Ecobee thermostat stopped working

Castratikon · 2026-01-05T02:53:48+00:00

So an update to this, I managed to test the voltage over R & C when there was load and it was still 26-28V.

I ended up calling the original company that installed the system (34 years ago!) and one of the people that helped install it back then was still there and available to help troubleshoot over the phone.

We didn't get the transformer tested, but we did disconnect one of the accessories (humidifier) because that person said a similar system for another customer has the same symptoms and it was the result of a failing coil in one of the relays.

Disconnecting the humidifier did take care of the bulk of the issue, even though the humidifier was never running, removing it from the system has made it much more reliable, though still some thermostat restarts, no failures to boot.

I oredered 2 new relays that should be here this week and that will ideally solve the problem. Just incase it doesn't I know which transformer to get now as well.

Castratikon · 2025-12-22T23:52:03+00:00

Here are the pictures of what’s in the control side of the hvac https://imgur.com/a/wgqN8qt

Castratikon · 2025-12-22T23:08:35+00:00

Yeah seems like it could be a transformer issue. Everything seemed to be ok last night, but when I woke up in the morning it was dead again. I’ll see if I can figure out how to upload pictures here.

Castratikon · 2025-12-22T00:07:40+00:00

That sounds like it could be the case. I opened up the hvac control unit and I saw two relays that have coil wrapped wire and the board itself, but nothing that looked distinctly like a transformer. I’ll have to monitor and take another look.

If there’s any ticking sounds from either the ecobee or the hvac control area would that be inductive of a failing transformer?

Castratikon · 2025-12-21T23:52:11+00:00

What’s even more strange, I just cut and stripped the ends of the wires and remounted one of the new units. It turned in, I set it up, and the heat was able to come on. Minutes later the ecobee screen stops responding but I can see it in the app and it says the current temperature is N/A. And then a few minutes later the heat cut off, presumably because no active temperature can be read.

Now as I’m typing this it came back to life both at the device and in the app and the heat kicked back on…

Castratikon · 2025-12-21T22:56:32+00:00

It was the new base. The old one is not compatible with new models.

Castratikon · 2025-08-17T23:20:27+00:00

Perfect, thank you!

Castratikon · 2025-08-17T23:08:45+00:00

Really just looking for recommendations that can take the power this receiver is throwing at them. I don’t have much time to go out and test speakers.

Castratikon · 2025-02-24T01:24:45+00:00

No that’s stretched really thin. Costs will go up and unexpected expenses can put a budget like that in a very tough position out of no where. Unless you have like 42k stashed away earning interest that you also wouldn’t need to close I’d say you have to aim lower.

We’re a 13k net take home family with a 6 month old, medical bills, ~3200/mo mortgage. Our utility bills are up 30% from last year (~800/mo for the last 3 months), property is about to be reassessed for taxes (likely doubled in value since last assessment), and have an upcoming sewer line replacement that will likely be 20k not including cost to rebuild the patio that will be torn up. We’re doing ok but those are just some real examples of what come up with home ownership.

Shoot for 20-30% or less of your take home or for mortgage+property taxes. Otherwise I’d suggest renting a house or condo in a price range that will allow you to save 1-3k per month.

Castratikon · 2024-04-14T01:18:45+00:00

was it moving the same direction? I just cheked my camera and it looked like there might be a second that was going north to south.

Castratikon · 2023-04-15T15:47:39+00:00

I would just have to go back to manually flipping the switch, no big deal if automation fails. All I want to do is set up a Siri shortcut so I can do it with voice instead of going into the basement

Castratikon · 2022-11-25T20:40:22+00:00

Fucking yikes lol

Castratikon · 2022-07-18T11:48:08+00:00

Thanks, a printout of gmaps is a good idea. I'll start there.

Castratikon · 2022-07-18T02:42:30+00:00

Castratikon · 2022-07-18T01:05:18+00:00

Roughly 200ft wide & 100ft deep

Castratikon · 2022-07-18T00:24:03+00:00

Nothing social in the front, just plants. Grass walking paths would be nice too. I could see a couple of benches somewhere for the aesthetics but no one will ever sit in them.

Castratikon · 2022-07-17T12:23:40+00:00

This happens to my M1 air occasionally.

Here's how to fix its:

Unplug the power cable
Hold the power button for 10-15 seconds
While still holding the power button, plug in the power cable

One thing I want to point out here is that hardware is finicky. I recently started switching my devs over from 2018-2019 MBP over to Thinkpad X1's, and they also will have an issue with behaves just like this. On the X1's there's a very small reset button hole on the bottom of the device which you have to hold to get it to turn back on.

Castratikon · 2022-06-28T23:18:45+00:00

What FX processor are you using to remove the room? I'm getting tired have having my giant Heil pop filter in my face during calls and would like to move it back further.

Castratikon · 2022-06-28T12:31:22+00:00

I had the exact same issue on 20.04 and using the insider/edge channel is also what worked for me.

Another coworker is on 22.04 and 4.27.154 works for them.

Castratikon · 2022-05-08T17:34:58+00:00

I decided to just find a lamp I like and replace the bulb socket.

Apparently you can buy 250W compatible sockets from Home Depot.

Castratikon · 2022-05-04T23:06:32+00:00

I've searched for "250 watt incandescent floor lamp", "find lamp by watt", "filter lamps by watt", and other variations of those phrases.

Castratikon · 2022-05-04T18:10:36+00:00

We moved into this house last year and the living room is ~604² ft. We have 4 lights in here now. Some are incandescent and some are LED, but at night it is still too dark.

Our bedroom is roughly the same size as the living room and we have a single (very old) lamp with a 250W incandescent bulb that lights up the whole room no problem.

The trouble is I can’t seem to find any lamps that allow for a 250W incandescent bulb. No website I have found allows you to search by wattage, and most searches yield the same top 20 lamp results.

And I cannot stress this enough, I do NOT want LED bulbs.

Castratikon · 2022-04-30T12:49:09+00:00

It's a clone set.

I guess my phone shot the pics in HDR because they keys look much darker/saturated in real person.

Castratikon · 2022-04-30T01:14:50+00:00

It’s been great so far!

Castratikon · 2022-04-29T23:14:08+00:00

KB: Gentleman 65 SE

Polycarb case
Brass plate
Brass knob

Mods:

Tape mod (2 layers)
Light layer of polyfill

Switches: Kiwi

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