HVAC wet switch wiring

[ManKrawler]

Guess I am dumb, should be able to figure this out...

A tenant said his AC quit working, the filter was dirty and they probably ran it too hard so it got condensate in the pan and kicked the wet switch. He unhooked the fucking thing because he was hot thinking it would kick it back on. The switch has dried out and I can not figure out how this was wired.

White is not used

Black was left alone and is at the common for the t-stat and out to the condenser.

Red, green, and orange are unhooked. There is a wiring nut laying there and green looks like it was twisted around either red or orange. At the 24V red spot for the t-stat, on the furnace board, there is a broken off piece of wire where one got ripped out.

The heat works fine, call for ac and the fan and condenser do not run, power is interrupted to the whole unit and I can't figure out why.

Green and orange are the legs of the normally closed switch. Red should be 24v from t-stat. I think I am wired differently than the instructions so that the whole furnace kicks off rather than just the condenser when the switch is tripped. So it should just be disrupting the call from the t-stat.

Any help here?

From the top of that wiring terminal:

R lug - Red is going to T-stat
C lug - White heads to condenser, blue to t-stat, black to wet switch
Y lug - Yello to t-stat, red to condenser
G, W2 and white lugs go to t-stat

 

[CarterKraft]

twist green/orange together to bypass the switch?

I wire mine so the power to the thermostat is dropped, lets me instantly see the p trap is clogged etc. instead of the dreaded "not cold" air call from my wife.

 

[Rockbuggy84]

Ignoring the furnace and wet switch wiring, What 2 colors are going to the condenser?

Start with the simple stuff.

Remove the wet switch for now. Make sure the wires from the thermostat go straight to the circuit board and match designated terminals.

The 2 wires from the condenser. 1 goes with Y and the other goes with C in the circuit board.

 

[grumpy356]

There should be a light switch by the unit that turns off and on the whole thing.

Mine was wired in series with that switch. The overflow switch brakes the hot.

I guess it could brake another control wire, but mine doesn't

 

[grumpy356]

Ignoring the furnace and wet switch wiring, What 2 colors are going to the condenser?

It has NOTHING to do with the condenser.... (well maybe)

It is about water in the overflow pan. Many pans have a drain and it goes to an auxiliary drain, typically placed around a window so you can see it if it starts to drip, your AC continues to work and make water, but you know you need to go up and fix your shit and have no switch at all. But some have a switch that kills the furnace if it has water in the overflow pan, so the AC quits working and you have to go fix it.

 

[ManKrawler]

The 2 wires from the condenser. 1 goes with Y and the other goes with C in the circuit board.

They do 👍

 

[Rockbuggy84]

They do 👍

At the board, jump r and g. Blower should come on.

Jump r and y, condenser should come on.

See if that happens.

Edit. Is there a 3 or 5 amp fuse on the board? If not, don’t jump it this way. We’ll have to go a different route.

 

[Rockbuggy84]

It has NOTHING to do with the condenser.... (well maybe)

It is about water in the overflow pan. Many pans have a drain and it goes to an auxiliary drain, typically placed around a window so you can see it if it starts to drip, your AC continues to work and make water, but you know you need to go up and fix your shit and have no switch at all. But some have a switch that kills the furnace if it has water in the overflow pan, so the AC quits working and you have to go fix it.

I do this for a living. A bad contactor will smoke a flood switch and cause the thermostat to not energize in cooling. If it was bypassed and it’s still not working, the flood switch is no longer the problem.

The fact that heat works, but the fan won’t even come on in a call for ac says the power is on and we’re dealing with a different problem.

 

[ManKrawler]

At the board, jump r and g. Blower should come on.

Jump r and y, condenser should come on.

It did, it does, and now the system is working with the wet switch still unhooked

Wtf? Did something reset?

Filter was backwards and plugged solid, like causing a jet engine sound

Tstat was set to 62

Watching for condensate now, it's cooling

 

[Rockbuggy84]

It did, it does, and now the system is working with the wet switch still unhooked

Wtf? Did something reset?

Filter was backwards and plugged solid, like causing a jet engine sound

Tstat was set to 62

Watching for condensate now, it's cooling

Thermostat was locked out. Go out to the contactor and see if it’s buzzing loudly. A stuck contactor with bad resistance will do exactly what you have posted. The jumper doesn’t give a shit about resistance like thermostats.

You likely broke the contactor free.

Was the wet switch actually wet?

 

[grumpy356]

I do this for a living. A bad contactor will smoke a flood switch and cause the thermostat to not energize in cooling. If it was bypassed and it’s still not working, the flood switch is no longer the problem.

The fact that heat works, but the fan won’t even come on in a call for ac says the power is on and we’re dealing with a different problem.

I agree with that.
My ADD kicked in and I got focused on the wet switch writing statement.

 

[ManKrawler]

Was the wet switch actually wet?

Yes, I got a photo justifying the reasoning for ripping the wires out of the board. Switch was wet pan had moisture, red light was on, pressing reset did that until you released. Switch has dried out now.

The only thing I can think of is the red wire from the t-stat could have been loose, I mentioned another wire was pulled out of there from the wet switch and I removed the broken end.

I need to get the wet switch wired back in properly...

Edit: I bet he hooked that red wire from the t-stat up to the board.

It probably needs unhooked, and connected to the wet switch

 

[Rockbuggy84]

I’m driving and trying to look at this, but it looks like they have orange and green breaking the common for the condenser.

Ideally, you break the common from the transformer so it actually drop all power to the circuit board.

I’m not saying it’s wrong, just different than I’d do.

I personally hate those float switches. They get wet and are an absolute bitch to reset if they’re not 100% dry. There’s a little pad on them that doesn’t like to dry. Yours might easily reset.

 

[ManKrawler]

Got it, thanks for all the help it got me in the right direction!