Black vs Red Dimmer - Wiring Difference? (Black works, red doesn't)

Switches Wiring Discussion
#1

I’ve had a three way black dimmer + aux (no neutral) working for some time, but wanted to replace it with a red for the scenes. However, when I swapped the red over I got absolutely nothing. I tried this with two different red dimmers. Afterwards I was able to put the black dimmer back without any issue.

Do reds need more power? I already have a bypass installed at the light…

#2

No power at all? LED doesn’t light up? Not sure the light itself correct? Dumb question, is the wire installed between the screw head and flat piece inside to make a tight connection?

#3

Absolutely nothing. Everything is locked tight exactly the way the black dimmer was/is.

The new red dimmers did look slightly used. I noticed scuff marks on the screws and the ground screw was torqued all the way in and neither had stickers over the line/load screws. I’m wondering if someone fried them then returned them to amazon.

#4

@Eric_Inovelli @Courtney_Inovelli - Possibly another failure returned to AMZN?

#5

Did you check your switch parameters to insure you specified no neutral and 3-way momentary? I don’t think those are the defaults.

Also, are these the ones you heard go pop when you tried to install them?

#6

This is quite possible. It happens a lot unfortunately and is the downfall of using Amazon as our fulfillment company. People often fry their switches, send them back as defective, and Amazon does a quick look over and inspects it, and says, “nope, not defective” and puts it back in inventory. Sucks bc we get dinged in our metrics and oftentimes our listings can get temporarily shut down. Anyway, I digress… lol.

@Dekkars – shoot @Courtney_Inovelli and I a PM and we’ll take care of you.

It does sound like a defective switch if you swapped it out with a working one and it works fine and there’s no power at the LED bar.

#7

@Bry Hahah no, those were blacks. One is a pile of parts and the other still hanging from the wall. Those were absolutely my fault! These are two reds that I purchased for scenes and have only been used in a place where a black has been functional for some time.

@Eric_Inovelli Thank you. I understand you can’t control amazon and appreciate the RMA!