Possibly loose wires at furnace C-terminal

1194 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by yuri, Jan 17, 2016

john_t

Discussion Starter · Jan 17, 2016

I installed a thermostat C-wire on my gas furnace, and may have overtightened and stripped the connector but the wires still seemed secure (thermostat C wire, and a/c condenser control wire). Working fine now, but what would happen if the wires came loose? Would it just stop powering the thermostat and starting the a/c condenser? Or could this cause damage? I prefer not to re-check or modify the connection because the furnace is very difficult to access.

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Bitters

· #2 · Jan 17, 2016

Stat would stop working and AC won't run.

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john_t

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 17, 2016

Thank you - so stat and a/c would stop working, but would not cause damage to the stat, a/c or furnace? I thought this might be an open neutral situation (where the voltage might go above 24 volts and damage something)? Would it actually just be like a switch turned off?

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yuri

· #4 · Jan 17, 2016

It is NOT a good idea to have a loose C wire or any wire. On modern furnaces C is grounded and these electronic thermostats are very finicky and sensitive to wiring and poor connections.

In theory it could damage the thermostat. Could also cause the AC contactor to chatter and damage the compressor from short cycling. You never know. I would fix it. If it is a screw and you can remove it and put a bigger one in then do so.

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