DYI-er about to start scratch with 4X taco zone valve wiring

WhirlingD

Hi everybody…

You guys have been really helpful previously with my old house and it’s idiosyncrasies. Hopefully you can help again.

I have a boiler/burner heating system with a single circulator pump and four zones. Each zone has its own taco three terminal valve head.

The wiring is just a bundle of yarn, and it’s a mess, and I had to disconnect something to troubleshoot, and now I’m not even sure what goes where.

I think I have a plan, but I’m hoping that maybe you guys can help make sure my plan makes sense.

Here goes. There are 2x 24 V transformers. As of now, I believe three valve heads go to one of the transformers, since one zone was installed much later.

Wiring: I’m thinking of making two different loops, one for each transformer.

Circuit #1:

- Red wire coming out of a transformer will go to a wago connector that will connect with two red wires coming out of thermostats.
- Piggybacked onto the connector will be one wire that goes to the top number one connector on 2x taco heads.

- White wire coming out of transformer will go to a wago connector that will also connect the two thermostat white wires
- An additional white wire will be piggybacked in that connector and run to the number two terminal on the zone valve head.

- Repeat with the other two thermostats, but have those white wires leading to the same wago connector as the first circuit.

Next:

- There are red and white wires coming off of the burner controller module thingy

- Red wire will lead to a connector that will piggyback to 4x outgoing wires that will connect to the number three terminal on each taco valve head.

- White wire from the burner controller we’ll go the same wago connector that had the white wires from the thermostats, and 24v transformers.

Does all of this make electrical sense? Anything in here that sounds like it with fry out any components? :-)

Feedback as welcome, and appreciated!

SteveSan

If you have 4 zone valves and 1 circ. pump I would suggest the Taco ZVC404-4 control, https://www.tacocomfort.com/documents/FileLibrary/102-393.pdf. You will not need the external transformers, cleans up the nest of wires and has LED lights on the control to easily diagnose which zones that might be an issue.

If you have any questions, please give Taco Technical Services a call during normal business hours Mon-Fri 8am-5pm EST 401-942-8000

WhirlingD

SteveSan said:

If you have 4 zone valves and 1 circ. pump I would suggest the Taco ZVC404-4 control, https://www.tacocomfort.com/documents/FileLibrary/102-393.pdf. You will not need the external transformers, cleans up the nest of wires and has LED lights on the control to easily diagnose which zones that might be an issue.

If you have any questions, please give Taco Technical Services a call during normal business hours Mon-Fri 8am-5pm EST 401-942-8000

That would be awesome to be able to do that, but truthfully, the reason I am doing this on my own is because I don’t have a penny to my name.

A poor bloke has to go to desperate measures sometimes to make ends meet… :-)

Joe Mattiello

pick up a ZVC404 which is a great facilitator and clean up that bundle of yarn you currently have. It is equipped with transformer to power the valves, 120 volt output for circulator, and ability to prioritize DMW if necessary. Hopefully this helps

WhirlingD

Joe Mattiello said:

pick up a ZVC404 which is a great facilitator and clean up that bundle of yarn you currently have. It is equipped with transformer to power the valves, 120 volt output for circulator, and ability to prioritize DMW if necessary. Hopefully this helps

Thank you, I like the idea, but don’t have the cash.

I have to do this myself, so I guess I have to go solo and just cut all the yarn off and start fresh eyeballing each trace.

Does the plan I have seem to make sense?

109A_5

Hello @WhirlingD,

WhirlingD said:

- Red wire coming out of a transformer will go to a wago connector that will connect with two red wires coming out of thermostats.
- White wire coming out of transformer will go to a wago connector that will also connect the two thermostat white wires

This sounds like when a thermostat closes it will overload the transformer with no fuse to blow. Not good.


You probably want something like this. You could put 2 zones on each transformer.



https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.supplyhouse.com/product_files/555-050RP-brochure.pdf

EdTheHeaterMan

@WhirlingD
In your first post you described a dead short, and when you do that, all the Factory Installed Smoke will come out of the transformer(s). With no smoke left in the transformers they will not work. You will need to purchase new transformers and rethink your wiring ideas. @109A_5 Has posted the "best practice" way to connect the wires. I will just add some colors to make the wiring easier for the future.


Remember that electric is colorblind and will go thru any color wire regardless of color. I just picked Red White and Blue... but you can use Red White and Green if that is the colors you have. You can even connect a green wire and a white wire and a blue wire and a red wire under a wire connector. Just make sure they go to the correct terminals. Want to get really fancy, do what Trane® Commercial used to do... use all black wires and just print numbers at the end or each wire

Wire one zone valve at a time and test it to see if you have completed the job correctly. Transformer R to thermostat R. Thermostat W to zone valve 1. Zone valve 2 to transformer C
Once that is completed then you can take the C from the transformer and all the terminal 3 from the zone valves and use that to operate the Burner/Circulator control.

If you do it that way, then you will be able to solve problems in the future more easily.
Before you start this project, go the the Auto Parts Store and get a box of 3 amp Automotive fuses and some spade connectors and make a SMOKE KEEPER

WhirlingD

EdTheHeaterMan said:

@WhirlingD
In your first post you described a dead short, and when you do that, all the Factory Installed Smoke will come out of the transformer(s). With no smoke left in the transformers they will not work. You will need to purchase new transformers and rethink your wiring ideas. @109A_5 Has posted the "best practice" way to connect the wires. I will just add some colors to make the wiring easier for the future.


Remember that electric is colorblind and will go thru any color wire regardless of color. I just picked Red White and Blue... but you can use Red White and Green if that is the colors you have. You can even connect a green wire and a white wire and a blue wire and a red wire under a wire connector. Just make sure they go to the correct terminals. Want to get really fancy, do what Trane® Commercial used to do... use all black wires and just print numbers at the end or each wire

Wire one zone valve at a time and test it to see if you have completed the job correctly. Transformer R to thermostat R. Thermostat W to zone valve 1. Zone valve 2 to transformer C
Once that is completed then you can take the C from the transformer and all the terminal 3 from the zone valves and use that to operate the Burner/Circulator control.

If you do it that way, then you will be able to solve problems in the future more easily.
Before you start this project, go the the Auto Parts Store and get a box of 3 amp Automotive fuses and some spade connectors and make a SMOKE KEEPER

Thank you… Out of curiosity, are you saying that you see a short in the description that I originally wrote above? If I may ask, what part seems to be asking for trouble?

EdTheHeaterMan

Here goes. There are 2x 24 V transformers. As of now, I believe three valve heads go to one of the transformers, since one zone was installed much later.

Wiring: I’m thinking of making two different loops, one for each transformer.

Circuit #1:

- Red wire coming out of a transformer will go to a wago connector that will connect with two red wires coming out of thermostats.
- Piggybacked onto the connector will be one wire that goes to the top number one connector on 2x taco heads.

- White wire coming out of transformer will go to a wago connector that will also connect the two thermostat white wires
- An additional white wire will be piggybacked in that connector and run to the number two terminal on the zone valve head.

- Red wire coming out of a transformer will go to a wago connector that will connect with two red wires coming out of thermostats.
- Piggybacked onto the connector will be one wire that goes to the top number one connector on 2x taco heads.

- White wire coming out of transformer will go to a wago connector that will also connect the two thermostat white wires


At this point, I stop because if we just place zone 1 thermostat to Call For Heat R will connect to W in the thermostat and this creates a dead short.
You must have a load of some kind in the circuit. the above illustration has no load. The following illustration (below) has a load (the zone valve heat motor) in the circuit.
So I will state the same thing I said above:
Wire one zone valve at a time and test it to see if you have completed the job correctly. Transformer R to thermostat R. Thermostat W to zone valve 1. Zone valve 2 to transformer C




Once that is completed then you can take the C from the transformer and all the terminal 3 from the zone valves and use that to operate the Burner/Circulator control.

EdTheHeaterMan

🎵 They asked me how I knew
The wi-ring was askew 🎵
🎵 I of course replied
when a transformer dies
smoke gets in your eyes. 🎵

Get the all new Fast acting Non-patented
SMOKE KEEPER

WhirlingD

EdTheHeaterMan said:

🎵 They asked me how I knew
The wi-ring was askew 🎵
🎵 I of course replied
when a transformer dies
smoke gets in your eyes. 🎵

Get the all new Fast acting Non-patented
SMOKE KEEPER

You are too funny!

I think I can get all of this now… And I’ll just follow the paint by numbers strategy you are suggesting… :-)

I ordered the wago connectors from Amazon (they were way more expensive at HD), and they will be here in the next few days… Stay tuned for the update…

WhirlingD

WhirlingD said:

EdTheHeaterMan said:

🎵 They asked me how I knew
The wi-ring was askew 🎵
🎵 I of course replied
when a transformer dies
smoke gets in your eyes. 🎵

Get the all new Fast acting Non-patented
SMOKE KEEPER

You are too funny!

I think I can get all of this now… And I’ll just follow the paint by numbers strategy you are suggesting… :-)

I ordered the wago connectors from Amazon (they were way more expensive at HD), and they will be here in the next few days… Stay tuned for the update…

Hi Ed… One last question about this diagram, and this set up.

It took me almost a week to get the Wago connectors off of Amazon, so I still haven’t put this all together.

If you recall, I have 2x 24 V transformers, and I think it is currently set up that I have two zone valves per transformer, for a total of four zone valves. I was considering keeping it that way. I think I have to, with voltage limitations.

With this kind of set up, is it accurate to say that I would have to have all of the C wires to all zone valve heads, and the boiler C connected together through Wago connectors? One way or the other, all the C circuits are going to be connected together in some way, correct? And the only way the load wires will connect is when the zone valve head opens the circuit with the plunger going downward?

In regard to the wires coming off of the boiler… Am I understanding correctly that the red wires should go to a Wago connector that will branch out to all of the taco zone valves on the number three terminal?

Then, am I understanding correctly that I can take the other wire off the boiler, presumably, white, and connect it with any Wago connector that leads to the number two terminal?


Does this sound accurate?

WhirlingD

I still haven’t concluded what’s going to work for this. Can someone offer final thoughts?

Here’s what I’m still unclear about…

I’m going to essentially have two circuit systems, if you will, with two zone valve heads each operating off of one 24 V transformer. Times two.

I get how to wire all of that… But I’m struggling with how to get the boiler controller wires set up for both circuit systems.

I know that the power wire from the boiler will go to the third terminal on all 4X taco zone valves.

Will the common coming off the boiler have to tap into both circuit systems, or can I just tap into one of those circuits?

Am I making any sense? In other words, does the common coming off the boiler have to be tapped into both circuits, or can it just tap into one common in one of the systems?

I have it all taken apart, so I hope you guys can answer this quickly!