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?
First, take another picture of the box, similar to what you posted, but with the conductors more spread out, and most importantly, focused upon the back of the box.
This will take some back and forth.
What I see thus far is left to right at the top of the box are 2-wire, 3-wire and a 2-wire. I THINK there is another 2-wire coming into the bottom of the box. It look like you have the Line connected to the bottom of the box 2-wire, correct?
The top right 2-wire is connected to the other switch, so disregarding that.
Presumably the 3-wire is going to the next switch box.
That leaves the top left 2-wire. You referred to “a separate light not controlled by the dimmer”. This doesn’t make sense to me because you have a 2-gang box with supposedly three switch legs (unless that is a hot feed going to another box). Are you sure that’s not the load?
We’ll do some testing after you do some 'splaining.
You are correct, left to right at the top of the box are 2-wire, 3-wire and a 2-wire. In the same order, the first 2-wire I believe goes to the foyer light, the 3-wire goes to one of the aux switches, and the last 2-wire is for another light that is controlled by another switch in this box.
Yes, there is a 2-wire coming into the bottom of the box. This is the only power coming into this box. Yes, I have the black wire connected to the Line terminal on the dimmer switch.
Yes, I believe the 3-wire is going to the next switch box as one of the aux switches has a 3-wire coming into it.
If the foyer light the light you’re trying to control with the Inovelli?
For now, remove the switch. Test the bottom 2-wire for powerwith the switch removed. If you have a meter, test between the black of the bottom 2-wire and your white pigtail. If you have a non-contact tester, test the black of the bottom 2-wire. Do you have power on that pair?
So I’m perplexed as to why the switch fried. I’m hesitant to ask you to hook it up again.
When you first installed it, did you have the black from the bottom 2-wire attached to the Line and the white pigtail from the white bundle attached to the neutral terminal? What were the other connections to the switch?
One possibility is that if you did not remove the hot from the 3-wire connection, you would have fed a hot back into the load or traveler terminal, which would have been a problem.
When I first installed the dimmer switch, I had the black wire from the bottom 2-wire attached to the Line and the white pigtail from the white bundle attached to the neutral terminal. Additionally, I had the following connections:
The red wire from the 3-wire attached to the Traveler terminal.
The black wire from the 3-wire to the Load terminal.
The black wire from the 2-wire (foyer light) to the Load terminal.
I’m going to say probably. I can say with certainty that you wired incorrectly, however.
If you look at the drawing below, the Load and Traveler terminals should be populated with the white and red from the 3-wire. The Load wire to the light should be connected to the black from the 3-wire, but instead you had the black from the 3-wire connected to the Load terminal.
My best guess is that you fed voltage back into the switch’s Load terminal as a result of the improperly wired black from the 3-wire . . . but it’s hard to be certain. What’s important is that you understand the proper wiring going forward instead of worrying about how you smoked the last one.
Keep in mind that if you convert to Aux switches, the wiring is different, so be sure to consult the proper wiring schematic.
I currently have two Inovelli aux switches set up for this light. Both aux switches have neutral and traveler wires connected to their respective terminals. The one aux switch with the 3-wire has the black wire capped off.
With the two aux switches in place, I will properly connect the dimmer and see if it works. If not, I’ll buy another dimmer.
If you’re going to power the dimmer again, just do it with the hot and the neutral. No load or traveler. It only needs those two to power up. If it doesn’t power up like that, then you can presume it’s damaged.
If you choose to power it up, use two people, one by the breaker and one by the switch so that you can kill it right away if need be.
Thanks for the updated diagram. Compared to the previous diagram, only the black wire to the light is connected to the load and the black wire on the 3-wire is capped.
I had my wife help me when I powered on the dimmer and it’s fried. I ordered a new dimmer.
