Seek help - Old Honeywell Chronotherm thermostat T8085A

Judy_Smith

Hi, I'm kinda on a tight budget insofar as updating my thermostat (i don't know the costs involved). I realize mine is very old, and I never did pay much attention to it, nor ever changed its batteries (I believe it requires three AAA's annually).

Anyway, here's photo links followed by questions:







Upon examining it today (plus taking above photo's) i couldn't figure out:

(1) How to find the compartment to change batteries - and how to open it? I'm not adept at this, and don't know where the manual is.

(2) At the time i took the pics, it was approx. 3pm EST, but if you see my photo, my thermostat's clock doesn't seem to show the correct time. (I did hear ticking but doubt the batteries are functional).

(3) I can't figure out how to remove the red/blue pointers with no breakage. I'd like to relocate the Red-pointer to 9am or 10am so that the cooler blue (night) setting should remain in effect longer.

(4) Above all, does this model have default times built-into it, at which time it switches from day to night setting, and vice versa (even without functional batteries or a manually-set clock)?

Thanks!
P.S. The following long-ago thread sorta overlaps with mine.
https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/112627/honeywell-t8085a-chronotherm

STEVEusaPA

Here's the manual
http://pdfstream.manualsonline.com/7/7f22eefd-96df-400c-b2ff-a59de6aacb7b.pdf

Pretty amazing you still have all the pins.

Tinman

The only place I’ve seen those lately is in old movies. Installed a ton of them in the early 80’s. 

Judy_Smith

STEVE-PA thanks for the PDF! Upon reading it, i gather that batteries are only required during power-outtage. BTW, i bravely managed to pry the 2nd layer open, which is how i got to see that there haven't been batteries in there all this time. I scrounged around for AAA batteries but could only find AA's in the house. I'll have to order some, not necessarily for the Honeywell.

So now on to the next question (#2), then I'll continue on with my other Qs.

Q2: I totally can't decipher the clock-setting instructions! I mean, i've set a Brinks analog timer and its nothing like this, because the Brinks' arrow actually moves (as you dial it) to the time you wish to dial it to.
...by contrast the Honeywell's "time indicator arrow" is merely engraved into the plastic, and it's only the minute-hand which moves clockwise.

So since it's now approx. 11:30pm, I moved the minute-hand to the 11:30 mark (on the Black area of the clock. (Please see my pink arrow on my below-attached pic.)
...Yet I think something is broken, because just now i checked it, and within the past 10 min. (while typing all this) the minute hand seems to have moved itself to the 8:30pm mark with no rhyme or reason!

JUGHNE

It could be time for a new tstat. Do you need the setback capability?
There are a lot of inexpensive tstats available.

Judy_Smith

I don't think i need digital. My Honeywell thermostat is on the inner wall of the living-room. The living-room is located at the front of the house which i hardly use, as its drafty due to a huge 1950s picture window. Which is why the living room plus another side-room are enclosed by a curtain and a door. Aforesaid enclosure keeps the drafts from circulating to the kitchen and to the rear bedrooms of the house (which face north).

How can i tell for sure if I need a new thermostat? I know a nice middle-aged handyman. I wonder if he can help with advice, or if i should consult an electrician or plumber or whatever.

JakeCK

When it shows up in the Smithsonian, It might be time for an upgrade.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1392754

Judy_Smith

Aforesaid handyman? Electrician? Plumber?
P.S. very funny if i'm Judy Smithsonian, you're Jake Smithy!

JDHW

I know it is more expense but a wireless thermostat mounted on a stand might be a better solution. You could move this into the room you use as a living room and control the temperature better there. Maybe some savings targeting the heat control in the room you use most.

Judy_Smith

I'd rather not. For health reasons, I'd rather cut down on wireless fields as much as possible, including avoiding cordless phones. What's to stop the U.S. following the U.K. lead unfortunately.

Repeating Q: handyman? Electrician? Plumber?

JakeCK

Judy_Smith said:

I'd rather not. For health reasons, I'd rather cut down on wireless fields as much as possible, including avoiding cordless phones. What's to stop the U.S. following the U.K. lead unfortunately. Repeating Q: handyman? Electrician? Plumber?

EMF are inescapable unless you bury yourself underground in a pitch black cavern. And even then you'll get some just from the decay of radionuclide. 

HVAC professional is your best bet. 

ChrisJ

JakeCK said:

Judy_Smith said:

I'd rather not. For health reasons, I'd rather cut down on wireless fields as much as possible, including avoiding cordless phones. What's to stop the U.S. following the U.K. lead unfortunately.

Repeating Q: handyman? Electrician? Plumber?

EMF are inescapable unless you bury yourself underground in a pitch black cavern. And even then you'll get some just from the decay of radionuclide. 

HVAC professional is your best bet. 

You could build a faraday cage around your house too as long as you get rid of your electric service first, otherwise what's the point.

I am curious though, and can't help but ask.
What's to stop the U.S. from following the U.K. lead in what?

JakeCK

ChrisJ said:

Judy_Smith said:

I'd rather not. For health reasons, I'd rather cut down on wireless fields as much as possible, including avoiding cordless phones. What's to stop the U.S. following the U.K. lead unfortunately. Repeating Q: handyman? Electrician? Plumber?

EMF are inescapable unless you bury yourself underground in a pitch black cavern. And even then you'll get some just from the decay of radionuclide. 

HVAC professional is your best bet. 

You could build a faraday cage around your house too as long as you get rid of your electric service first, otherwise what's the point. I am curious though, and can't help but ask. What's to stop the U.S. from following the U.K. lead in what?

A faraday cage will stop some frequencies but not all. And if you pump enough power around it, it'll fail. 

And that's what I want to know, what is the UK doing that we aren't?

ChrisJ

Ok.
Several feet of concrete and lead should get it done.

mattmia2

When you set the time are you looking at the clock face on the very front cover?

JUGHNE

Assuming you have no AC connected to this tstat, there may be 3-4 wires connected to it.
IIRC, batteries were optional. The clock could run off the 24 v from the furnace or sometimes another transformer was added to power the clock.

Had to look in the 1984 Tradeline Catalog.....who has one of those...huh?

The standard 2 wires run your heat, labeled R and W. They might be red and white but not necessarily so.

The handy man could look at it, the cover comes off to expose the wiring.
The power must be off before moving wires around, you could burn out the transformer on the furnace.

There are plenty of simple non-programable heat only tstats available. I use Honeywell only because of familiarity with their simpler tstats.

And as a prompt for you to change tstats, that one you have most certainly has liquid mercury inside.
It can be turned in at most places that sell tstats.

Judy_Smith

Jughne thanks so very much for the info. Which model/serial Honeywell do you have, and where does one get these things? Can you quote some model numbers, so I can get an idea, even if thru private-messaging? I am aware there's all sorts of rules of what to post and not to post, but please, I'm in the dark, and I doubt any handyman or HVAC would shop around for me, rather if anything, grab a high-cost one OTC and slap me with the bill. (My apologies if this offended anyone here, but just saying it like it is.)

mattmia - yes. It doesn't have anything to do with the inner black/white dial. Anyway, its not settable as a regular clock is anyway. Only the minute-hand rotates. Weirdly confusing.

=============

As for resolving curiosities, I was referring to landlines (POTS) per the following URL. See the black phone the blonde is using? I've something like that (disconnected) in my basement, but even more primitive. My own vintage clunker has a thick straight permanent cord, rather than curly cord.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/58233766
I agree with what Ofcom stated in the last paragraph of said URL. (i.e. I have basic internet, with MagicJack piggybacking along with comfy/quality KX-TS105 Panasonic curly-wired phones. This setup is most healthy for me, and even with all that, i'm somewhat affected, just as was Jeromy Johnson TEDx Talk). By way of analogy - if you've never had trench-mouth, try sticking pins & needles in your tongue to grasp the concept. Same here. If you've never had EMF sensitivity, do you care to stick pins into your anatomy for somewhat of a clue?

mattmia2

if it is working right the hour hand should rotate 1/12th of a revolution for one revolution of the minute hand until they are pointing to the current time on the outer door. The inner dial should move at half the rate of the hour hand.

JUGHNE

Judy....Judy....Judy.... sorry couldn't resist, you know where that is from don't you...and who said it??

Anyway the tstat I use as a basic is a Honeywell TH5110D1022, large screen for larger numbers.
It shows your desired setting and actual room temp without pushing anything.
Touch any button and it is back lite.
Not the bottom of the line.
You can buy one at Supplyhouse.com.
They may have a more basic one also.
None of these have failed me yet.
I have 5 of them in my house.
Battery operated or power from furnace if you have the common at the tstat.
Batteries last a long time, at least a year.
Change them with the smoke detectors batteries.

BTY, did you know that most Smoke detectors contain a trace amount of radioactive material?
Not anything to worry about really.

I'm just saying that there are minute threats everywhere in our life.


And this country would have a difficult time dropping the basic phone system as we know it.
First it is privately owned, and corporate will not upgrade until there is some return on the investment.
We are a large country and to get internet to everyone is away down the road.
And if it became so then at best there would be fiber optics to just each house.
(as I have now) and you would still use your copper lines inside. You may never know it happened.

I can appreciate your EMF sensitivities. Hopefully you can avoid it when possible, although the air is filled with radio waves of some sort.
Are you located close to any high power transmission lines?

JDHW

JUGHNE observation about fibre-optic cables is close to the way it is here. The BBC link is referring to the main national telecoms provider BT/Openreach in the UK. They are what became of the government operated system when it was privatised in the 1980's. They have a lot of copper POTS telephone cables and for many this is the only way to get an Internet connection outside the bigger cities.

They run fibre-optic cables to the local phone distribution cabinets on the streets and convert to ADSL for the last few 100 metres to each home. In the home there is a "smart hub" that acts as the connection point and provides hardwired Ethernet and WiFi from a single box, you can use either and just switch off the one you don't want. You connect a POTS phone to the same line through a signal splitter.

What they have announced is that the POTS service from the exchanges (central office switch in the USA?) will be discontinued. They will upgrade the smart hubs so that it offers a POTS service so that is where to plug in your old fashioned phone. For the customers there will be no difference in functionality and BT can remove all their legacy POTS phone switching infrastructure. For years they have been converting the internal systems over to IP and this is the next logical step.

The one down side is that a POTS phone from a local exchange can run for days without mains power. The network based system need battery backup with a much more limited time. The same is true the mobile phone base stations that only last for and hour or so without power.

There is lots of politics over what BT are allowed to do because they effectively have a monopoly on cable infrastructure in many areas of the country. Fibre is the way to go for all sorts of reasons but BT like to sweat their decades old copper assets keeping the shareholders happy.

Having said all this during Covid with lots more people working from home this system has stood up pretty well.

John

Judy_Smith

Thanks for all the info, and John, so i gather there won't be the radical change in the UK which i'd thought.

Mattmia, i sorta get it (at least now i realize that the hour-hand actually does move behind its hermetic sealing). Thing is, i tried rotating the minute hand alot more times than previously, but then realized it would take forever to turn the minute hand the zillion revolutions necessary for it to reach the correct time. My finger began hurting when i'd barely made progress.

Jughne, I'm not good with quotes, but thanks again for the info and thermostat model number etc, and reassurance re: POTS (though there's the costly FIOS POTS and basic POTS which is only health-assurance but not affordability assurance!) As for smoke detectors, I'll take take it one step at a time. Also I know there's frequencies all over the place these days, but that doesn't mean I should wheel in wireless to within a few feet of where i sleep - it's a matter of proximity too. I don't believe there's high power lines directly close to my house, because I'd have been zapped if so. But a few blocks away, there's a cell tower which nearby residents are convinced contributed to early deaths of many neighbors in that radius.

ChrisJ

Judy_Smith

Chris, calm down. I guess now i'll get cracking, shopping around for thermostat and installer. And again, thanks to all those who offered helpful tips!

Judy_Smith

Update - i was debating opting for the programmable Honeywell Focuspro 6000 - but now i'm back to considering the simpler 5000 one because of the learning curve. So if I do wind up getting the 5000, that will mean i have to decide on just one single heat setting which strikes a balance for both day/night comfort (and utility bill non-shock.) I wonder what setting most women opt for in such cases.

mattmia2

If you don't want the setback feature you could just set the night temp to whatever temp you want it all the time, since there is no red trip lever on there it will never change from the blue mode.