more than 28v, that's probably the big reason and problem why I'm getting error E104 with Nest Pro 3rd Generation thermostat and can't getting done cause is receiving more voltage than required, all thermostat different brands work flawlessly but Nest Pro not getting through said problem with G wire overcurrent, I do have an new 18/3 ac cabling with all connections Y/W/G/C/R just replaced but the problem with Nest still persist, I'm not an electrician but I do have the basic skills cause I'm an Networking IT guy and I'm guessing with a quick lesson or explanation I'll get this done. Thnx

  • @jaws1246
    @jaws12462 жыл бұрын

    hello, thanks for the video. what if I'm getting readings at 31? thanks

  • @louiemares1610
    @louiemares16105 жыл бұрын

    Thank you great job

  • @pjleash
    @pjleash5 жыл бұрын

    What if I am getting 24v AC across green, yellow, and white, even with the thermostat off? My blower is not working. I feel like there is a short, but I don't know what having voltage across all three signal cables means.

  • @OthmanAlikhan
    @OthmanAlikhan2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the video =)

  • @jdm5066
    @jdm50663 жыл бұрын

    Sam, can u please give me some suggestions what cuase my ac to turn off i check all the voltage on my thermostat all good but for some reason I have my ac running it turn if itself won't turn on until I reset the power to the unit and it start working again for lil bit it do the same thing????

  • @michaeldavidson9939
    @michaeldavidson99393 жыл бұрын

    What if voltage is somewhat high at 29.4 volts?

  • @realestateinfonet9041
    @realestateinfonet90412 жыл бұрын

    Very informative! Thanks!

  • @philochristos
    @philochristos Жыл бұрын

    My red to green is only 18 volts, but my red to everything else is 27 volts. Also, my fan sometimes doesn't come on. What could be the problem?

  • @stevenre1969
    @stevenre19694 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for the info. Check my thermostat and I'm not getting any power to it.

  • @GUILLERMOJGARZON
    @GUILLERMOJGARZON4 жыл бұрын

    Thank you Sam for sharing knowledge with us. My thermostat is blank and after seen your video all the wires get 24 volts. Doesn’t have a float switch.pushed the contractor and starts. Is the thermostat bad? Thanks

  • @adagiotexas

    @adagiotexas

    2 ай бұрын

    Did you ever find an answer to this problem. My AC is having the same issue.

  • @GUILLERMOJGARZON

    @GUILLERMOJGARZON

    Ай бұрын

    @@adagiotexas sorry for the late response. What’s happening to your ac?

  • @wilsonjuarez3433
    @wilsonjuarez34333 жыл бұрын

    I just bought the ecobee thermostat and it does not turn on. The seller told me that sometimes is the voltage. Can I please get some help with this. I just moved in and idk if I have to change the wires and stuff

  • @chrismb1228
    @chrismb12284 жыл бұрын

    You know your stuff !!

  • @beckyeubanks6251
    @beckyeubanks62515 жыл бұрын

    Hey Sam, I just bought a Nest thermostat and our reads at 27-28. It says the Nest works with "Most 24v systems". Do you think this is okay to install in ours? Thanks!

  • @MoreThanMaintenance

    @MoreThanMaintenance

    5 жыл бұрын

    It will be fine 👍

  • @darrenrodriguez3215

    @darrenrodriguez3215

    3 жыл бұрын

    Just to expand a little, voltage is pretty hard to control perfectly. When it says 24V system it actually means something around 22V-30V. Don't quote me on those numbers, but in general a system designed for X volts will work with voltage near or close to that number.

  • @christopherbushnell8854
    @christopherbushnell88544 жыл бұрын

    If you connect red to green the fan comes on. Yellow to red cooling cycle initiates. If you can read potential across the two lines then it would be shorting the circuit to connect the two wires. Am i mistaken?

  • @dannyl6507

    @dannyl6507

    3 жыл бұрын

    You are correct, when you put the meter on the 2 lines you are shorting it with the meter. Think of the meter as a light-bulb. If you connect the light-bulb to 2 lines you are shorting it to get the lightbulb to turn on. The thing is, the short with the meter or the light-bulb is a very high resistance short, so it doesn't blow the fuse. Think of dropping two ends of a garden hose in a raging river. Nothing happens. Now put one end of the hose upstream in the river. You will get "current" in the hose.

  • @zackvizeman5329
    @zackvizeman5329 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for the great video. I have only two wires coming to my thermostat, connected to R and W. The voltage measures 77 V-AC. The thermostat is rated (like most other thermostats) at 24 AC and it has no issues. What puzzles me is how can you get voltage between a wire that is supposed to have 24 AC (attached to terminal R) and the wire going to terminal W, which I believe, is supposed to complete the circuit of the zone valve, thereby turning the boiler on?! I thought one can measure the 24 V line with the other probe attached to a common wire/terminal only! Your comments are appreciated in advance. Zack

  • @joeatx4564
    @joeatx45642 жыл бұрын

    Thanks man

  • @nld-bl5ct
    @nld-bl5ct3 жыл бұрын

    But it looks like you have a crossover, what happens if you have individual RC and RH wires

  • @robertlafuente603
    @robertlafuente603 Жыл бұрын

    Would you have 24 volts to each wire when that respective component is off?

  • @toywrench1

    @toywrench1

    6 ай бұрын

    No. 20-28 AC comes in to the thermostat and the thermostat sends the voltage to each thing it wants on

  • @robertwill1694
    @robertwill16942 жыл бұрын

    What size wire I want for a thermostat

  • @markharris1691
    @markharris16915 жыл бұрын

    I have the same meter can you do more videos about how to operate

  • @famousforever8556

    @famousforever8556

    4 жыл бұрын

    There are many out there already. Not much you'll find that isn't already there.

  • @CrayCrowman
    @CrayCrowman2 жыл бұрын

    Thanks buddy

  • @markharris1691
    @markharris16915 жыл бұрын

    CL 210 Klein is it a good meter to work with

  • @famousforever8556

    @famousforever8556

    4 жыл бұрын

    Not much for the DIY'er to complain about with pretty much everything Klein makes for the kind of electrical they do.

  • @swb3248
    @swb3248 Жыл бұрын

    Thanks

  • @sandracohen8481
    @sandracohen8481 Жыл бұрын

    Can I test these wires if they are not connected

  • @WoundedEgo
    @WoundedEgo4 жыл бұрын

    I get about 24v on all except the C-wire which reads about 12v. Why might that be?! Thanks.

  • @googily1

    @googily1

    Жыл бұрын

    Did you resolve the 12v at C issue?

  • @jonathangarza5534
    @jonathangarza5534 Жыл бұрын

    I’m only getting 24v to the red and white wires only .. and fan constantly runs when tstat off

  • @steverusso177
    @steverusso1773 жыл бұрын

    what state are you in ???

  • @DailylifeUSAAlaa
    @DailylifeUSAAlaa2 жыл бұрын

    What if I got 19 voltage instead of 25v?

  • @hnrhoyos
    @hnrhoyos3 жыл бұрын

    I have 21v out of my blower/green wire...where should i go to further inspect ? Thankyou

  • @emeltea33

    @emeltea33

    3 жыл бұрын

    What was your solution? I have 19v.

  • @dannyl6507

    @dannyl6507

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@emeltea33 check the voltage directly from the transformer in your furnace.

  • @emeltea33

    @emeltea33

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@dannyl6507 Thanks, I did, no degradation. Guy came out and replaced the motor, now it works. Said it was electronic motor controller or some such.

  • @escapetimemd
    @escapetimemd5 жыл бұрын

    Very helpful!!

  • @ALAMO_GREEN
    @ALAMO_GREEN3 жыл бұрын

    What if from red24v to yellow'cooling its 13v..... but C G W all have 24 ?

  • @alexh8402

    @alexh8402

    3 ай бұрын

    Same here I'm at 10v and my cooling is not kicking on.

  • @manintoynenam
    @manintoynenam3 жыл бұрын

    I got 25v on red and green but the rest is lower voltage, i tried to install a smart thermostat and i have all the 5 wires. No luck!!!

  • @tenguestay
    @tenguestay5 жыл бұрын

    👍

  • @shivaHVAC
    @shivaHVAC3 жыл бұрын

    Sir how does it works...how it controls fan motor speed in 3 speeds...my single phase fcu motor has 3 wires....low ,medium,and high... Without thermostat ,I just tried to connect live(230v) wire to low speed winding...no power trip... But if I connect live wire to medium and high speed windings.power is getting trip...what is the reason sir... without thermostat how I can run the motor in high speed?pls help me .

  • @kingbear6340
    @kingbear63403 жыл бұрын

    Will my heat pump work if I use a thermostat with out emergency heat and will that be why I do not have 24 volts at contact in heatpump

  • @realitytx
    @realitytx4 жыл бұрын

    I have only two wires going to my old thermostat. When I measure the voltage across them it is 48 volts. Is this normal?

  • @famousforever8556

    @famousforever8556

    4 жыл бұрын

    24 volts on each Instead of the two hot wires at 120 volts each (240 volt circuit), stepped down to 24 volts ×2/wire (48 volts) coming from your breaker. If you have to ask though, it sounds like you're having a problem regardless?

  • @nothingelse9602
    @nothingelse96022 жыл бұрын

    this all makes perfect sense,but what happens if you touch the Rh wire onto the white wire? I thought the heater would come on.

  • @Khobalt664
    @Khobalt6644 жыл бұрын

    Make sure you check it with your right hand.

  • @famousforever8556

    @famousforever8556

    4 жыл бұрын

    Are you saying this to refute the "Left Hand Rule" more in regards to flipping switches on a breaker panel? If so, this says it all imo www.canada-training-group.ca/mind-your-safety/32/where-do-you-stand-on-the-left-hand-rule

  • @kornshadow097
    @kornshadow0972 ай бұрын

    Based on basic electrical, that's just a connector which is connected to nothing but 1 live wire at R. The rest are just grounded so they show the R's voltage... 😅

  • @WADENSWAY
    @WADENSWAY3 ай бұрын

    AS AN HVAC/R CERTIFIED TECHNICIAN, IF YOU CHECK FROM R TO G AND IT HAS 24 VOLTS THEN ITS DEFINITELY NOT CALLING SIR

  • @BrettGlass
    @BrettGlass11 ай бұрын

    I had a new HVAC system installed last year and a honeywell stat that has 4 wire running to it.(no C wire). The system when in A/C mode will set there and run until I turn the stat up, but I have to turn it up 3 or 4 degrees or the temperature reading will jump a degree or 2 to match where I set it to. I know sounds crazy. It will also jump down and match within a degree or 2. SO... first I called honeywell thinking this must be a stat issue. They had me test the voltage readings of the 4 wires running to the stat. The 24v red was fine but one of the wires read lower like 9v and seemed to vary. Honeywell blamed the HVAC system as the problem. So I called the HVAC tech out and after thinking it was the wires running to the stat he checking the voltage readings at the unit with the stat wires removed, he got the same readings ( one circuit was low and varied) eliminating the wires to the stat as the issue. He then said it was an ECM module/motor.He did a warranty replacement of the ECM and said it's fixed. For some reason this issue takes a few hours before it acts up. Then the longer it runs the worse it gets. He finished the warranty repair and said even though the voltage is still low in one circuit the system was working fine, but the next day it did the same thing. I replaced the Honeywell stat again and it does the same thing also. Any ideas what I should do?

  • @johnvirginia7238

    @johnvirginia7238

    2 ай бұрын

    If only one wire is reading low, see if you have an extra wire and swap that color from the air handler to wherever it’s going, I didn’t remember reading what I read, but either swap it to the outdoor unit or swap it to the thermostat depending on which wires Has the bad wire

  • @yoyoramos7909
    @yoyoramos79096 ай бұрын

    👍👍👍

  • @Z-Ack
    @Z-Ack4 жыл бұрын

    No conprende.. my tstat only has voltage going to the individual things when theyre on or active.. if i switch from ac to heat i only have 1 or 2 volts going for the ac and viseversa.. everything works.. was trying to install a buck regulator and hardwire the tstat to stop having to use batteries.. and i was drawing off the 25v just fine then switched to heat and no mo 24 vo...

  • @famousforever8556

    @famousforever8556

    4 жыл бұрын

    You're cutting power to parts of the circuit you are turning off, just like a switch is supposed to do.

  • @mradam4430
    @mradam44303 жыл бұрын

    Voltage to the heating circuit and the cooling circuit?

  • @dannyl6507

    @dannyl6507

    3 жыл бұрын

    Yes, the thermostat shorts the wires when you hear the click sound and thats what gets the heating or cooling circuits to activate.

  • @e.z.hernandez6378
    @e.z.hernandez6378 Жыл бұрын

    How do I turn power off to the wires going to the thermostat. The breaker does nothing.

  • @johnvirginia7238

    @johnvirginia7238

    2 ай бұрын

    You’re probably shutting off the outdoor unit it’s a separate circuit for the air handler.

  • @jackshaw7488
    @jackshaw74883 жыл бұрын

    I have no valtage between any wires to Red but everything works as it should. Any reason?My multimeter works when measures battery and I have 4 wires without common wire.

  • @acrservicesmathewr7565

    @acrservicesmathewr7565

    3 жыл бұрын

    When thermostat is calling you will lose voltage depending on what's calling. When satisfied you will have all your voltages.

  • @techfive7202
    @techfive72023 жыл бұрын

    You are wrong. Yes you have power but red sends power through. If you have 24v between red and green then it's not sending voltage through. Plus the damn tstat isn't even connected.

  • @davemarm

    @davemarm

    3 жыл бұрын

    I was wondering why nobody else called him out on that. What a stupid mistake. I guess the people who are here trying to learn from him wouldn't know any better anyways.

  • @biblebloopers946
    @biblebloopers9463 жыл бұрын

    Wait, so your thermostat is removed from the sub base. So there's no way red is connecting and sending power to any of those terminals. You don't have 24 volts going to green white or yellow. You have zero volts going to those What you're reading is the difference in potential between red and common. Between red and green you have 24 volt difference in potential. All you reading is your hot and the other side is going back to common.

  • @lucianosm7357

    @lucianosm7357

    2 жыл бұрын

    I thought the same he is only reading red, if there was power being sent to green or yellow or white if you put one end to red and the other to any of the other colors you will reading zero not 24.

  • @lukeduke6634

    @lukeduke6634

    2 жыл бұрын

    Your correct. This guy is going to do nothing but confuse people.

  • @tristanwilson2560

    @tristanwilson2560

    2 жыл бұрын

    Correct. The meter is measuring the difference between the two leads. Right now there is 24v at red but there is 0v to the other terminals because voltage is not being sent to the other terminals. It reads 24 volts because that is the difference between the two. A thermostat is basically a temperature controlled switch. If the thermostat were sending 24v to let’s say the G terminal or our blower motor, we would measure 0 volts across R and G because we would be reading across the same line.

  • @baldguyadventure

    @baldguyadventure

    2 жыл бұрын

    I came to the comments to see if my suspicions were correct about the way he was measuring the voltage. I was seriously getting confused.

  • @erikmenendez337

    @erikmenendez337

    2 жыл бұрын

    That’s what I thought. That’s why he paused when he saw 24v on heating and cooling 😂😂. So the thermostat is basically traffic police. It grabs 24v from the red and depending on how you set the thermostat (heat/cooling) it makes that connection with the other terminals. You’d have to manually jump the red incoming 24v with whatever terminal you want to check. Respect to the man though for trying to teach ppl and taking the time out

  • @nmt6789
    @nmt67893 жыл бұрын

    All you’re doing is checking the voltage from R to ground. This isn’t actually telling anybody anything besides that the transformer is sending 24v to the thermostat. If the stat was bad you’d have to check at the furnace/air handler at the terminals to see if the thermostat is sending 24v to Y,G,W etc

  • @ernstb58

    @ernstb58

    2 жыл бұрын

    How?

  • @dylankaptur4817

    @dylankaptur4817

    Жыл бұрын

    Bring ur meter to your circuit board attached somewhere in front of the blower cabinet, should contain a schematic of what kind of contacts your furnace should have. "Normally open, normally closed" .

  • @wsteeven

    @wsteeven

    4 ай бұрын

    I'm glad someone said this. A multimeter only checks the difference in voltage between the two probes, not how much "voltage" there is.

  • @dylandickey3179
    @dylandickey31796 ай бұрын

    Given that the thermostat is completely disconnected, the work you’re doing here has nothing at all to do with the thermostat… the only thing you’re testing here is if the furnace control board is outputting voltage on the R wire.

  • @SunofYork
    @SunofYork10 ай бұрын

    Wrong...that voltage is from the 'furnace board' and does not involve the thermostat, which is pulled of its base plate at that point

  • @wata_laf
    @wata_laf2 жыл бұрын

    U r just verifying you have 24 volts from transformer. If it was calling you would have 0 volts between R and the other terminals. Potential Difference dude

  • @fredrickwhitfield2061
    @fredrickwhitfield20612 жыл бұрын

    Rule achiever how do you test by AC24 votes

  • @pulda015
    @pulda0158 ай бұрын

    Youve just checked R 3 times.

  • @callumb875
    @callumb8754 жыл бұрын

    MUL-TIE-METRE

  • @codysowell6679
    @codysowell66792 жыл бұрын

    No lo ok o

  • @user-qo7sv2ky5w
    @user-qo7sv2ky5w8 ай бұрын

    This makes no sense… You’re only suppose to have 24 on the red wire only when that thermostat is off the wall… U got 24 to the Y, G, W that means everything is calling… The thermostat Heat, Cool modes is what sends 24 to the W for Heating or sends 24 to Y/G for Cooling So I don’t know why u have 24 on all the terminals with the TT face off smh

  • @samuelmason1963
    @samuelmason1963 Жыл бұрын

    This guy doesn't know what he's doing. red is 24v power to the stat, using a volt meter is showing you potential difference. If you check between red (constant 24v) and a line that's energized (green for fan, yellow for cool white for heat) it will show 0 if on, because there's no difference. If it's showing you 26 volts it just means you still have power at your red wire. He's checking from red to green and it's showing 26 volts, he's saying the thermostat is energizing the blower motor, he's wrong.

  • @svenop
    @svenop Жыл бұрын

    All you did was just check the red wire voltage.... guy doesnt understand electrical circuitry

  • @yousaidwhaaaattt8631
    @yousaidwhaaaattt86312 жыл бұрын

    Thanks