2 different circuit...same dimmer problems

Does it do this if you wait maybe 2 min in between attempts?

1 Like

I think its him just mislabeling it. I ran all the rough in wiring, so I know exactly where that wire goes. It does go to the 1st 4 way in the leg.

1 Like

Thanks for responding. Time doesn’t affect it. I just tried it with a 5 minute wait between cycles. I waited to time after the working cycle. Another thing I noticed awhile back…On my working 3 way i hear a “click” when it turns on and off. When I keep my switches in the “working” positions, I hear a click both times. When either that 4 way or the last 3 way are in the “problem position” and we have this issue with the dimmer, I dont here a click when the lights go on.

Yeah that is really weird actually and does point to some sort of issue. The default setting for the dimmer in a multi-switch setting is for the dimmer to make the click when it’s turned off.

Thanks for answering the other question. I thought maybe the bulbs were playing a part in it as I’ve seen it before when if the dimmer or switch is engaged too fast in a row the 2nd time will not work. But it doesn’t sound like that in this case.

Do you want me to make a longer video showing it playing out? Didn’t know if that would help anything?

It wouldn’t hurt! At the very least we can show the manufacturer.

1 Like

Here is the longer video. As you should be able to see, if i totally ignored the dimmer, all the other switches would work fine. Something in the dimmer is weird. Please help.

Interested in AUX Switches? :slight_smile: I hope @Eric_Inovelli will be able to figure something out with the manufacturer. There definitely seems to be something funny with the switch and not necessary the wiring.

I bring up the AUX switches because it’s an added expense that not a whole lot of people want to purchase in addition to the cost of the switch, but it was an expense I’m glad I went through with as it helps mimics all the other toggles in the house, allows dimming from all places, and of course the WAF played a huge part in it. Just something to consider.

What lights are you using? IIRC, wafer lights?

Take a look at the linked post. I know you’re using the same lights in other places but I am not discounting anything.

For testing, try wiring in an incandescent bulb to see if that makes a difference. You can use a construction socket with a pigtail at the load switch.

https://community.inovelli.com/t/lzw30-sn-3-way-setup-not-working-parameters-needed/3957/11

These are the lights I’m using. I have 12 of them in the leg. I don’t have any sockets or incandesent bulbs either. Every light in my house is led.

I just picked up a socket and a 100 bulb. When I get home later I’ll hook up and see if any change.

1 Like


Ok…well that was a waste of $10. Lol. Still acts the same way.

Ok, so here is what it probably isn’t:

  • The switch. You’ve swapped it out and both perform the same. The odds of two bad switches in a row is pretty low
  • The lights. You’ve added an incandescent. At least it’s not a load issue. If there is some other issue with the wafer lights that’s hard to diagnose.

What it could be:

  • The wiring. Probably not but who knows. You say it’s good so moving on.
  • The switch’s settings. It feels like a settings issue to some extent. My suspicion, unproven, is that even though the hub says the settings are incorrect, they’re not. It’s as if the MCU is not reacting properly to the remote switches functioning.

I’m referencing a post below where someone had to do settings from both the hub and the switch, albeit w/Aux’s. The only think left I can think of is keep jacking with the settings, both within ST and at the switch. Set them improperly and put back, etc.

Unfortunately, you’re an edge case, which makes it difficult. There probably thousands of installations like yours working perfectly.

As @harjms previously suggested, you could swap for Aux’s.

Yeah, that’s kinda what it has seemed to me from the beginning that its a setting or something in the programming of the switch. Like you said, I’ve tried 2 dimmers same result. I’ve swapped the dimmer with a dumb switch and all works as should, and as stated, you don’t need to change wiring with any dumb switches. So that settles wiring. I tried the incandescent bulb (even bought a 100 watt one so would use more power) and no change. That and the fact that these same lights work on a single pull setup and a different 3 way with less lights, and they work perfectly. The only thing that’s different is there is 3, 4 way switches in the middle, and it’s acts wonky. I’m not interested in putting aux switches in because at that point I’ll be about $120 into this one deal and it’s just not worth it. I did try a couple “wrong” settings when we started, I think it was for the 3 way step, but I’ll try more. Is there any certain ones besides that one and the neutral sep that I should try? At the end of the day, I guess I can just put a dumb switch in there or try a different brand and see if they work. I don’t know what else to do.

This isn’t really my problem. All of my dumb switches will turn on/off the lights. Doesn’t matter which of the 4 dumb switches I go to and in what order. Turn on at switch b, off at c, on ad d, back off at b. All of those work fine. It’s the dimmer that is acting goofy.

I switched the neutral to non-neutral in the app and I lost function at the dumb switches like i thought.

I switched the 3 way toggle to 3 way momentary and load only. Anything other toggle, i lose functionality with dumb switches.

Did the 12 and 13 button pushes on the actual switch again and re-saved. Still having the same issues.

As I was playing around with the options in the app, seeming like everything I tried(Ramp speed, led color, dimming speed) worked…but I couldn’t get minimum dim to work/save thru app. I have gotten that to work thru the physical switch, but not the app.

I called and talked to my electrician and he said everything sounded correct to him also. Said if I swap the smart dimmer with a regular switch and it works like it should, that the problem has something to do with the dimmer. So…i’m still at square one.

Does anyone have any other ideas for me to try or is it time to wave a white flag and say that these switches won’t work in this set up. @Eric_Inovelli did you talk to the manufacturer to see if they have any ideas?

Hey @matthalle81 – apologies, I meant to answer your PM, but got distracted. The manufacturer is convinced it’s something to do with the LED’s, but considering you have it working in another setup, I don’t think that’s the correct assessment.

One last hail-mary could be that we program one here that I test out on a 6-Way and send it to you? This way we can rule out a switch issue?

Thanks. I don’t think it would be the lights either. Works on my 3 way set up as well as my single pole set up. I also wired up a 100 watt incondecent light and still was the same issue.

This was the diagram on how I wired mine up, but I had the one more 4 way in the middle.

Now the wire going into my first box from my panel, I do have all wires pigtailed and feeding my 3 way branch also. I don’t think that would matter because my 3 way is working just fine, but in case that has any bearing on anything, I wanted to make sure that was known. I never lose power to either switch at any point.

Wanted to give an update on my issue. So I got good and bad news for myself. I ordered the Zooz 700 series dimmer. I hooked it up and it worked great. No issues. Lights came on and off at each switch. No cycling needed. So that shows me that there is something in the “programming” in the switch.
Now the bad news for me. Didn’t last long. After I did all my tests, I tried this mode that says it’s a “night light” mode. It turns the lights on 20% when the lights on in the off mode and you push the down paddle. Nothing happened. I noticed the led light on the switch wasn’t on anymore. After i did some troubleshooting, i noticed my error. The switch is only rated for 100 watts for led. I have 12 lights with a max of 12 watts a piece. I think I overloaded the switch and burnt it out. Stupid on my part, but did prove that my wiring and stuff is correct. After contacting Zooz, they replaced the dimmer with the 700 series on/off switch. It’s rated at 150, so just barely in my range. It just arrived today and I installed. Works like it should.
I’m still super bummed that the Inovelli dimmer didn’t work right in this application. I still have the other 2 dimmer still hoked up and working and will be putting 3 more around the basement when I get to that point. Hopefully at some point there will be a different program or some sort of a fix for this issue and I can go back to the dimmer, but until then, on/off it is.
Thanks @Bry for spending so much time trying to diagnose the issue. Thanks for your imput @harjms. And thanks also to @Eric_Inovelli for trying as well. It was nothing any of us had wrong, just something in the “programming”.

1 Like