carrierthermostatwifi
My MyInfinity thermostat keeps randomly dropping connection carrier server. Wifi connectivity is stable (Arris TG1682g modem). Thermostat panel shows not connected to www.api.ing.carrier.com
Thermostat Model number: systxccitc01-b
Software version: 131625-01.32
Any ideas on what may be causing this and how to fix this? Thanks.
Based on the ladder diagram, it looks like the R terminal is only energized when all the limits (main limit and however many rollout limits there are) are closed. So if any of the limits open, the thermostat loses power (maybe).
I can't say for sure; since I'm not familiar with that board, but if that's how the furnace disables itself during a problem. Then bypassing that safety system can be quite dangerous. I'm not sure if the board monitors the limit circuit, or simply cuts power to the R terminal in the event of an open limit. If it's the latter, then connecting the thermostat directly to the transformer would be hazardous.
WARNING:
The following procedure requires working on energized equipment. If you're not comfortable with that, please contact a local licensed HVAC technician.
In this state the furnace will not work. But what you're looking for, is whether or not the thermostat has power. If not, then you're not going to want to bypass the IFC. It also means that whenever a limit opens, the thermostat is going to reset. Which is not a terrible thing, as it makes it obvious that there's a problem with the furnace.
Right now the thermostat is connected to the IFC terminals like this.
If instead you connected the thermostat directly to the transformer, then it would look more like this.
You'll notice that the limit circuit (highlighted in red), is completely bypassed by connecting the thermostat directly to the transformer. Which means even if one of those switches open, the thermostat will still be able to signal for heat/cooling.
Again, I'm not familiar with this IFC, I'm simply basing this on the diagram provided. The IFC may in fact monitor the limit circuit, which is why I recommend testing it.
Since I hear you are in the snowbelt, and have oil for heat only (never heard of an oil fired water heater or range), and 2 x 50A circuits just for the emergency heat (24kw right there) -- I'm worried that your house may be set up as an "All Electric Home". What's often done in the snowbelt is to supply the house 400A service (aka 320A service) - commonly as two 200A panels side by side. One panel entirely for the heat pump and emergency heat, and the other panel for "everything else".
If so, a 23KW whole house generator will be totally inadequate to cover the entire house. Even the transfer switch will be expensive at 400A. I don't know what you have or what your loads are, but straight-up, 400A is 100kw. Even after removing the emergency heat from the picture, your other electric appliances can also overwhelm the generator. You will need a lot of load-shed circuits, or a much bigger generator. A 23kw generator is appropriate for a 100A house.
If my theory is correct, and you haven't said, then I'd say that one of us is missing something fairly significant about the discussion with the generator salesman. Perhaps the salesman has sold you something that hits your price point, and is indifferent to the actual usability of what results.... it may take months or years to uncover any deficiencies, by which time they gotcher money.
Regardless of utility or generator, the mechanics of shedding load are the same - either a big contactor that disconnects the load, or say, heat or A/C can be shed by manipulating the 24V thermostat lines; intercepting the thermostat's "call for heat" or "call for A/C". That also allows the furnace and A/C to sequence itself normally if that matters to the unit, such as preventing short cycles.
So what's the business about A/C being sheddable and not heat? That's the power company talking, and they have a different business agenda than you. The fact is, power demand goes up and down, and the grid must cope with this by spinning up and shutting down very large 50+ megawatt generators. 200MW coal plants and 1000MW nukes Do Not Like to be idled, so it falls to more expensive generators to be "peaking units", typically gas turbines or diesel engines. Solar just happens to be a fabulous peaker. Because the highest peaks all year are in summer afternoons, and the main component is air conditioning caused by solar load.
The power company wants to shave peaks any way they can, so they can build fewer peaking stations. (they're expensive; it's not just the $ per W, it's that the mortgage must be paid everyday even though they only run 27 afternoons a year!) Therefore they are interested in shedding peak loads - air conditioning! They couldn't care less about shedding heating load, because that doesn't occur at peak times.
So the switching hardware that the power company uses can work for your generator, but the decisions of when to shed load need to be switched when you switch power source. When on utility, the power company should decide when to shed A/C. When on generator, the generator's control system should decide when to shed A/C, water heater, range, electric heat, etc.
ThreePhaseEel says there are some implementation challenges in designing load sheds that work for all modes. Ok. However most thermostats are very simple creatures, and it should be possible somehow. However this may be a "bridge too far" for a COTS (commercial off the shelf) system. Mind you a thermostat interrupt may not shed load instantly on demand, if the furnace controller wants to run awhile longer to avoid a short-cycle etc.
You may have gathered that simply brute-force attaching a generator to an all-electric home is a hard undertaking. It helps quite a lot if the house can be "designed to be off-grid" by elegant choices in design and appliances.
A great example of this (requires propane or methane, not oil) is the "Empire style" wall furnace. This unit requires no electricity whatsoever so it licks the problem of pipes freezing, without even needing to start a generator. The double-wall version is a 50,000 BTU brute, which is the equivalent of about 15,000 watts (60A) of emergency heat. This machine is only sold in places like California, and is unobtanium anywhere in the rust belt, which makes no sense whatsoever.
This is an "Achilles' Heel" of almost every heating system in rust-belt homes: they all are designed to require active pumping to circulate heat or cool around the house. They must pump fluid to radiators or mini-split heads, or forced air. This requires far too much non-thermal power, and makes "your pipes not freezing" totally dependent on large amounts of electricity. (it's even a bit much for solar, especially in winter when you really need it, since you may not be there to broom snow off the collectors).
They come in other form factors, including direct-vent through-the-sidewall types. They completely work on passive convection, so smart placement of the furnaces is essential so heat will be circulated around the house. They use external "millivolt" thermostats, but can also be operated with a relay from a 24V thermostat, and can use both methods at once. So for instance one might set the millivolt thermostat for 50 degrees F, so it only calls for heat if the 24V thermostat system has totally failed due to power out and the house has chilled. Now your generator has less load, and is not as critical.
Of course anything you can do to make a big electric appliance "not electric" also helps ease generator load. At extremes, a house could be engineered so onsite solar panels could keep the house entirely livable and fully functional with grid power lost. But in your case, I would focus on that very, very hungry emergency heat. Two big Empire furnaces (or several smaller ones) would go far to assure your house can't freeze.
Best Answer
Had the same issue with the Carrier thermostat shown in the picture. Exact same symptoms - connected to the home network, but would not stay connected to the Carrier network, could not link to weather forecasts, etc. However, had an older Carrier thermostat upstairs (on the same network) and it was working fine. Noted that the DNS settings on the troublesome thermostat looked odd so compared with the DNS settings on the working thermostat. They didn't match so I entered the settings from the working thermostat into the troublesome thermostat. Waited about 15-20 minutes for the new DNS settings to propagate and now it is working fine. Not sure how it lost the DNS settings in the first place nor why they didn't get reloaded properly.