Where to attach the c-wire inside Goodman GMP100-4 Furnace

Question

As a relatively new home-owner, I recently came across the whole C-wire issue for the first time, having had to recently replace an old thermostat, and there is no C-wire connected inside the furnace.

The furnace we have is the Goodman GMP100-4 and is 25 years old, but the last homeowners replaced the circuit board in 2015. There are two unused (black and blue) wires in the 18/6 wire that goes from the thermostat to the furnace, and I wish to use one as a C-wire.

Please could you help me out with where this would go in the furnace? The circuit board is visible in the attached pictures along with the whole set up. I'm fairly handy in general but new to this particular situation/electronics.

I really appreciate any time you can give. Thanks!

Answer 1

That black box in the top left is the 24vac transformer that powers the circuits of the furnace. The blue wire that appears to have a brown ground wire piggy-backing onto it is what the C wire needs to connect to. Sometimes there is a connector exposed on the circuit board for a C-wire connection, but not always.

If there's no other place to connect the C-wire, under that ground wire screw would be once place to connect it.

Use the blue wire in your thermostat wiring for the C-wire - that's the common color for it. Don't use the black.

On second look at the pictures... The leftmost wire nut in the bottom of the pictures has a thick bluish wire that goes up to a ground screw and a small red wire that goes somewhere else. You could tie the C-wire in that connection rather than trying to put it under a ground screw yourself.

Answer 2

I have the same furnace, also installing a modern thermostat. On my Goodman the white, green, red, and bluish wire are bundled together with a factory label that says green=G red=R white=W blue=C. My blue wire is also nutted to a thin red thermostat wire. Thats where I'm going to tap in a blue thermostat wire.

On a side note, in the middle of the motherboard there is a plug with a red wire and blue wire, and a white wire loop just like the picture. My white looped wire is broken or cut. Any thoughts on this? Can I just attach the ends, or is there a reason to leave them apart?