Hello again, I'm hoping someone has experience with Taco Zone Controls?

Here is what I have:
a. ZVC404 - 4 zone control
b. 2 thermostats
c. 4 thermostatic actuators
d. 008-BF6 - Cartridge Pump
e. Issues connecting them

I have 2 thermostats powering 4 zones. I understand how to wire the stats, and how to wire the actuators for each zone(see zone pic).

My question is getting power to the zone control & the pump.

if you look at exhibit A, you can see it wants me to use the "main end switch" to wire the pump:


My pump has 2 wires, one white one yellow, are these the 2 wires i should connect to this 'main end switch' and do i need to worry about polarity?:


I thought this would be easier! I'm aware I need to wire the 120v power to the black & white wires in the zone control, once that is set, is it as simple as making those 2 pump wires connect into the 'main end switch'?!


here is a picture of my zone control, am I way off base here?

As a non-professional, the following is my understanding of how it should be wired.

If you have two thermostats, you have two zones. You may still have four zone valves/actuators, presumably controlling four loops. (I don't know whether the valves are split between the thermostats two and two or three and one.) You can either jumper from one thermostat terminal on the ZVC to another, thereby making one thermostat control two of the output terminals, or you can gang valves together at the zone output. The former is probably safer, since I don't know what each relay in the ZVC is designed to handle. On the other hand, zone valves don't draw much current. Assuming you jumper, you wire thermostat one into zone one on the thermostat side of the ZVC and run a pair of wires from there to the other zone thermostat terminals it is supposed to control, say zone two. Similarly for the other thermostat, say on zones three and four.

It looks like you have two-wire zone valves, so each pair of wires for a zone valve goes to terminals one and two on the appropriate zone valve terminal block on the bottom of the ZVC. Continuing on the assumption above, that thermostat one controls zones one and two, wire the zone one and two valves to the corresponding terminal blocks on the ZVC.

Thermostats are essentially switches, so they have no polarity. Nor does polarity matter for the zone valves.

One end switch controls the circulator. On the circulator, yellow is hot, white is neutral, and the green screw is ground. Polarity matters. The end switch terminals for the circulator should control the hot lead for it. Switched neutrals in house wiring are a no-no because someone may later tie into the neutral, unaware of what you have done. The same is probably not true of your relay, but there is no reason to do it other than as recommended.

The other end switch should be wired to the TT terminals on the boiler.

Here is a link to the Taco wiring diagram, which may also be on the inside of the ZVC cover:

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploa...eLibrary/100-5.1.pdf

Hopefully others will correct any misstatements I may have made.

Thanks for the reply, I think I get it as far as the thermostat/zone valves are concerned and I was searching the net and found this picture from the radiantdesigninstitute.com which speaks to your 2nd recommendation to combine the zone valves into 1 zone control at the bottom:


SO as you said, one option (based on 1 thermostat controlling 2 zones): I wire 2 zone valves into zone 1(terminals 1,2,3,4) and 3rd/4th zone valves into zone 2 (terminals 1,2,3,4).

The 120 volt connection and pump connection are still confusing based on this picture...could you elaborate on how this works?

1) it looks like this picture is using the 'Extra End Switch' to connect the pump, not the 'Main End Switch'.

2)Should I run the 120v hot into the first switch of the 'extra end switch' terminal and then run the yellow hot from the pump into the 2nd 'extra end switch' terminal. ( i would assume then connect the whites with the whites outside of the end switches.

3) but aren't the end switches 24vac? and hooking the 120 to it would be bad?

4) How do I know the polarity of the 'main end switch', if that is what i'm supposed to use it is not obvious to me.

Still confused! Thanks for your help!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: K2,

Here's a link to Taco site.

http://www.taco-hvac.com/uploa...eLibrary/102-090.pdf

You would wire the pump(s) to the NO (normally open or NC Normally closed ) contact.

A detailed is given in the diagram.

Do not wire the zone valve motor wires into terminals 3 and 4 on the zone valve blocks. Those are for end switches (if your zone valve has them). Since your valves are two-wire, they do not have end switches. Therefore, follow the directions to jumper across terminals three and four. You can gang two same-colored wires (one from each of two valves) into terminal one and the other two wires (from the same two valves) into terminal two of the same terminal block. Alternatively, you could first pigtail together three wires---two same-colored wires from two valves and one end of a third wire---and then screw the other end of the single wire into the zone valve terminal on the ZVC.

Switches (like most electrical equipment that simply carries current rather than using/converting it to some other form of energy) will be rated for the amount of current (amperage) they can carry but will not care about the voltage.

I repeat that switches in themselves do not have polarity.

To me it looks like the photo you posted illustrates hooking up the pump through the main end switch, but I doubt it matters which end switch is used for that.

Use the wiring shown in the instruction sheet posted by Singh Mechanical for the pump(s). If you have an indirect domestic hot water (DHW) tank with its own pump, that pump is wired through the priority (Zone 4) relay through the COM (hot in) and N/O (hot out to pump), and terminals three and four on the zone 4 valve terminal block are jumpered. Wiring of the other pump(s) depends on whether they are in parallel to the DHW pump and whether the pump is responsible for flow through the boiler.

I am not an electrician. There may be mistakes in what I have written. Further, if the foregoing is not making sense to you, perhaps you could use some more experienced help on site to make sure you get this, including the required wire sizes and the acceptable wire housings and terminations, right.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: JamieR,

When you pigtail the box to the transformers, connect a black jumper wire from your incoming line voltage to the com. lug, then connect one of your pump wires to the N/C lug. The other pump wire connect in with the white wires and your set. The end switch connections go to your boiler or heat source. JB

Correction: Connect one of your pump wires to the N/O lug. JB

Thanks for clarifying the zone valve wiring scheme, makes total sense, and I liked your idea about jumping the thermostats and making each individual 4 zone controls, control a specific valve.

To clarify I have a takagi th-1 tankless water heater and a 008-BF6 taco cartridge pump. in simple terms when the zone valve opens the pump will push the water and the flow meter on the tankless will heat the water.

I think it's all making sense. I read the singh schematic which is the same one that came with the taco zone control. The schematic has 2 scenarios and here is what I gather (following the 2nd schematic):

1) hot from circuit breaker connects to transformer hot, and splits to connect to the first terminal of the extra end switch.
2) second terminal of extra end switch connects to the pumps hot, and also splits to connect to the COM terminal.
3)tie all whites together
4) done?!

JB- you mention a slightly different approach, am I over complicating it with the above approach I've outlined?

thanks for your help, this has been a great experience...

Now we are wire-to-screw consulting...for free!

What will the guys at DIY network have to do?

What is this forum about anyway? JB

i thought it was all about K2 and helping him? no?

Seriously though, you guys are great, I've been reading tons of helpful detailed posts on this forum, and i hope i didn't mistate anything in my approach...that's the way i'm going

Hey there, I tried hooking the hot to the COM port and the pump to the N/O port and that did not work.

I switched it based on the diagram singh provided, now i'm running the hot into the Extra End Switch terminal 1 and the pump into Terminal 2 of the extra end switch and that made the pump fire, but is doesn't seem like the actuators are operating:




any thoughts, thanks again!

any help on this one? I called my electrician, he's in Arizona until October 12 working on his retirement house

First, the 3 terminal block marked N/O, COM, N/C is for zone 4 only and is there in case you need a pump for an indirect water heater. I'm not crazy about your heat source choice---it seems oversized for a four loop set-up and is designed to achieve a high temperature rise that you presumably don't need---but you are using only one pump with it, right? So either of the terminal blocks marked END SWITCH should work.

Second, the thermal actuators (zone valves) I am familiar with require an initialization cycle. Have you done that?

If so and the valves don't open after a few minutes---they are slow acting---you will need to use a voltmeter to find the problem.

I assume that your thermostat wiring is good, since you say it turns on the pump when it calls. This probably means that your zone valve terminals are seeing power, but check them to make sure you have 24VAC across them. If not, there is a problem upstream: the relay box, the thermostat, or the wiring between the two. If you have power at the zone valve terminals of the relay box, the problem is in the downstream wiring to the zone valve or the zone valve itself.

@jamieR

Thanks, the heat source was sized for 8 zones, the 4 i'm working with right now are only for 1 floor, and yes there is currently only 1 pump.

I'm not familiar with the initialization cycle, there was no documentation with the actuators...could you elaborate?

the actuators get warm when the zone control calls for heat so i'm hopeful the zone control is pushing the 24vac out...i was concerned the the valve might be malfunctioning.

thanks again!