Erie Poptop Actuator - C wire for thermostat?

mgolub

I have the Erie Poptop Actuator 2 postion normally closed valve control. There are actually 3 in series. I am looking to replace my current thermostat (non-programmable) with a wifi thermostat that requires a c-wire. My goal is to be able to control the thermostat remotely from an iphone. The house has heating in it only and the current thermostat has 2 wires coming into it - W (white) and R/H (red). The PopTop has the following wires:



TH - red

TR - red

TH/TR (hard to see in my picture. Possibly TH/T?) - white

ES (on top) - black

ES (on bottom - there are two screws marked ES one above the other) - red



I'm going to admit ignorance here. I pulled the old thermostat off, found the 2 wires, found an ethernet cable back there too, and didn't pull it out to see if anything else was underneath it. I don't know if the black wire on ES is hidden back there.



Question: I want to set up this thermostat that requires a C-wire. What are my options? Is black by chance a c-wire (i think black is the standard color for a c-wire, right?) and is it probably buried back there? I'm not at the house until this weekend and don't have a good internet connection there, so I can't check immediately. Do I have an option to use the ethernet cable to create a c-wire? If so, what do I do with it?



To complicate matters a little bit with the c-wire, it looks like the prior owners put that cable in themselves, took the multiple (3) thermostat's ethernet cables to a mini-router, and then a single ethernet cable down to the garage where the heating equipment is.



The heating will be on through the entire fall/winter/spring and periodically in the summer - every few weeks at least. I have also heard that some thermostats that require a c-wire can function without one if the heat is on frequently enough to charge them. Just trying to put all that I know out there.



Thanks very much in advance. Any recommendations you might have on what my options are would be greatly appreciated!

Zman

Post

This post pretty well covers it.

http://www.heatinghelp.com/forum-thread/147587/Wireless-Thermostat-C-wire-again



I would not assume you have 3 wires, especially if it is not bundled with the other 2.

You should be able to use the ethernet wire for your common, assuming you can get it back to the transformer.You should be able to splice the wire and get a common to the mechanical.

The OP on the above thread used an extra transformer. That works as long as it is on the same circuit (or phase), but is not necessary.

Carl