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Tekmar 561 Wiring to Steam Boiler

Rainmade
Rainmade Member Posts: 2
in Radiant Heating
Trying to wire a Tekmar 561 thermostat to a Peerless steam boiler. The boiler has 2 wires: I connected the red wire to R and white write to W1 on the thermostat (see pic). But the thermostat does not come on. Any advice on the correct wiring, please?



The installation manual is here, and I believe page 9 is the one applicable for my system:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1982452/Watts-Tekmar-Wifi-Thermostat-561.html

Comments

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,407
    You need 4 wires from the boiler room to the thermostat according the the wiring diagram. It also appears that you need a ZVC1 control that has an AWAY terminal to accept the signal from the thermostat.

    Your photo does not have the C or Common wire that is needed to power the thermostat.

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 9,407
    edited February 2023
    Here is the wiring diagram you will need to use for that thermostat to work
    You have only connected the R and the W1 to the thermostat. You need to connect the AWAY and the C to something in the boiler room.

    Unfortunately the only control that has a place to connect the C and AWAY wires is a TEKMAR 304V. You do not need a zone valve control to operate a steam boiler. So either you purchase the 304V that you really do not need or you purchase a thermostat that does not have the AWAY terminal.

    The TEKMAR 561 is mainly used on Radiant floor heating systems. Can I ask why you decided on the TEKMAR for your steam boiler?

    Edward Young Retired

    After you make that expensive repair and you still have the same problem, What will you check next?

    Rainmade
  • Rainmade
    Rainmade Member Posts: 2
    Thank you for your advice.

    Would the thermostat work if it was powered up via the C terminal (and not have AWAY connected to anything)?

    What is the function of the AWAY terminal?

    I am a novice. I wanted the WiFi capability, which the tekmar 561 provides. I checked with my local heating expert, who said it would work with my system.  I didn't know I'd need additional devices to make this work with a steam boiler.
  • GGross
    GGross Member Posts: 1,295
    edited February 2023
    I am about 90% sure the AWAY terminal can be ignored, you just can't use the thermostat AWAY function. I have sold a few of these and while I did not hook them up the people who did, had no AWAY terminal on their switching relay, they never even called me about it.

    For reference the thermostat has a built in selectable AWAY function that maintains different settings. Now why would this need its own terminal? I'm not sure but I think it can share the "AWAY" signal with other tekmar stats.
    Rainmade

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