I’m trying to wire up a red 2-1 switch in a single pole configuration, but I’m having an issue with the switch turning off after around 3-5 minutes and then the LED bar flashes red. I’ve tried both neutral and non-neutral wiring configurations, but that doesn’t seem to change anything, other than that when I wired it with a neutral wire the switch got very hot when i went to check on it after a few minutes of it being on. I’m very new to working with household electricity so please forgive me. I’m also very confused as to why the switch would work normally for around 3 minutes, no flickering lights, then automatically turn off and flash red. Interestingly, I can turn the switch back on even when it flashes red, but it quickly turns off again (less than 1 minute).
When you are unfamiliar with electrical wiring, it’s always best to consult with an electrician. Electrical wiring does not do well using the trial and error process. That can result in damaged equipment, or even worse, injury.
When you wire a single pole configuration, you have to use the proper wiring topology depending upon the wires present in the box. You cannot try “both neutral and non-neutral wiring configurations” because only one of those can be proper and the other is impossible to do properly. So in the process of your trial and error, you may have damaged the switch.
Since you mentioned that the switch got very hot, I’m going to guess that the reason the switch is shutting down after 3 minutes is because it is heating up and the thermal protection built into the switch is kicking in. I’m not 100% sure that is what the red flashing indicates, but if your switch is heating up and cutting out, it’s probably the thermal protection.
The thermal protection is designed to shut the switch down for safety reasons once it reaches a specified temperature that the switch should not ever reach. The prevents things such as the loud popping, the pretty blue smoke, the flames, calling the fire department, etc.
So if the switch is heating up it is either 1) defective 2) improperly wired or 3) damaged or 4) improper load. . . or probably several at this point.
I would start by having an electrician do a proper install. If you have more than one switch, have another on standby in case the one you’re having an issue with is no longer working properly.
EDITED to comment on the load type.
Agree with Bry that calling in a pro is the best move here.
The biggest trap folks unfamiliar with residential electrical fall into is making assumptions about what a wire does based solely on its sheath color – never do that. Testing with multimeter is the only way to properly verify a wire’s job.
Although neutrals should always be white, not every white wire is a neutral, and that is particulary true in switch boxes.
Whenever I connected the switch using the non-neutral configuration, I did confirm using a multimeter that there was a 120V drop between line and ground. I’ll clarify that the switch was not hot to the touch whenever I had it in the non-neutral configuration, where I had line, load, and ground connected, and yet the flashing red light still appeared. Whenever I tried the neutral configuration, I also measured it with a multimeter, and it came out to be 100V, which was pretty low, but the switch was also plugged in and lit up so I assumed that was where the rest of the voltage drop was at. Also the reason I tried both was because the wiring diagram said single pole supported both neutral and non-neutral configurations.
You also haven’t told us what your load is. Usually overheating happens when you have the wrong load type or too large a load for the switch to the handle. Can you share those details too?
It’s a 4 long strands of cafe lights. About 96 bulbs at 11W each. It has it’s own breaker switch. I can provide a picture of the wiring if that would be helpful.
If that’s 96 bulbs x 11W each that’s way more than the switch is rated for and would definitely explain why it’s overheating.
- Maximum Load (Watts): 600W Incandescent, 300W LED, 150W CFL
In addition to what @rohan said, in my experience, string lights are typically plugged into receptacles. So unless those lights are hardwired into an electrical box, the smart dimmer should not be used. In fact, that is a NEC code violation and therefore probably a violation under whatever code you fall.
The soon to be released on/off switch is more suitable for your application. It has a much higher load capability and is suitable for use with a receptacle. It does require a neutral connection, however.
The electrical box does have a neutral wire. Also, the string lights are not plugged into an outlet, as there is a dedicated load wire in the box. Thank you all for your answers! Maximum load is something I overlooked clearly. I looked on the website and I don’t see a Red Series On/Off switch available. Is that the one you say is coming soon? Also do you know any other good Z-Wave smart switches that support the wattage it requires? I looked at both the white and blue series on/off switch and it says the maximum incandescent load would be 960W, and I need at least 1056W.
I would be very surprised if the Red on/off switch will have higher load ratings than the Blue or White.
Zooz’s Z75 heavy-duty switch can do up to 1800W incandescent (600W LED), and that’s the highest load rating I’ve seen thus far for a (reputable) smart switch.
After doing a bit of research, that Zooz switch looks like the best option for me. Thank you!
The On/Off is presently only be developed as Blue (Zigbee) and a White (Thread) models, which is why you couldn’t find a Z-wave version…