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Hi all,
I am trying to install a Hive receiver to my boiler after a colleague at ensured me that it was a doddle. I'm handy enough to get most things done around the house, but typically when I find myself unsure of how to complete something correctly, I aways end up making a totally wrong decision.
My boiler is a Vokera Sabre 24 (combi). Link to install manual here:
https://letsfixit.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/SABRE.pdf
Standard controls wiring diagram on page 14, wiring for adding external controls on page 31, circuit diagrams follow on from there.
Basically the boiler has no thermostat and the CH just fires up based on the settings on a mechanical timer.
Although figure 28 on page 31 shows how a stat should be installed, this didn't make much sense to me and i completely ignored it, and instead installed it basically exactly like figure 28A, treating it like an external timer.
In my head, both the timer and the hive receiver would need power, and the switch on the timer would need to remain connected, so that the timer could be switched to "permanent on" and then hive would do it's thing based on the stat and the app. So I had the hive receiver plug into the same terminals on the block as the timer:
Permanent L came from the 4th terminal in the block to the L pin on the Hive receiver.
Permanent N came from the 6th terminal to the N pin on the Hive receiver.
The first terminal block I interpreted as N/O, so this went to the CH on pin on the Hive (pin 3).
I took the third as N/C so connected that to CH off on the Hive (pin 2).
"Common" confused me, so based on advice i had read elsewhere, i settled for making a link between the L pin on the Hive and pin 1. As i understood it, this meant there would be 230v going to common via pin L. Made sense to me.
So to be clear, all the connections into the boiler terminal block shared this space with the existing timer connections.
Also i couldn't get 4 core cable, so i used two lengths of T&E. One for the voltage and one for the switching. This meant i had two earths each end. Both went into the Hive earth terminal, and onto the ground stud in the boiler.
When i turned it all on to test, the boiler came on with a blinking green LED indicating it was on standby (the timer was in an OFF time slot). I switched it to permanent on, and the Hive came to life with a blinking amber, and from the silence in the boiler i could tell the CH hadn't activated. This was exactly what I'd expected.
To test the wiring, the Hive manual then states to press the CH button on the receiver, which should cause a green light to appear on the Hive. When i did this the green appeared for a split second before the boiler completely died. No bang, no pop. I have found that fuse 2A as shown on page 31 of the install manual has blown. I'll head out tomorrow to get some new ones and hopefully bring the boiler back to life. I have removed all the Hive wiring for now.
So what went wrong and why? I assume it's because:
a) i was ignorant of the meaning of the requirement for voltage free connections on the Hive (which i understand the single channel hive is suitable for - i just don't know if i achieved them),
b) because i did not fit as instructed in figure 28. This set up confuses as i don't understand how the Hive is powered. The line marked "common" has no connection to the 230v from the spur and i don't understand how i can wire into the Hive directly from the old timer. Does this mean the Hive can run without a connection to permanent L and N?
(This poster seems to insinuate he completed a successful install in similar circumstances using only two wires and removing the timer wiring completely: https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/hive-2-compatibility.456664)
c) because i doubled up the terminal connections with the timer's.
Any advice from the experts?
I am trying to install a Hive receiver to my boiler after a colleague at ensured me that it was a doddle. I'm handy enough to get most things done around the house, but typically when I find myself unsure of how to complete something correctly, I aways end up making a totally wrong decision.
My boiler is a Vokera Sabre 24 (combi). Link to install manual here:
https://letsfixit.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/SABRE.pdf
Standard controls wiring diagram on page 14, wiring for adding external controls on page 31, circuit diagrams follow on from there.
Basically the boiler has no thermostat and the CH just fires up based on the settings on a mechanical timer.
Although figure 28 on page 31 shows how a stat should be installed, this didn't make much sense to me and i completely ignored it, and instead installed it basically exactly like figure 28A, treating it like an external timer.
In my head, both the timer and the hive receiver would need power, and the switch on the timer would need to remain connected, so that the timer could be switched to "permanent on" and then hive would do it's thing based on the stat and the app. So I had the hive receiver plug into the same terminals on the block as the timer:
Permanent L came from the 4th terminal in the block to the L pin on the Hive receiver.
Permanent N came from the 6th terminal to the N pin on the Hive receiver.
The first terminal block I interpreted as N/O, so this went to the CH on pin on the Hive (pin 3).
I took the third as N/C so connected that to CH off on the Hive (pin 2).
"Common" confused me, so based on advice i had read elsewhere, i settled for making a link between the L pin on the Hive and pin 1. As i understood it, this meant there would be 230v going to common via pin L. Made sense to me.
So to be clear, all the connections into the boiler terminal block shared this space with the existing timer connections.
Also i couldn't get 4 core cable, so i used two lengths of T&E. One for the voltage and one for the switching. This meant i had two earths each end. Both went into the Hive earth terminal, and onto the ground stud in the boiler.
When i turned it all on to test, the boiler came on with a blinking green LED indicating it was on standby (the timer was in an OFF time slot). I switched it to permanent on, and the Hive came to life with a blinking amber, and from the silence in the boiler i could tell the CH hadn't activated. This was exactly what I'd expected.
To test the wiring, the Hive manual then states to press the CH button on the receiver, which should cause a green light to appear on the Hive. When i did this the green appeared for a split second before the boiler completely died. No bang, no pop. I have found that fuse 2A as shown on page 31 of the install manual has blown. I'll head out tomorrow to get some new ones and hopefully bring the boiler back to life. I have removed all the Hive wiring for now.
So what went wrong and why? I assume it's because:
a) i was ignorant of the meaning of the requirement for voltage free connections on the Hive (which i understand the single channel hive is suitable for - i just don't know if i achieved them),
b) because i did not fit as instructed in figure 28. This set up confuses as i don't understand how the Hive is powered. The line marked "common" has no connection to the 230v from the spur and i don't understand how i can wire into the Hive directly from the old timer. Does this mean the Hive can run without a connection to permanent L and N?
(This poster seems to insinuate he completed a successful install in similar circumstances using only two wires and removing the timer wiring completely: https://www.diynot.com/diy/threads/hive-2-compatibility.456664)
c) because i doubled up the terminal connections with the timer's.
Any advice from the experts?
