I installed the Nest Power Connector BUT am still getting a N260 code

[rgaila]

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Original Poster: Bill Quirk 

I have a 2 zone system, but I only have the Nest on 1 zone. I connected y/y, r/r and put the "C" into "C" but there were no wires.  I have attached pictures. HELP

[rgaila]

Hey there Bill Quirk,

I can definitely understand the confusion when it comes to thermostat issues as it can be very odd to figure out sometimes, but I'm happy to look into this for you. 

First off, I would suggest using the Compatibility Checker to see if your system is compatible. Then, if it is, I would suggest contacting a pro to come out to help you with this since I know that the Nest thermostat is not compatible with stranded wires, every wire has to be connected to the Nest Thermostat system.

Please let me know if you have any further questions as I'm happy to help. 

-From Garrett DS, Community Specialist.

[Ug]

 Can anyone confirm if that’s the correct side to install the power connector? On the output of the zone control board, in-line with the thermostat wires that go to the smart thermostat that needed the power connector?

[Jake]

Hey Ug,

Sorry for the late reply. I wanted to follow up and ensure you are good to go. Please let me know if you are still having any trouble from here, as I would be happy to take a closer look and assist you further. 

Best regards,
Jake

[Jake]

Hey Ug,

I want to ensure you are good to go, and everything is working properly. Please let me know if you are still having trouble, as I will be locking the thread in 24 hours due to inactivity. 

Best regards,
Jake

[Mjv33]

Did you ever find out what’s happening. Having same issues 

[Ug]

Hi Jake, I am still receiving an error. I did install the power connector on  the thermostat side, and the thermostat is working correctly (heat, a/c, and fan functions all work). However I see an 'Equipment Error' with Note:N260. If I run a power test, i don't notice anything happens. If I look at the Power Connector status, it displays:

Nest Power Connector

Power test not run

g.co/nest/m25

The battery seems to be doing ok - after 3 weeks it still seems ok, but I'm not sure if it is running all features or not.

[Jake]

Hey Ug,

I am sorry to hear you are still running into the issue. Glad to hear the device seems to be working as intended still. Let's jump in and ensure you are good to go. I did find two helpful articles with more details on the N260 code, and how to troubleshoot that. I would recommend taking a closer look at that as it does provide some troubleshooting steps as well. 

Best regards,

Jake

[Netdada]

Hi Ug,

Wondering if you were able to resolve your issue. I have a similar system but with 3 zones. 

1. Did you install the power connector at the zone board input end or output (to thermostats) end?

2. Do you have dampers on your board? Where did you connect the C wire of the power connector on the board?

thanks in advance. I understand the frustration tou would have gone through. Looks like tou didn’t get much help on this thread. 

[Snowfam80]

Im having the same issue, I installed 3 Nest thermostats on a 2 wire system, added the power connector per the instructions and getting N26o on one, E298 on another one smh.....these are a SUPER pain in the ass

[Helpmeplz]

Same issue with 2 Zone....
2 wire, when I run Power test, it shows done, then when I check status I see "Power test not run"

[Mjv33]

Where you able to figure it out. I gave up 

[fenlasonb]

Hello I have the same exact issue.

Running Version 1.1-9

Nest power connector connecting to 24v C.

Red/White conencted to power connector and board.

I can confirm the power connector is working because prior I had 3v on power info. Now I have the correct 24v. However If I run power test it runs success shows the output and then the power connector status continues to note no power test run. This seems like a bug. I can go to my app and select add wire and C wire and the error message goes away however under settings I get error 261 as it is smart enough to notice no 24v to the C pin.

I am hoping this can get addressed because the thermostat is working properly, I have 24v after using the connector but the software is sensing there is no power connector. 

[Heorhi]

Same issue here. 2 zones on Trane xv80. 2nd floor tstat works fine, 1st floor on white and red wires only. I hooked up the power connector, but unable to perform the power test (always not run status).

And no support from nest................

[quirkyllama]

I have the exact same issue

[Mjv33]

Where you able to figure it out 

[quirkyllama]

No.  What's weird is I don't have a C-wire, so I had to follow the instructions for adding a 24V AC transformer.  I know that it's working to some extent since if I unplug the transformer, the nest reports that there is no power at all on the wires.
Plug it in, and it can control the heat, but still reports no power controller.

[Anonymous]

I am having the same problem. Very frustrated with lack of transparency here. I have a two wire heat only boiler with no c terminal. I’m not about to pay a pro $300 to wire a simple transformer to get a $50 thermostat to work. So I installed the nest power connector and the thermostat is now getting good voltage but it does not detect the power connector and still is reporting N260 all the time. It was “working” even before the power connector was installed but kept the wifi off and just did scheduled heating, which isn’t the point.  Now kind of wishing I had got a different thermostat- but really would just like this one to just work. Honestly it’s really not that complicated. 

[JBM2010]

I have 3 zones in my house, one with a nest learning thermostat the other two with nest thermostats. The learning thermostat has functioned properly from day 1; the others stated a power connector was required. Since installing the nest power connector, the two nest thermostats still cannot receive enough power to turn the heat on, as soon as it trys to call for heat, the thermostats display "no power." As soon as it turns off the thermostat returns the n260 code to install the power connector or c wire. 

[MichelR666]

Recently installed 10 Nest with power connector and some of them disconnect intermittently. They can run for several days and then all of a sudden I get N260. Not all of them, not always the same ones, so I figure it's neither the connector nor the thermostat. I had one act up this morning and I had to deal with it twice (so far). I've been removing the batteries, putting them back in and then restarting. I think I had to restart twice after putting the batteries back in. Had the installation checked and this should all be good, so I'm certainly wondering about a software issue, as suggested by another community member.

[fenlasonb]

I work in software, this smells like a software bug for sure. Nest has been ghosts with no reply back. I returned mine and got the learning thermostat. No issues there.... 

[MichelR666]

Had a friend look at the two Nest that were acting up and he said maybe the wires were not exposed enough (I forget the exact terminology - been a long week). So he fixed that and it's been holding for the past 5-6 days.The thermostats were getting their power fine, but somehow weren't "seeing" it, hence the N260 error.

I've had another one go N260 since, but by the time I noticed it, the error was gone. Weird. Could be a similar problem.

[Hopefully]

Same N260 problem here, but the system is working fine and the app recognizes the installed power connector.
Only other problem I’ve noticed lately is that when I’m home, the app says I’m away. Definitely software issues that can be resolved with an update. How about it? I’d hate to return the Nest and start all over with a different brand.

[Heorhi]

Sooo, with no help from Nest Support ("please check the wires, check that you have power, now call the certified tech"). I finally was able to find the meanings of VOC, VIN, lin, proper numbers, etc (and Google support "tech" was able to get me the numbers I should be looking for, but not what they mean). Which did allow me to troubleshoot the issue with the multimeter and to find out that the wires by the connection terminals are not the tstat wires (daaah... :), so when I located the proper tstat wires (heat: Red and white only)  (they were split in the place I would never consider to look at), and connected the power connector there, the issue disappeared...

If there isn't a C wire in your thermostat:

• Voc: 29 to 42V
• Vin:
  • 29 to 42V when your system is not running
  • 6 to 7V when your system is running
• Iin: 20 to 40 mA

If there is a C wire in your thermostat:

• Voc: 29 to 42V
• Vin: 29 to 42V
• Iin: 100 or 200 mA

And, yes, I'm extremely disappointed with Google's "technical" support. 

[huntproperty]

So to anyone trying to fix this same issue, I had the same and figured it out with my system. I have a single zone and was hooking the power connector up at the boiler as the instructions say to do (when you have one zone). The problem I think is that like many forced hot water systems, I have a pump relay that the thermostat wires go directly into and then into the boiler. I hooked the power source up at the relay instead of the boiler and the problem is solved. So, if you have a pump relay switch, hook it up there even if it us only a single zone!

[quirkyllama]

Oh fascinating.  Alas, we have radiant floor heating with pumps for each zone.  But I can at least try to deploy it after the pump

[DarrylA]

The number of shared, similar stories about the issues people have run into with absolutely zero solutions from the tech staff is amazing.  

Amazing is a bad way.

[ef]

I know this topic is old, but I’m having a similar issue: I installed the power connector on one of three Nest 2020 thermostats (where I couldn’t fish wire to). 

most of the time, I don’t have an error code, but twice so far (over 5 days) I’ve found the unit with an N260 code. As soon as I run the power test/  check for a power connector it detects immediately and the code disappears. 

why is this coming up occasionally? 

[MichelR666]

I just tried the power test after reading this on my two rogue thermostats, but that didn't help. And I noticed one apparently hasn't been getting power because there's a warning that the battery is very low. I spent over $2K on thermostats for this place, so I'm annoyed.

[DarrylA]

I recently went through 3 days of hell trying to get my 2 Nest tstats up and running.  Watched many videos and read many articles to make sure I had the power connectors installed properly.  After being absolutely sure that everything was in properly and still having power issues, I finally reached out to the manufacturer of my boiler and was told that I would need to have another 24V transformer PLUS a 24V isolation relay (IR 82) to get adequate power to the tstats.  In essence, the power connectors aren't up to snuff, so I had to hook my old tstats until I get this figured out.  😕

[Helpmeplz]

I have the solution now, it took 2 electricians & 1 HVAC guy and 2 months spend. I have created the video & will upload it shortly with steps. Stable for 1 month now. zero issues so far.
Allow me few days to upload video.

[Hopefully]

Why bother to post this? Why not wait until you HAVE the video and THEN post it? Should everyone be waiting and watching their email for you? 
My solution: update your app - no N260 problems since the update.

[MichelR666]

Can’t speak for the poster, but as far as updating: My thermostat is up to date (I checked manually after reading your post) and that doesn’t help. Glad to hear it’s working for you, though.

[B_K_]

Any luck with that video? A wiring diagram? Something? Thanks

[Hopefully]

Apparently there is no video.

[Helpmeplz]

Sorry, busy with other things. Will try to update today.

[MichelR666]

I now seem to have only one rogue thermostat. I moved it to another room and it still misbehaves, so I don't think it's the power connector as the other thermostat I put in its place is holding well.

One thing I noticed a few weeks ago is that if the batteries get too weak, the thermostat starts acting up. I had a couple going N260 no matter what I did. I replaced the batteries and they've been fine since (except for the one mentioned above).

I have a peculiar setup here in that the house originally had an oil furnace that was replaced by electric heat over 40 years ago (late '70s, I think). So I have electric baseboard heaters in each room. The thermostats remained the original 24V thermostats to they wouldn't have to rewire the house and have 120V thermostats like you regularly see with electric baseboard heaters. So each one has a kind of module (I forget the exact name) that's either at the electric panel or in the baseboard itself and that's where those power connectors are installed. Lots of fun. Good thing my best friend is an electrical engineer because I wouldn't have figured this out myself.

Interestingly, only the ones in the basement ever act up. The ones on the "main floor" (bungalow) are all fine.

[Helpmeplz]

Here is the video uploaded today.
https://youtu.be/VESmSqIaGI0
This is for 2-wire thermostat if you get N260 with or without Nest Power Connector.
3 different ways to apply. Plz do like & sub the video & leave any comments if you need help with any part of it. 
PS: Not a youtube pro...lol

[wrpeet]

I have my system configured the same as the "option-2" in your video and still get the N260 error.

For "option-3" in your video you show the removal of the "blue jumper", which is a fuse. Don't you need the fuse installed. Is the solution the replacement of the transformer?

[wrpeet]

Never mind. I was corrected on another thread. The blue jumper is not a fuse.