In my bathroom, I have two switches. One for the lights above the vanity (with hue bulbs) and one to run power to the bathroom fan which is a Panasonic Whispersense DC exhaust fan.
Power comes into the box and pigtails to the fan and the lights. Separate neutrals available.
I want to install a Blue series 2-1 for the lights and either use a wirenut to just hard-wire the fan, or ultimately get a blue series fan switch. My initial test was that a blue 2-1 for the lights and in parallel (split power, separate switched loads) a regular switch for the fan did not behave well at all. The power seems unstable to the lights and the LEDs flicker/pulse regardless of the state of the switch for the fan. Did I damage the 2-1?
Am I out of luck in this scenario? Will putting a blue series fan switch solve the issue?
I’m not sure I totally understand what you tried, but it sounds as if you tried wiring a fan and lights in parallel on the same blue 2-1. Regardless of what you tried, the blue 2 -1 is not designed or rated for an inductive load so it should not be used with an exhaust fan.
Regarding the use of a Blue fan switch, apparently there are several models of the Panasonic Whisper line. There is a thread or two in here discussing the use of the Blue fan switch with those fans. Some have been successful and some have encountered issues. I would look for those threads and read through them.
Hi - thanks for the response. I’ll try to explain a bit better. The neutrals are joined and tied to the 2-1. The line is split to a normal switch and the Inovelli, each of which has a different load.
-------neutral--------|
------- Line ----------| Inovelli 2-1 |----------- lights
|
|
|-------------| regular switch|---------- fan
As to the threads, yes, I saw some of them. Panasonic has so many models it is maddening.
I saw that the WhisperGreen (FV-0511VKS2) seemed to have problems, while WhisperChoice (RG-C811A) and WhisperFit ( FV-0511VF1) seem to work. I have a WhisperSense (FV-0511VQC1). There’s finally the WhisperValue (FV-0510VS1) and WhisperCeiling (FV-0511VQ1). These latter three are not confirmed to work or be problematic. SOOO FRUSTRATING!
Hi PJF - they’re standard Philips hue A19 bulbs which seem fine in other locations. I wasn’t sure if having an inductive load in parallel (as shown) would cause the weird problems I’m seeing (flickering LEDs in the switch, occasionally the lights themselves flicker on/off when starting. This was a switch where the neutral came loose when I pressed it into the box, but I have repaired that (and learned two valuable lessons a) how the switch behaves with no neutral and b) to double/triple check that everything is nice and secure and the wires are tucked nicely behind the switch.