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Tekmar 561 Wiring to Steam Boiler

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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

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  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 7,834
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    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 F Young. Retired HVAC ContractorSpecialized in Residential Oil Burner and Hydronics
  • EdTheHeaterMan
    EdTheHeaterMan Member Posts: 7,834
    edited February 2023
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    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 F Young. Retired HVAC ContractorSpecialized in Residential Oil Burner and Hydronics
    Rainmade
  • Rainmade
    Rainmade Member Posts: 2
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    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: 1,046
    edited February 2023
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    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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