I have a non-neutral single pole setup in an old house where the switch controls a 5-bulb light fixture. When the bulbs are 60W incandescants (300W total), the switch works correctly. However, when I replace them with 5 9W Tradfri e26 806 lumen smart bulbs (45W total), it blinks red and requires an air gap reset.
When I put in the suggested Aeotec bypass capacitor in parallel to the light fixture, then the switch blinks red, green, blue when powered on and the lights all flicker quickly.
I disabled local relay control and I enabled smart bulb mode. Does smart bulb mode make the switch provide full power to the bulbs, rather than 99% power when that setting is off? Also, should this switch function correctly in a non-neutral configuration when the load is significantly over 25W? If so, why might my setup produce what I assume is an error that the wattage is too low and why do the lights flicker, even with a bypass?
With the latest testing, I have the following behavior:
With remote control enabled, when I try to switch on remotely, the switch flashes the red, green, blue error on its indicator light, the light fixture remains off, and the status of the switch in the hubitat hub remains off. If I select āoffā in hubitat after this, then the smart lights come on and flicker (though less than before - now itās subtle), the switch state continues to be reported as āoffā, and the indicator light glows a solid blue. If I select āoffā a second time, then the smart lights turn off, the switch state continues to be reported as āoffā, and the indicator light turns off.
EDIT: this is no longer consistent behavior. Generally, the switch is unstable. It always responds to commands from the hub but it often fails to turn on. The more 60W incandescent bulbs are installed, the more stable it becomes.
EDIT: I want a working light so I switched back to incandescent bulbs only and disabled smart bulb mode but I canāt get the switch to turn on and not go into a boot loop that flashes the lights on and off. Air gap doesnāt help.
Iām having an identical issue. Old house, old wiring, no neutral. When I have two Edison style bulbs in the fixture, the red dimmer works fine. If I switch over to smart bulbs, I get the red/green/blue error. I can add three (yes, THREE) bypasses, and the lights stop flickering, but the indicator light stays half lit and does not respond to commands.
In Home Assistant, Iāve got the switch set to no neutral and smart bulb. If I set it to simple on/off, it doesnāt change.
This is the second switch Iāve placed here - the first does not respond to any button presses (including the long press factory reset).
Have you had any luck? Or should I just give up on the no neutral setup?
According to Z-Wave JS, the firmware is 1.57. Iām not entirely sure what you mean by ālink the smart bulbs,ā but I have successfully added them to Home Assistant and Google Home, and I can control them from both applications.
I matched the lines from my dumb switch to the new switch. In less helpful news, I ran the black to the line and the white to the load. In even less helpful news, I picked up a simple voltage tester, and it goes crazy on both lines. This could be because I had it set to smart bulb.
I attempted to set it to no-neutral through manual button presses as recommended by Luke from Inovelli, but now it no longer accepts changes from Z-Wave JS. As a result, I cannot change the smart bulb setting.
I thought I had read in the instructions to just copy the layout of the dumb switch if I wasnāt sure. I guess that makes me the dummy.
In any event, I swapped the wiring, but the switch is still non-responsive. It shows up in Z-Wave JS with green checks down the line, but I canāt change the LED indicator color and holding down the config key for 60 seconds results in no change in color. I can pull the air gap, but thereās no change after it powers back up.
I removed two of the bypasses to see if that helped, and the switch turned itself off. The two LED edisons now flicker. If the LED indicator on the switch is on, itās going through the three color cycle. If itās off, itāsā¦off.
Thank you for the clarification. I lurk a lot, but I havenāt had concentrated time to figure this out until now. As a result, I only know enough to be dangerous.
Iām using two of the Feit ST21 Spiral Filament Alexa Google Decorative Smart Bulbs. I added them via the Tuya Smart Life app to Home Assistant and Google Home, for what itās worth. Theyāre weird bulbs, and color matching is odd, but they do turn on and off when asked, so Iām assuming itās not them.
I successfully figured out how to use a nicer volt meter, and Iāve confirmed that PJF was (of course) right. I can now confirm the switch is wired correctly. I also purchased a cheap light fixture to see if the 50+ year old light fixture was the problem. With one bypass and the two Feit bulbs plugged in, I got the constant red/green/blue flicker. Swapping out one of the bulbs with a ātraditionalā Edison, the flickering has stopped.
That said, the switch is showing as dead in Z-Wave JS. Iāll attempt a reset as soon as I click āReply.ā
Successfully reset the switch and used the hardware commands to set it to No Neutral - with the ātraditionalā edison bulb in. Re-added the node in Home Assistant (although I had to brute force the removal of the old instance). Even used Z-Wave JS to change the indicator color!
But itās not doing anything in terms of turning on or off the lights, smart and dumb alike. Iāve tried smart bulb mode (SBM, I assume), On/Off, and Normal - confirming that changes are being made by changing the LED indicator color after each change. The lights are not turning on. I have an automation set with scenes, too, but theyāre not doing anything (that I can tell).
Is there a way to confirm that button presses are doing anything?
I learn slowly. If I press a button, Z-Wave JS acknowledges the input under the āLast Activeā heading. That said, it still doesnāt appear to do anything to the lights themselves.
Got it. So here is the thing. When you are using smart bulbs with a smart switch, the bulb must be constantly powered at 120V. You canāt/shouldnāt be controlling power to the bulbs via the physically wired connection to the switch. The switch should not be able to cut power to the bulb(s).
So you do that by configuring the Smart Bulb Mode in the switch to provide constant power to the bulb(s). You can then control the bulbs on/off and dim via scenes. (I think those bulbs are Zigbee and the switch is Zwave, so you canāt use associations.)
That being said, you might try another brand of smart bulbs. I donāt have any experience with Feit bulbs, but another manufacturer has stated that Feit bulbs are not recommended for use with their switches. So there may be some weirdness with those bulbs that is causing your issue.
Thank you stu1811 and Bry. Iāll try to do better at responding/clarifying.
Iām afraid I donāt know how to post the automation. I can tell you that pressing the up button activates a scene, and that scene is the two bulbs turned on at a light greenā¦because thatās what white is on these bulbs. Pressing the down button once activates a different scene that turns the lights off. Iām sure thereās a better way to do it, but thatās what I stumbled into when I started this journey.
That said, I finally realized that I could test the automation by plugging the bulb in somewhere else. The hall light is within view and on a dumb switch, so I plugged in one of the two Feit bulbs - the automation worked perfectly. Well, it turned on, and it turned off on button presses. I count that as a success.
That leaves me flabbergasted, though, as to why the fixture isnāt lighting up. I used the no touch voltage tester, and itās lighting up like crazy on all the lines. In SBM, I would think that the dumb edison bulb would be on constantly, but itās not. What am I missing?
You can verify SBM is working by putting a dumb bulb in the fixture and toggle the dimmer. The bulb should remain on regardless of the switch position.
Thanks, stu1811 - your unending patience is appreciated.
I plugged in two of the traditional Edisons, and they justā¦lit up. No muss, no fuss. If I change the Operation Mode to On/Off, the switch works with the bulbs. At this point, though, Iām treating it as a $45 dumb switch.
Iād love to switch bulbs, but the wife wants pretty bulbs and the son wants bulbs that can do ārainbow lights.ā To my knowledge, these Feits are the only ones that tick both of those boxes. If I canāt do both, then I might as well go back to the dumb switch and the smart bulbs that are only fun when theyāre on.
So why donāt these bulbs work in the switch? According to the documentation, theyāre six watts each, giving us twelve watts. With a bypass in thatās supposed to help any bulb under 4 watts, I would assume I have more than enough power. So what am I missing?
Youāre not the first to have SBM issues without a neutral.
You could wire the light to put full time power to both the light sockets and the dimmer box and then just hook the dimmer up to line and neutral. This isnāt to code so itās a do at your own risk thing.
Thank you for the reply, PJF. Iām barely comfortable with the little electrical work Iām doing - rigging something against code seems like asking very politely for trouble.
I tried adding another bypass. Worked with the Edisons, went back to flickering Feits with the cycling red/green/blue indicator light. So Iām really at a loss.