R wired through safeties?

ForestfortheTrees

Hi, I've got a large HVAC company telling me conflicting information, was hoping someone could help settle a few things for me:
- I've got a 22 year old Pennco steam boiler (incorrectly piped with copper...) that my HVAC company told me would be compatible with an Ecobee smart thermostat. I knew I would need a common wire added, they said no problem. I'm a few weeks post-install, and my thermostat is sending me automated messages that the thermostat is restarting often. I logged into my Ecobee account and lo and behold, the thermostat is losing power at the end of every heating cycle.
- I called the installing company, and after coming over, said that R was "wired through the safeties" which was causing this behavior. They also said the Ecobee was not the ideal thermostat for my system after all, because you can't change the # cycles per hour and they want to change it out for a smart Honeywell thermostat. My questions are thus:
1) Was this wired incorrectly?
2) I'm not particularly knowledgeable, but would an additional transformer and isolation relay solve my problem?
3) Is there anything wrong with an Ecobee controlling a steam system like mine? Or do I need a Honeywell (not sure which model they want to install)? Thank you

109A_5

Hello @ForestfortheTrees,
Looking through some older manuals (not sure which boiler is yours), looks like the manufacture recommends just a relay.

https://penncoboilers.com/documents/archived
https://penncoboilers.com/sites/default/files/980.pdf

Jamie Hall

1 -- yes, in a sense. With two wire thermostats that arrangement was quite normal. Not with the fancy new sturr.
2 -- yes, that will fix the problem
3 -- the Ecobee is actually not too bad with steam, as modern thermostats go.

ForestfortheTrees

Thank you for the replies. I have the 1606HSD so that manual is indeed the one. I will let my contractor know that an isolation relay should solve the problem. I'm a little annoyed they didn't put one in from the beginning...

109A_5

Hello @ForestfortheTrees,
If the C wire is needed, I probably would do it this way.

ForestfortheTrees

Update: the HVAC tech agreed with my assessment, installed the relay, and all is well. Thanks for the help. Photo to show the contrast with wire management from the first guy to the second