I just installed my first Blue 2-1. When I pressed the top paddle, the lights turned on, but pressing the bottom paddle does not turn them off. Also, the black metal plate on the front is hot. I know that plate is a heat sink, but I don’t know if it’s normal for it to get hot to the touch?
Details: It’s in a no neutral box. At first, when I restored power the switch powered up but didn’t seem to go to pairing mode. I manually initiated pairing mode and paired it to my hubitat. Forgot to install the drivers first, so it was detected as a Nue Zigbee Scene Controller. I installed the drivers and switched the device to use the correct driver. Then I tried turning the switch on and off from hubitat, but nothing happened. I pressed the top of the paddle and the lights turned on, but I can’t turn them off with the bottom paddle or from Hubitat.
I did have line/load reversed. After swapping those just now though, I’m still not able to control the lights. However, I just noticed that while the nearest light fixture to me is on, the others were very dim. While I was looking at them, all of the fixtures that were dim turned off completely, but the near one stayed on.
When I press the up and down paddles now, I see the indicator light get bright or dim, respectively, as if the switch thinks it’s turning on or off, but not actually doing anything. The first fixture is still on, while the others are dark.
The first fixture is a tracklight with 3 LED bulbs. Then there are 3 traditional fluorescent tube style fixtures, with a mix of fluorescent and led tubes.
Hm… mixed capacitive / inductive load in a no-neutral setup. I don’t have the EE chops to know how that’ll work, but my first guess would be you should swap your load for all-incandescent or all-LED (with a bypass if your total load is < 25W (or maybe its 20W?)). Taking the complexity out of your load will go a fair ways towards honing in on the root of the problem - who knows, maybe it’ll even solve it.
Yes. The remaining fluorescent tubes are T12, while the LED tubes are GE Universal color select LED tubes.
I wonder if it might just be a matter of too high of a load? I’m not sure which limit would apply, but the most conservative would be the 150W CFL rating, and I’ve got a total of 223w between:
2 40w Fluorescent tubes
4 32w led tubes
3 5w GU10 led bulbs
So like the others have stated, I would not mix loads. Plus with that high of a load and the switch’s capacities, you’ve probably exceeded that which is why the face plate is hot.
This is my opinion, but I’m not sure the switch is rated to use on any ballasted load, particularly since the inrush current on most ballasts will exceed the switch’s capacity. Along the lines of what is alluded to in @epow’s article. Throw in with that the likelihood that the fixture isn’t dimmable in any event.
I have no interest in trying to dim these lights, I just want on/off capabilities. (I’m not a fan of dimmers in general, I typically want the lights on at full strength or not at all. For the exceptions, I have hue bulbs installed where I want them.)
It’s been asked a couple of times whether these switches support the fluorescent tube style light fixtures. Eric was looking into it, but I don’t think he ever said for sure one way or the other. I guess in the absence of a statement that it’s not supported, it might work. I do plan to replace the lighting in this room eventually, but I’d really rather not have to do it until I have more of a plan for other improvements to the room as a whole and the money to make it happen.
I don’t have absolute answers on compatibility with fluorescent lights beyond my opinion. Part of the problem and answering that question may rely upon the fact that when the switch is used in a non-neutral configuration, even if you select the on-off setting, it is not using the switch’s relay. So in that case, even though you do not have any intention of using the dimmer, this switch is still acting as a dimmer, just at as much power I asked the dimmer side can provide.
Minor correction: The 4 32w LED tubes are listed as ‘32w replacement using only 15w’, so the total would actually be just 135w, below the specified limit for use with CFL lights. Of course, that only accounts for the bulbs, not the ballast, so. . .
As for the 2 in 1 switch that wasn’t working… I moved it to a different location, without the complex load and with a neutral in the switch box, and it wasn’t working right there either. Swapped in another new switch, and it works perfectly. So I guess I either got a bad switch, or the fluorescent load damaged it somehow. Hopefully they’ll have an answer soon on the fluorescent lights. If it’s supported, I will try a different switch in that location and see if maybe I just happened to have a bad switch the first time.