2 Wire Thermostat question

vtec69

Hi I just moved into my new house and went to turn the heat on and notice that it does not turn on.
My t-stat is an old rectangle Honeywell mercury t-stat.
I pulled it off the wall and notice that only the red wire is attached to the t-stat, and the white wire and the green wire are not attached. The back of the t-stat has two terminals which only the red wire is attached.

I then went to the baseboard which has the wires hanging out of the baseboards. And only the red wire is spliced. The other wires are just hanging out not spliced together.
The wire used looks like 18 wire.

Any help would be more than helpful
Thanks
-Brian

J. V.

Sounds like someone disabled the heater. It could be bad. You could try hooking the thermostat back up and connect the power wires to the heater, then try to turn the thermostat to make it come on.

Or call the Realtor today!!!!!

Yoyizit

Yes, I think it was disconnected to hide a problem. I wouldn't touch it or you will be blamed for ruining your HVAC stuff, whether or not you did.

vtec69

Yeah i think i might call up the condo super and find out
Id rather not mess with it since there responsible for the heat

vtec69

Just had the super of the condo come over and he looked at the heat. He said it looks like my zone valve head needs to be replaced. He said that is my responsibility to replace it. I looked online and found it for about $65
this is the part
http://www.pexsupply.com/Taco-555-05...-570-3708000-p

He said a plumber would charge me about $600 to replace.
It looks like it just twists on and you connect two wires and thats it.
Any suggestions?
thanks
-Brian

J. V.

Know one can tell you here what this will cost. You're super knows because he is familiar with the issue and may even suggest a plumber for you.
Get a few (3) prices and see what it will actually cost to have it installed.

I can tell you, if you know anything about plumbing, you could install this thing in no time. If you know how to use a torch to sweat the joints.

Yoyizit

Is that what a fair reading of your contract would show? Were the disconnected wires an attempt to defraud you?

vtec69

Im not really sure
The valve does sit very loosely so maybe the previous owner just did not want to spend the money to get it replaced.

oh'mike

You have a picture of the head (actuator) of the valve. The valve and head should both be replaced.

The condo association probably will not let you touch the actual piping-Even a plumber will not like shutting off the whole unit and dealing with the other tenants.

You may get lucky and the actuator is the problem.

In the mean time--there is a lever on the actuator that will turn on and off the heat manually.

---MIKE---

electro

Get the brand and model number off the thermostat and Google it , You should be able to find a wiring diagram . If you buy a new one , they will have one with it .

spark plug

Yes. But there seem to be a lot more problems than the thermostat. As (poster J.V.) pointed out. There's the entire heating system involved. (which has to be shut down). And the continuity of the wire to be checked. This is one job that is best left to others to deal with. The critical question is; whose responsibility is it. The NEW tenant's or the Seller. Or the Condo Association???! (No matter what)Don't Drink and Drive, Ever!!!

vtec69

Well either way i ordered the new head and will try that first. Then pick up a new thermostat if that doesnt do the trick(since its pretty old anyways) and then if that doesnt do the trick then I will have to suck it up and call a plumber.

Is there a way to check the head to see if its faulty?
Because like I said earlier it does not fit tight to the valve. It just twists on but does not sit that good.

electro

" whose responsibility is it. The NEW tenant's or the Seller. Or the Condo Association "

I think they have a discloser law where the seller has to let the buyer aware of any obvious defects . I'd hit up the Condo Super . It could have been purposely disconnected because of a major problem in the system .

SULTINI

Sounds like the type of place that don't charge for heat and the hot water comes from a central plant and the last owner/Tennant was operating the valve manual to get maximum water flow.

You know them places that only keep the circulating water temperature at one spot even if it's 0 or 40.

electro

I'm a southern boy . we run our A/C a lot of times in the winter