I have a chandelier with 2 Ilumen LZW42 installed. I have 2 Red Series Dimmer (LZW31-SN) that I would like to logically manage the two bulbs through Home Assistant. I have the chandelier wired to have the power always go to the bulbs, and can manage them through Z-wave in Home Assistant. I can’t figure out how to get the switches wired in a way where they are powered only allowing me to only program the dimmer using taps (shutting the relay off). In other words: When I click either of the dimmers, I want Home Assistant to tell the lights to go on. I just need the dimmers to be powered. How is the best way to wire this?
That’s going to depend on your wiring configuration. Basically, you just supply a hot and a neutral to each switch, but without knowing what your wiring is now it’s hard to explain.
Were the two switches that used to be or are where the Inovellis are going configured as a 3-way? Do you have a neutral at one of the locations? You’re going to have to describe your wiring and we’ll fill in the blanks.
Thank you for the quick reply. In one switch housing, there is a 2 bundles of wires. One with Black and white that powers the light and the provides power to the other bundle. The second bundle has red, white and black. A second switch housing has a red, white and black bundle. I have circuit tester and can see current going between the two housings.
Thanks for the description. Based on your description it sounds as if in one box you have a 2-wire and a 3-wire. You think that the 2-wire is going to the light and the 3-wire is going to the other box.
So with a 2-wire and a 3-wire in one box and just a 3-wire in the other box, there are two possibilities:
1 - The 2-wire is a hot and neutral and the 3-wire goes to the light and then the other box. This is a neutral installation.
2 - The line and neutral is fed to the light and then goes to the switch box via the 2-wire. The 3-wire then connects the two boxes. This is a non-neutral installation.
You need to figure out which of those you have. To do that you need to test the 2-wire at the switch box. Remove the black conductor from the switch and using a meter, test for voltage between the black and the white. If you have 120VAC then that is your hot feed with a neutral.
If you don’t get 120VAC, then test between the black and the ground. That’s the bare metal conductor. Your ground may also be a metal box. If you don’t have 120VAC between the black and the white but you do between the black and the ground, then you have a non-neutral installation.
Post back with what you find.
The white wire in the 2 wire group is the only wire with current. When I connect it to the other wire (black) in the same bundle the light comes on. The other bundles don’t have any current until I introduce the white wire in the 3 bundle. I hope this helps.
Ok, that makes sense. Usually in a non-neutral, the power comes in on the white and goes back switched to the light on the black. A final confirmation, which I think you did, is remove the white from the 2-wire and test between there and the ground. You should have 120VAC.
So as-is, you have a non-neutral in the switch box. Your hot and neutral are at the light. Usually in this situation you would use a dimmer in the box with the 2-wire and the 3-wire and then an Aux switch in the other box. But that’s not what you want.
In your first post, you mentioned that you have constant power to the bulbs. Did you do that by rewiring at the light box? It sounds like you just connected the hot and neutral directly to the light fixture, bypassing the switches. Is that correct?
That’s exactly what I did. I tied the white and black of the 2 grouping together to get the lights to be on and controllable through zwave. I’d like to use the Inovelli dimmers logically to manage the lights.
Ok, so at your light box you have a 2-wire that is the incoming hot and neutral. The black will be hot. You attached those two conductors to the light.
So now you need to send that hot and neutral to the first switch box. So in the light box, take the other 2-wire that is going to the switch box and connect black to black and white to white. (You’ll be undoing that black to white connection.) So now you will have a hot and neutral in the first switch box, black hot and white neutral. Connect the black to the Line on the Inovelli and the white to the Neutral on the Inovelli. Pigtail a bare wire ground as well.
So now you need to send that hot and neutral to the other box so you can have an Inovelli there as well. You will do that using two of the three conductors of the 3-wire that runs between the two boxes. In the first switch box, connect the black from the 3-wire to the 2nd Line hole on the Inovelli and the white from the 3-wire to the second Neutral hole on the Inovelli. Cap off the red conductor.
So now you have a hot (black) and neutral (white) in the other switch box. Same Inovelli connections, black to Line and white to Neutral. Cap off the red connector there as well. Don’t forget about a ground pigtail here as well.
That’s it!
I think its almost there. I followed the steps you outlined. I had to replace the smart bulbs with traditional bulbs to get the switches to come on. The LZW42’s started to pulse on and off rapidly, and the switches both pulsed red. When I put the traditional bulbs in I am able to use the dimmers. I updated the firmware to 1.48 (1.47), but when I put the smart bulbs back on, they start to pulse.
That doesn’t sound correct. The bulbs, according to you, are independently powered. So they are in no way connected to the switches. If they are smart bulbs and constantly powered, you should be able to control them just from the hub at this point. If they are incandescent, they should just come one and you won’t be able to turn them off.
The only thing that should be connected to the switches is a hot and a neutral. They should come on just fine without anything else connected. The switches are totally independent of the bulbs so one shouldn’t affect the other.
Double check at the switch boxes that you have 120VAC between the black and white. Double-check that at the switches, black is connected to Line and white is connected to neutral. Double-check that nothing else is connected.
Thanks for helping me. I wonder if I’m not giving you what I think I am. Let me try again:
I have two switches/boxes with one having 2 bundles of wires and a second with 1 bundle.
- Switch 1 Bundle 1 has black and white that when connected together make the lights turn on. The white wire has voltage and the black does not.
- Switch 1 Bundle 2 has black, white and red wires. None of these wires have any voltage.
- Switch 2 Bundle has black, white and red wires. None of these wires have any voltage.
How it is currently wired (smart bulbs flash and switch is rapidly flashing red):
- Switch 1 Bundle 1 white is in neutral switch 1.
- Switch 1 Bundle 1 black is in line switch 1
- Switch 1Bundle 2 white is in neutral switch 1
- Switch 1 Bundle 2 black is in line switch 1
- Switch 1 Bundle 2 red is capped
- Switch 2 Bundle white is in neutral switch 2
- Switch 2 Bundle black is in line switch 2
- Switch 2 Bundle red is capped
Hopefully this helps.
That seems correct and in line with what I suggested.
What about at the light box? You should have two 2-wire and the light’s wiring. The three blacks should be wired together and the three whites should be wired together. Previously, in the light box the incoming black was wired to the white going to the switch. You should have undone that. I’m wondering if your hots and neutrals are reversed.
I switched the neutral and line from the switch bundle 1 and while I can get 1 light to turn on and off the switches are not accessible. When I plug an additional bulb (chandelier with three sockets) the bulbs begin to blink and the switches start to blink red.
Things are not as you’ve described them, then. You said that the lights are directly powered, so they should be on all the time. If the switch is operating them somehow, I have no idea what you have going on. I don’t think you have a full understanding of your wiring.
I suggest that you put everything back the way it was and consult with an electrician.
They are only on when the Black and White wires in Switch 1 Bundle 1 are connected.
How can that be? You said in your original post and confirmed later that the bulbs were independently powered. That means a hot and a neutral connected directly to them.
I don’t think you have a good enough grasp of your wiring and electrical knowledge in general. Please consult with an electrician.
This is what I said. I just need to find a way to power the switches.