FAAAAAAANNNNTAAASTIC!!!!! I have a 4 plex with a Taco SR506 on the boiler!! I was very much intimidated by it until I saw this!!! Now...not only have I figured it out... I even corrected some crap that previous ham-handers did!!
Nice system. I live in Belgium and very rarely see such installations. It makes a lot of sense to save on the heating bill with a separate thermostat in every room. Looking at installing something like this too once i renovate my heating system after the cold season, thanks for the information :)
Separate thermostat needs a separate heat loop (water). If you have 1 thermostat, it means 1 heat loop. This video simulates 5 separate loops heating 5 piped areas, plus the indirect hot water heater. Each loop has a supply side and return side, almost impossible to do after the home is built. You can add to a loop, but separate 1 loop to several is impossible due to cost, gaining access to behind walls, etc.
A zone pump system piping video would be helpful. I see zone pump systems improperly installed occasionally (no check valves, no mixing valve for setting floor temperature, etc) so it would be good to show dos and don’ts in piping. Also, Taco is probably the most popular brand in my area but it would be cool to see Tekmar explained. Tekmar is a bit sophisticated and can be very intimidating/confusing for a lot of people. Good video. More hydronic, please.
Your not going to see check valves at a pump. All pumps come with a check valve in them. In some cases I pull them out due to not needed an want full flow. 1" mixing valves for manifolds with flow meters an ability to add relays to find mixing velve for them. Lots of 1/2 and 3/4" ones but 1" is very hard to get. I end up many times teeing in the return line to the feed. Not the best as it could end up to low
Thanks for the video. I have the 4 zone version of this switching relay. Should there be 24 volts at each of the thermostat connections? And 24 volts at the 24VAC/COM terminal? I have 24 volts at the 24 volt connector from the transformer but not at the 24VAC/COM terminal. I am trying to power a NEST Thermostat but there is power issues at the thermostat since there is no C wire. I would thing that if the TACO board supplies 24 volts to the thermostat terminals then the thermostat should be receiving 24 volts. Thanks.
I love all the videos and how much time you have given to this channel. this is a question. Zone 6 thermostat is connected to a thermostat that checks the tank temperature and will OPEN when the tank is at temperature. Zone 6 needs to be open for the other relays to close? the plastic card is used to divide the board from 24 volt AC low voltage and the 110V volt AC high voltage. Good thing to teach.
Craig, I’ve been watching for a while. Love the channel and your book has been invaluable. Could you do a video about sizing equipment? I have manual J software but I still feel like I either over size or under size. I think your input would be a big help, thanks!
Ty, check out some of Ed Janowiak's trainings. He is on LinkedIn and did some videos with Bryan from HVAC School. Ed is the head of training at the ACCA so his videos on these topics are fantastic! Also keep an eye out for our new book coming out soon on minisplits, right around the end of the year, thanks!
Trying to troubleshoot. What would the effects be if the isolated end switch wire was disconnected from a 3 zone system, no hot water tank or other accessories? Thanks
Great video. I have three Nests and connected C wires to all through a Argo 6 zone. (1 Hot H2O, 3 heating zones). Is the Taco transformer up to the task of supplying power to the thermostats? Using circulating pumps on radiant heat. One nest (learning nest) causes the circulating pump to cycle on and off every minute or two Relay clicks off and on in a second, heat boiler stays on. I switched out with another nest and regular thermostat without a problem. I spoke to Google troubleshooting and after much testing they informed me the thermostat was bad. I bought a new one and have the same issue. The learning nest also has A/C cooling connected. Driving me nuts. Been searching the net for answers. May try the resistor or just go with the cheaper nest. Understand this is kind of outside the video, but you have so much knowledge maybe a simple fix.
Hi Craig, enjoy your videos. Quality, well research, good explanation of the content. I need to get some boiler work done. Switching relay, t-stats. Do you come out to Queens? If not, anyone you would recommend? Thank you.
Can this be used on a commercial 6 unit building? I supply the heat to all 6 units. Does this mean I have 6 zones? I have a remote sensor at the highest apartment but the people in that unit seem to use space heaters and that throws off the reading on my thermostat. It’s the same for the water heater.
I have a problem with cross flow on two of my zones. I would like to add a taco sentry zone valve on each of the two pump circuits. I have done this and it works, preventing cross flow during either zone’s calls or heat. it works, but I cannot get a stable wiring connection. How do I best wire that? It seems that the common on the switch relay is not sufficient for both valves, and I need maybe a transformer? Do I need to wire up a separate transformer for the power, then tie it in to the thermostat terminals? I would appreciate any suggestions, as the local boiler guys here in my town just aren’t very skilled or knowledge. I end up doing almost all my boiler work myself (I’m licensed).
Have a system running 2 zones. One for heating a garage, another for snow/ice melt. I’d like to be able to turn the snow/ice melt on/off remotely with a phone. Right now my only idea is to use a 24 volt transformer with a smart outlet to send 24 volts to the white side of the thermostat hook up. Have any better ways to accomplish that?
Is the 120v that feeds the aqua stat and taco zone relay board the same line feeding them just split into two circuits or are both the aqua stat and taco zone relay getting fed 120v from different lines? Btw thank you for all what you do for our community your a great teacher
Hello, I have the SR504 -4 Switching relay with priority control. My priority on off switch does not do anything, with it switched on it should prioritize zone 4 and ignore the other zones but as it is if there is a call for heat on the other zones they will energize their respective zone pumps. Does that mean that the zone 4 relay is faulty? How can I check to be sure? thank you
I did study digital logic controls like And , nand , or , nor gates and Boolean algebra and mapping . The only problem I have with a circuit board as those are the actual physical screw connections can be faulty.
I also use this TACO SR system in a 3 pump/3 thermostat format. But I only use the oil fired boiler as required, sometimes not at all. It acts as a backup heat source as we use firewood in 2 stoves, and pellets in a third stove. But my question is this: Because we only use the boiler as a backup heat source, there are days when the pipes/water could (and have) resulted in burst pipes at 0 to -20F. So this year I put about a 50% glycol mix in the boiler. Should be good to about 0 degrees F. But we will hit -14F in the next few days. I was thinking that instead of turning on the boiler, I could just run the circulating pumps without the boiler for the coldest of those nights. Thereby keeping the 50% glycol Mixture moving through the piping (and stealing some heat from the heated space as it does so) to keep them from possibly freezing in the -5F to -25F range. That should prevent me from needing to turn on the boiler and dragging down the overall temp of the crawl space (due to outside combustion air being pulled in at -5F to -25F) and the frozen fresh water pipes that results from that. Is there any way to do this other than adding a double throw switch that would isolate the pump from the taco SR controller, and supply power to the pump when turned on?
JUST RUN A WIRE INTO THE LIVING SPACE {low voltage} install a small rocker switch in the living space an down below tap into one of the TT WIRES, WHEN YOU DONT WANT THE BOILER TOO FIRE TURN THE SWITCH OFF, THAT WILL BRAKE THE ONE TT WIRE. BUT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK ON, WHEN YOU WILL NEED IT TO RUN BACK UP..
I have a taco 3 zone box. System Has worked great until this winter. 2nd winter on the 3 zone. I had 2 zone box until last winter. Worked great last winter. Now even with the thermostat disconnected the heater acts as if it is still connected. Zone one only. Zone 2 & 3 still working as they should. Anyone ever run into this before ? What are the trouble shooting steps ? Isn’t happening when 2 or 3 are calling for heat.
How about wiring an sr506-exp. I have a condensing boiler and 5 zones, (floor radiant, 3 hot water radiators zones, indirect hot water heater.) I’m told to use the 506 exp instead of the 506 because the exp has two dry contacts. This should enable my home heating zones to shut down when the indirect how water heater calls for 170 degree water. I care because I have my heating running off an outdoor reset temp sensor. I want my IBC boiler to be the brain.
I have one zone where the boiler fires the entire time until the thermostat is satisfied. The other zones turn on their respective circulator pumps and the boiler only fires when it low temp is hit. It fires until the boiler high temp is achieved. The pump will continue to run until the thermostat temp is reached. Why would the boiler run the entire time for one zone, but fire off and on based on high/low limits for the boiler for the other zones? Could a relay be bad for just one zone? Stuck closed?
Basically what I am trying to say is that one zone fires the boiler the entire time until the thermostat is satisfied. If i shut off the thermostat the boiler immediately stops firing.
Don't use Taco zone valves. Honeywell is better. You can change the power head AND/OR the valve mechanism without needing to change the back (soldering),
Well you're actually not wrong. I was taught when I was an apprentice about 22 years ago to not call them hot water heaters but to call them simply water heaters. After all why would you want to heat hot water if it was already hot? Makes sense and always stuck with me and ever since I've been correcting anyone calling them hot water heaters
@@HVACRTECH-83 it does technically heat hot water though when it fires it’s because the temperature of the water has fallen below the output set point but could still be considered hot. it’s as if you could only call it a water heater until it’s been fired for the first time. after that, hot water heater could be considered proper nomenclature. how’s that for pedantic? lol
Great, it helps me to understand the zone control panel
FAAAAAAANNNNTAAASTIC!!!!! I have a 4 plex with a Taco SR506 on the boiler!! I was very much intimidated by it until I saw this!!! Now...not only have I figured it out... I even corrected some crap that previous ham-handers did!!
Great thorough video, thank you so much!
Haven't seen one of those before. Thanks for the upload.
I appreciate your note, thanks!
Nice system. I live in Belgium and very rarely see such installations. It makes a lot of sense to save on the heating bill with a separate thermostat in every room. Looking at installing something like this too once i renovate my heating system after the cold season, thanks for the information :)
its simple
Separate thermostat needs a separate heat loop (water). If you have 1 thermostat, it means 1 heat loop. This video simulates 5 separate loops heating 5 piped areas, plus the indirect hot water heater. Each loop has a supply side and return side, almost impossible to do after the home is built. You can add to a loop, but separate 1 loop to several is impossible due to cost, gaining access to behind walls, etc.
A zone pump system piping video would be helpful. I see zone pump systems improperly installed occasionally (no check valves, no mixing valve for setting floor temperature, etc) so it would be good to show dos and don’ts in piping.
Also, Taco is probably the most popular brand in my area but it would be cool to see Tekmar explained. Tekmar is a bit sophisticated and can be very intimidating/confusing for a lot of people.
Good video. More hydronic, please.
Chuck so glad you enjoyed the video and thanks for the video ideas!
Your not going to see check valves at a pump. All pumps come with a check valve in them. In some cases I pull them out due to not needed an want full flow. 1" mixing valves for manifolds with flow meters an ability to add relays to find mixing velve for them. Lots of 1/2 and 3/4" ones but 1" is very hard to get. I end up many times teeing in the return line to the feed. Not the best as it could end up to low
Great info. Craig. Thank you.
Thanks a lot Brian! I always appreciate your comments!
damn this is some serious wiring training
hell yea
Gabby, thanks and so glad you enjoyed it!
Awesome video, thanks brother
Great video! I guess there's no C wire to power smart thermostat?
Thanks for the video. I have the 4 zone version of this switching relay. Should there be 24 volts at each of the thermostat connections? And 24 volts at the 24VAC/COM terminal? I have 24 volts at the 24 volt connector from the transformer but not at the 24VAC/COM terminal. I am trying to power a NEST Thermostat but there is power issues at the thermostat since there is no C wire. I would thing that if the TACO board supplies 24 volts to the thermostat terminals then the thermostat should be receiving 24 volts. Thanks.
Was surprised to hear a vacuum pump during this video lol.
Great work my friend!
Great Video.
Is there a reason why you are using circulator pumps for each zone instead of one pump and multiple valves?
Are the pumps more reliable?
I love all the videos and how much time you have given to this channel.
this is a question.
Zone 6 thermostat is connected to a thermostat that checks the tank temperature and will OPEN when the tank is at temperature. Zone 6 needs to be open for the other relays to close?
the plastic card is used to divide the board from 24 volt AC low voltage and the 110V volt AC high voltage. Good thing to teach.
Thanks Posi P! Yes when the priority zone 6 switch is in the on position, zone 6 thermostat must close for any of the other zones to turn on, thanks!
Thanks Lot Teacher
Glad to help!!!
Great Video. Thank you for sharing. Do you have book for troubleshooting Boiler ?
Not to date. We are jusst completing our minisplit book soon which should come out at the end of the year, thanks!
Craig, I’ve been watching for a while. Love the channel and your book has been invaluable. Could you do a video about sizing equipment? I have manual J software but I still feel like I either over size or under size. I think your input would be a big help, thanks!
Ty, check out some of Ed Janowiak's trainings. He is on LinkedIn and did some videos with Bryan from HVAC School. Ed is the head of training at the ACCA so his videos on these topics are fantastic! Also keep an eye out for our new book coming out soon on minisplits, right around the end of the year, thanks!
@@acservicetechchannel I’ll definitely check him out, thanks for the reply! Can’t wait for the new book 🙏
Fantastic video! Is this SR506-4?
Where would the “C” wire go in this controller for a newer programmable thermostat ? On the 24V or the COM?
Trying to troubleshoot. What would the effects be if the isolated end switch wire was disconnected from a 3 zone system, no hot water tank or other accessories? Thanks
Can this be used with a normal 24vac smart thermostat?
Great video. I have three Nests and connected C wires to all through a Argo 6 zone. (1 Hot H2O, 3 heating zones). Is the Taco transformer up to the task of supplying power to the thermostats? Using circulating pumps on radiant heat. One nest (learning nest) causes the circulating pump to cycle on and off every minute or two Relay clicks off and on in a second, heat boiler stays on. I switched out with another nest and regular thermostat without a problem. I spoke to Google troubleshooting and after much testing they informed me the thermostat was bad. I bought a new one and have the same issue. The learning nest also has A/C cooling connected. Driving me nuts. Been searching the net for answers. May try the resistor or just go with the cheaper nest. Understand this is kind of outside the video, but you have so much knowledge maybe a simple fix.
Hi Craig, enjoy your videos. Quality, well research, good explanation of the content. I need to get some boiler work done. Switching relay, t-stats. Do you come out to Queens? If not, anyone you would recommend? Thank you.
Can this be used on a commercial 6 unit building? I supply the heat to all 6 units. Does this mean I have 6 zones? I have a remote sensor at the highest apartment but the people in that unit seem to use space heaters and that throws off the reading on my thermostat. It’s the same for the water heater.
I have a problem with cross flow on two of my zones. I would like to add a taco sentry zone valve on each of the two pump circuits. I have done this and it works, preventing cross flow during either zone’s calls or heat. it works, but I cannot get a stable wiring connection. How do I best wire that? It seems that the common on the switch relay is not sufficient for both valves, and I need maybe a transformer? Do I need to wire up a separate transformer for the power, then tie it in to the thermostat terminals? I would appreciate any suggestions, as the local boiler guys here in my town just aren’t very skilled or knowledge. I end up doing almost all my boiler work myself (I’m licensed).
Have a system running 2 zones. One for heating a garage, another for snow/ice melt.
I’d like to be able to turn the snow/ice melt on/off remotely with a phone.
Right now my only idea is to use a 24 volt transformer with a smart outlet to send 24 volts to the white side of the thermostat hook up.
Have any better ways to accomplish that?
What is the purpose of the plasticized cardboard white strip in the middle? I installed one of these today and tossed it.
When are you writing a book about boilers
How to add overrun pump to SR506?
Is the 120v that feeds the aqua stat and taco zone relay board the same line feeding them just split into two circuits or are both the aqua stat and taco zone relay getting fed 120v from different lines?
Btw thank you for all what you do for our community your a great teacher
i just put a 3 zone system and zone 3 which is priority does not heat up unless i put it on priority
Hello, I have the SR504 -4 Switching relay with priority control. My priority on off switch does not do anything, with it switched on it should prioritize zone 4 and ignore the other zones but as it is if there is a call for heat on the other zones they will energize their respective zone pumps. Does that mean that the zone 4 relay is faulty? How can I check to be sure? thank you
I did study digital logic controls like And , nand , or , nor gates and Boolean algebra and mapping . The only problem I have with a circuit board as those are the actual physical screw connections can be faulty.
I also use this TACO SR system in a 3 pump/3 thermostat format.
But I only use the oil fired boiler as required, sometimes not at all. It acts as a backup heat source as we use firewood in 2 stoves, and pellets in a third stove.
But my question is this:
Because we only use the boiler as a backup heat source, there are days when the pipes/water could (and have) resulted in burst pipes at 0 to -20F.
So this year I put about a 50% glycol mix in the boiler. Should be good to about 0 degrees F.
But we will hit -14F in the next few days.
I was thinking that instead of turning on the boiler, I could just run the circulating pumps without the boiler for the coldest of those nights. Thereby keeping the 50% glycol Mixture moving through the piping (and stealing some heat from the heated space as it does so) to keep them from possibly freezing in the -5F to -25F range.
That should prevent me from needing to turn on the boiler and dragging down the overall temp of the crawl space (due to outside combustion air being pulled in at -5F to -25F) and the frozen fresh water pipes that results from that.
Is there any way to do this other than adding a double throw switch that would isolate the pump from the taco SR controller, and supply power to the pump when turned on?
JUST RUN A WIRE INTO THE LIVING SPACE {low voltage} install a small rocker switch in the living space an down below tap into one of the TT WIRES, WHEN YOU DONT WANT THE BOILER TOO FIRE TURN THE SWITCH OFF, THAT WILL BRAKE THE ONE TT WIRE. BUT YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK ON, WHEN YOU WILL NEED IT TO RUN BACK UP..
In what situation or application do you chose zone valves versus a circulator for each zone? Would it not be more cost effective to have zone valves?
Yes, using a variable speed ECM pump with zone valves would be cheaper to install and run in pretty much every application.
I have a taco 3 zone box. System Has worked great until this winter. 2nd winter on the 3 zone. I had 2 zone box until last winter. Worked great last winter. Now even with the thermostat disconnected the heater acts as if it is still connected. Zone one only. Zone 2 & 3 still working as they should. Anyone ever run into this before ? What are the trouble shooting steps ? Isn’t happening when 2 or 3 are calling for heat.
How about wiring an sr506-exp. I have a condensing boiler and 5 zones, (floor radiant, 3 hot water radiators zones, indirect hot water heater.) I’m told to use the 506 exp instead of the 506 because the exp has two dry contacts. This should enable my home heating zones to shut down when the indirect how water heater calls for 170 degree water. I care because I have my heating running off an outdoor reset temp sensor. I want my IBC boiler to be the brain.
I have one zone where the boiler fires the entire time until the thermostat is satisfied. The other zones turn on their respective circulator pumps and the boiler only fires when it low temp is hit. It fires until the boiler high temp is achieved. The pump will continue to run until the thermostat temp is reached. Why would the boiler run the entire time for one zone, but fire off and on based on high/low limits for the boiler for the other zones? Could a relay be bad for just one zone? Stuck closed?
Basically what I am trying to say is that one zone fires the boiler the entire time until the thermostat is satisfied. If i shut off the thermostat the boiler immediately stops firing.
Nhìn sao quá khét
Don't use Taco zone valves. Honeywell is better. You can change the power head AND/OR the valve mechanism without needing to change the back (soldering),
Taco valves have a removable heat on the old style and the sentry but yeah honeywell are fabulous as well, thanks!
Where can I get a cold water heater? 😂😂😂 just trolling.
Well you're actually not wrong. I was taught when I was an apprentice about 22 years ago to not call them hot water heaters but to call them simply water heaters. After all why would you want to heat hot water if it was already hot? Makes sense and always stuck with me and ever since I've been correcting anyone calling them hot water heaters
@@HVACRTECH-83 it does technically heat hot water though when it fires it’s because the temperature of the water has fallen below the output set point but could still be considered hot. it’s as if you could only call it a water heater until it’s been fired for the first time. after that, hot water heater could be considered proper nomenclature. how’s that for pedantic? lol
Nice one!!!
Taco sucks
Omg no way. Your the best. HVAC Gold 🪙. 🙌
So glad you enjoyed it!!!