Would appreciate any help! I have an existing 3-way stair light that I wanted to replace with an Inovelli Blue and a regular switch. I now have 2 dead Inovelli Blue’s and I can’t figure out why.
Load is 3 LED bulbs, no dimming nothing fancy. Blue is installed at the top of the stairs which is the main box that has both the power, load, and wires to remote switch.
Connected Blue load to hot wire, neutral to all tied neutrals, ground to all bonded grounds. Load to Blue load. Remote switch gets sent traveler, hot (capped at other end), and neutral. Remote switch just connects or disconnects traveler to neutral.
Blue works fine when first installed. Switches load on and off, but obviously remote switch doesn’t do anything, acts like a 1-way. When I change the blue’s mode to three-way, (hold down, push button 5 times, it flashes purple, then runs for a while and dies completely. Dead as a doorknob. Breaker does not trip. Breaker on-off doesn’t revive it. Putting it on lamp cord to Hot/Neutral/Gnd still dead. Resetting pull-out on the bottom nothing happens. Diagram of wiring is below. I don’t understand why this keeps happing. Can anyone help me understand what’s wrong and if the two dead Blue’s can be brought back to life? I have verified that the traveler and neutral that go to the remote switch do not have power no matter what I do at the remote switch. Hot to the remote is capped. Verified with multi-meter that when remote switch is on, traveler+neutral are connected, when off, no connection.
The drawing that you posted and the wiring connections on it pertain to using an Aux switch as the secondary switch. However, it appears that you are using a 2-way dumb switch as the secondary switch, which is incorrect.
I drew this conclusion because you labeled it as a “regular” switch and labeled an “in” and “out”, which in Aux which does not have. Also, the quick tap sequence that you used to put the dimmer into the 3-way mode is the sequence for mating with a dumb switch.
As you have it drawn, flipping to the dumb switch to the on position shorts the traveler (which is a hot conductor) and the neutral. I am surprised it didn’t pop the breaker but I am guessing that internal protections on the dimmers kicked in, resulting in you smoking the dimmers.
If you are going to mate with a dumb switch, then the dumb switch needs to be a 3-way switch. The wiring for this configuration is much different than the drawing you posted, so you should refer to the Inovelli drawings.
If my suspicions are correct, then those switches have been damaged internally and are no longer usable.
You should consult with a licensed electrician to get some assistance.
Bryan, thank you, I appreciate your feedback! It would indeed probably be better for me to hire an expert, but I would like to understand what’s occurring if possible. Hopefully I can learn what I did wrong, and maybe help someone else along the way. I am not an expert, but more than familiar with the basics.
Inovelli’s website says that it supports one smart switch along with a toggle or existing switch:
I’m attempting to follow the wiring diagram here:
In closer detail:
This is exactly how I have it wired. It says that you can use a “Add-On switch” GE, Honeywell, or HomeSeer. I may confusing Aux/Add-On for “regular” switch. Although the first page says that toggle/existing switch is supported, there is no wiring diagram with that same language. I assumed that Aux/Add-On meant the same thing. Perhaps I understood incorrectly. In this configuration, the hot at the remote end is capped off. The remote switch connects or breaks the traveler from the neutral. I assumed that the Blue used the traveler wire to detect changes from the remote switch. Make-or-break neutral.
Aux / add-on switches are specific switches sold for that purpose (example: Add-On (Auxiliary) Switch – Inovelli) If you are using an existing switch (not a smart switch), you need to follow the “dumb / existing” switch wiring guides.
See
Thank you all!