I am trying to install a Gen 2 On / Off switch. This is for upstairs hallway lights. There are 3 light switches and 2 lights. I have 2 Aux Switches to go with the Inovelli switch.
Diagram of wires.
Where is the load? I would think it’s in the same box with the line, but you have to confirm.
WIth the dumb switches connected. The Hot was tied to the white on the bottom. The two white wires coming into the top of the middle switch were tied together. The blacks and reds in the middle switch were attached to a 4 way switch.
Tough to see in that box. It looks like there are two 2-wires, one top and one right? Maybe two 3-wires out of focus on the left side?
If that’s the case, then one 2-wire will be the line and the other the load. Using a meter, test across the black and white in the pair to figure out which is hot.
So if that’s what you have you will put the Inovelli here. Start by wiring it as a plain 2-way using the two 2-wires, then wire in the Auxs. For the Auxs, use the 3-wire red for travelers and the white for the neutrals. The blacks on the 3-wire aren’t used so cap them off.
Don’t forget to set parameters 21 and 22 for the switch.
If you have a single 2-wire (as I can’t tell from the pic if that’s a 2nd set of wires or a wire nut) then you have a non-neutral and the above won’t apply. You’ll need to set the Inovelli in that box as a non-neutral and the use the red for the traveler and send a hot to each of the Aux neutral terminals via the white.
The black and white 2-conductor appears to be a switched loop. This means you have to use a non-neutral setup.
Where do you want the Inovelli?
If installing in the middle box,
Install the Inovelli connected in non-neutral to the 2-conductor cable, black to line and white to neutral. Also connect the live conductor to the blacks of both 3-conductor cables. Connect the reds to the traveler terminal of the Inovelli.
In the other boxes, connect the aux switches with the black wire to the neutral terminal and the red wire to the traveler terminals.
If you want it in another box, you do similar but you feed the load back to the middle box via one of the white wires.
If I use a non neutral set up, Can I still use the red On / Off switch or does it have to be a red dimmer?
Non neutral can only be used with a dimmer.
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But if you are just switching lights, you can make a dimmer mimic a switch so bulbs turn on at full brightness instantly. You just can’t do that for non-bulb loads where a switch would be used.
I connected an extra red dimmer to the 2 wire connection coming into the box. Black (Hot) to line and white to neutral. The switch does not get power.
Only thing I can think of is that this switch was configured for a neutral before it was pulled and replaced.
Would this restrict the switch from powering up?
It helps us out a ton if you can sketch together the boxes and incoming/outgoing wires by color/group. I think more information is needed to continue helping.
Need LINE and LOAD labeled as well.
@kreene1987 You have to read up, but this is a non-neutral in the middle of a 4-way.
@aolexy Did you test to see if the hot is actually the black? Usually it’s the white and the black is the switched hot back to the light. You should really test first to determine which is the hot conductor. Whichever it is, that goes to the line terminal. This is a non-neutral configuration, correct. So nothing goes on the neutral terminal. If that truly is a 2-wire switch loop, then the other conductor goes to the Load.
You’re just wiring this as a 2-way to start with, right? Get it going as a 2-way and then you can add in the Auxs once that part is working correctly.
The switch should still power up with an incorrect setting so that you can reset it, so I don’t think that’s it.
If you want some help in testing, please post back. I tend to take things step by step and methodically, but unfortunately sometimes others jump in with a quick solution that may or may not be correct, and well, it doesn’t always work correctly due misunderstandings about wiring.
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The dimmers seem to power up no matter the mode and they also seem to power up with the line and load swapped, they just can’t turn on the load.
If you can’t figure out the wiring any better then connect a dumb switch between those 2 wires and see if it switches the lights first. If it does, then look to get the Inovelli installed.