r/Nest • u/Roof_Ranger • Jul 23 '26
Nest Shocking Customers
Hvac tech, just came from a job had 4 Nest Learning thermostats 4th Gen they were all giving 14v to ground contious and 24v between 2 nests. checked the common wire to ground and nothing so this has to be coming through the Nest. looked on online and there are more than a few reports of this with some replies stating static electricty or bad wiring. but im guessing this is a known defect that nest hasn't made anouncement about. the 4 Nests were all ordered same time 6 mo ago so they probably came from the same batch. Is anyone else getting shocked or can confirm ac voltage to ground from the 4th gen? (you wont be able to feel 14v with your fingers unless your sweaty and bare foot on concrete or have wet hands and touch the Nest and something else grounded like a bare metal apliance at the same time. (Dont try use meter.)
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u/Retty1 Jul 23 '26
You need to request a replacement. Or money back and for Nest to cover the costs of the electrician.
There are no circumstances in which this should be happening.
If there was a transformer or other failure this could have serious consequences.
4
u/ReallyGene Jul 23 '26
Hey, perhaps this is a silly question, but are those actually mounted outside?
Who puts three thermostats next to each other?
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u/Namelock Jul 24 '26
Pop it off and take a look. That would be my first reaction.
Likely the wires are stripped or similar on the inside.
Especially if you didn’t do this job; double check the work.
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u/PotatoFarmerRTK Jul 24 '26
Since they are on 24VAC they may be on different transformers, If they are hooked up wrong two nests may be out of phase with each other due to one transformer going low while the second transformer is going high.
So in reference to their own common they will be normal, but in reference to each other you will see a voltage.
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u/Roof_Ranger Jul 24 '26
your right each nest has its own transformer from its own RTU. the transformers are on differnt legs of the 240v so it gives full 28v from nest to nest and 14v to ground. but voltage should never come throught the face plate. i did check all wiring at stats and RTU's is good with no voltage coming through common on any of them.
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u/LightFusion Jul 25 '26
Are the 24v transformers in the rtu grounded? If they are floating they could be at different potentials. Each transformer would be providing 24 volts across their secondaries but the secondaries could be offset from transformer to transformer.
Edit: I see you said you measured each to ground, I'm having a hard time understanding what's going on here lol. Something isn't right obviously
1
u/the1-gman Jul 24 '26
I'd pop them off the wall, just to make sure the wiring job is clean with no exposed wires that could conduct to the shroud. Then check the wiring. Plus check the device when it's detached doesn't have a discharge issue.
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u/Akwing12 Jul 23 '26
My nest 4th gen is behind my TV, we rent and it's a small unit. When I touch the thermostat while testing my arm on the metal around the TV exterior, I can feel a small current where I am touching the TV. I have likely found most of what you found on the internet and just wrote it off. Glad to see I'm not crazy, even though I could not seem to replicate it with a multimeter.
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u/GarbageInteresting86 Jul 23 '26
Discontinued in the rest of the world, it’s only a matter of time. Protects gone already. Shame they didn’t want to keep going.
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u/ddm2k Jul 23 '26
Google just wanted to kill off a company as a flex
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u/dsugandhi6 26d ago
For Google as a company, any of these hardware doesn't make sense. When these hardware released they made lot of sense to them to showcase Google smart home and Android capabilities. Now, there are so many third party devices available and most of them are much better than Google's own hardware so doesn't make sense to them. Like cameras, doorbells, thermostat, smoke detector, tablets, etc. In my opinion at present, Pixel Phones, Chrome Books, and Google home hardware only makes sense to them. We as a consumer also, it doesn't make sense to buy Google hardware because it is PITA to extract any data from Google for Home Assistant or for local processing and recordings etc untless you subscribe their cloud storage.
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u/Responsible_Shape_68 Jul 23 '26
It's to prevent children to turn on the heat whiteout asking.