I’m setting up a 4-way using a white series dimmer and two aux switches. I identified the outlet box with the line in and hooked up the dimmer switch. Initially, I failed to properly hook up the ground wire and flipped on the power at the circuit breaker box. When I got back to the dimmer switch, I noticed a hot electrical smell from the dimmer and realized the ground wasn’t properly connected. I turned off the power, properly connected the ground, and turned the power back on.
I cannot get the switch to operate. The LED light doesn’t come on either. I connected the two aux switches just incase this would help but it didn’t. Is it possible that I short circuited the dimmer switch when it wasn’t grounded properly? Is there anyway to perform a reset?
It sounds like you are not wired properly, independently of the missing ground. A ground is just a safety connection, so the switch should have operated properly without it. It sounds like improper wiring may have fried the switch, but until you wire it properly, you won’t know. But generally speaking, the smell means you fried it.
If you’re not familiar enough with wiring to wire this properly, you may wish to consult with an electrician.
Bry, thanks for your quick response. So far, I’ve hooked up Inovelli dimmers on 5-way, 3-way, and single pole setups. I feel comfortable with the wiring. This particular setup is a bit different as I’m not replacing dummy switches but instead Lutron Maestro switches. The wiring on these old Maestro switches is complex and difficult to resolve in the wiring diagrams. In addition, this is a 2-gang box with a single power line coming in to operate another light.
The electrical box contains four cables, one for power in, one to the foyer light, and one to an aux switch. It contain a fourth cable for a separate light not controlled by this dimmer.
Here’s a picture of the box. The line in, traveler, and neutral wires are connected to the dimmer. The black wire from the cable to the light and the black wire with the traveler to the aux switch are both capped right now. Just so you know, (not shown in this picture) the traveler cable on the other end with one of the aux switches, I have the black wire is capped.
The load on the dimmer switch is currently not connected to anything.
What should the capped black wires in this picture be connected to?
What should be connected to the load terminal on the dimmer?
