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jheavner · 10-24-2008, 02:46 PM

I have an receptacle in the same outlet as the switch. The outlet was not powered even though it appeared to be wired correctly but the fan was working properly with the switch. My electrician wired the receptacle so it was hot but now the fan runs constantly when the switch is on and we're both stumped. Any ideas on how to wire this thing correctly?

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 03:06 PM

Which one is it Carrier or Trane. They are diff mfgs.

I assume you are talking about the light switch that powers the furnace has a receptacle as a convenience to plug a any electric device into. Yes, no?

Just wiring the outlet out should not cause the fan to run all the time.

Is it heating the house OK? And more importantly were there more wires coming into the switch box from the furnace than just the furnace leads?

Important to know also the model number, is it a 90% or 80% furnace, how old is it?

jheavner · 10-24-2008, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

Which one is it Carrier or Trane. They are diff mfgs.

The furnace is a Trane XL80. The box on top of it (I'm assuming is the fan/blower) is a Carrier.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

I assume you are talking about the light switch that powers the furnace has a receptacle as a convenience to plug a any electric device into. Yes, no?

Yes, exactly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

Just wiring the outlet out should not cause the fan to run all the time.

Is it heating the house OK? And more importantly were there more wires coming into the switch box from the furnace than just the furnace leads?

The heat was working fine and the fan wasn't blowing all the time until we made the outlet hot. I have a red, black, white, and ground coming from the furnace. We have black going into the receptacle, red going into the top of the switch, white going into the bottom of the switch, and ground is on the ground screw of the switch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

Important to know also the model number, is it a 90% or 80% furnace, how old is it?

The furnace is an XL80. I don't know what 80% or 90% means. It's less than 5 years old.

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 04:08 PM

You have a Trane furnace and a Carrier A/C

Pull all your wire off.

Tell me the color of the wires that come out of the furnace.

jheavner · 10-24-2008, 04:10 PM

Yes, we just found the manuals and are looking for a wiring diagram for the switch but so far just see the thermostat and the actual furnace. What is the red wire for?

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 04:18 PM

Is the red white and black wire your supply voltage wires.

And tell me what color the wires come from the furnace are.

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jheavner

Yes, we just found the manuals and are looking for a wiring diagram for the switch but so far just see the thermostat and the actual furnace. What is the red wire for?

i can't tell what the red wire is for until I know if its in the supply wiring or the the wiring from the furnace.

If your friend is an electrician he'll be able to answer that question in a snap.

jheavner · 10-24-2008, 04:43 PM

Here are some pics...

Power is coming in from the top. It's old wiring. And the wires you see are coming in from the furnace.

The next picture is zoomed out. The gray wire coming in from the right is the wiring with the red wire.

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 05:01 PM

Man that is some shabby workmanship on the wiring. Where does that copper gasline go?

take the powered lead of the incoming wire and connect to the line side of switch and run it to hot side of receptacle.

Take the neutral of the incoming wire and connect to neutral side of receptacle.

Before I can tell you how to proceed I need to know what the red white and black connect to in the furnace.

Usually it's black and white are it but i think that red is hooked into something that needs to be checked.

jheavner · 10-24-2008, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

Man that is some shabby workmanship on the wiring. Where does that copper gasline go?

The previous owners decided they wanted a gas fireplace so they ran a gas line up through the ash chute into the fireplace. There was no cutoff near the fireplace, just the one in the basement that you see in the pic. When we first saw the house our real estate agent told the selling agent that not only was that illegal but likely to end tragically for all involved. What's really scary is the previous owners weren't handy enough to do it themselves so they got someone to do that for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by hvaclover

Before I can tell you how to proceed I need to know what the red white and black connect to in the furnace.

Usually it's black and white are it but i think that red is hooked into something that needs to be checked.

That's the problem, I don't know what it's for and the schematics and whatnot for the furnace are well beyond me.

I wired it back to how it was originally so the switch works correctly but the receptacle is cold. The black (power) goes into the bottom of the switch, the black (furnace) goes into the top of the switch, the neutral (power) goes into the top left side of the receptacle, the white (furnace) goes into the bottom left side of the receptacle, and the red (furnace) goes into the right top side of the receptacle.

hvaclover · 10-24-2008, 06:41 PM

Well good luck.

**beenthere** · 10-25-2008, 01:02 PM

The recep is probably only suppose to be powered when the blower runs.
It may have been used for a humidifier, or condensate pump.

jheavner · 10-25-2008, 05:14 PM

Yes, it has a humidifier and a Honeywell filter plugged into it.

**beenthere** · 10-25-2008, 10:54 PM

Then it was wired right before your electrician touched it.
And if he rewired it back to the original way, its correct again.

Its only suppose to be hot when the blower runs.