The load has two fixtures. One of which I disconnected. The other fixture has an incandescent bulb in it.
It’s a 3-way switch with a dumb 3-way switch on the other end. I’ve confirmed the LOAD and LINE wires are correct. I disconnected all wires and used a voltage probe to confirm the load wire.
With this switch completely disconnected only the LOAD wire has power and none of the wires at the other 3-way switch have power. This is how I know I’ve got the correct LOAD wire.
There is a neutral wire in the box which I’ve correctly connected.
I’ve manually configured the switch for Multi-Way (Toggle) and “On/Off”.
The switch successfully registered itself in Home Assistant.
With all conductors disconnected from the switch, the only conductor that should have power would be the Line, not the Load. Sounds as if you have those two reversed.
Thank you for helping me. I’ll do my best to explain.
It’s a 3-way switch setup on a stairway. The switch at the bottom of the stairs has the LINE in it. The switch at the top of the stairs is a dumb 3-way switch.
I know that the presence switch won’t work with a dumb 3-way switch. I will order an Aux switch, but for now I’m trying to make the presence switch work as a single pole switch.
So I have the LINE, LOAD, and NEUTRAL connected on the presence switch. Since I don’t have the traveler connected I know that this will only work when the dumb switch at the top of the stairs is in the right position.
I am concerned there is something weird going on with the presence switch because it’s flashing yellow and cyan and the bulb flashes on every few seconds.
Could there be something wrong with the presence switch? I own two presence switches and they both have the same problem. They both arrived in the mail last week so they are brand new.
While anything is possible, the odds of getting two defective switches is pretty low. That suggests a wiring fault or damaging the switch during installation.
First question, where is the Load? In the switch box with the Inovelli at the bottom of the stairs or in the dumb switch box at the top of the stairs?
Is there anything I can do to verify the switches aren’t damaged. I don’t see how I could have damaged it, but it would be nice to check it.
I’ve installed a bunch of non-presence blue switches so I think I know what I’m doing.
There are two romex lines coming into the box at the bottom of the stairs. There is one romex line coming into the box at the top of the stairs. How would I know if the LOAD is in the upstairs box or downstairs box?
I just caught this re-reading. The Blue mmWave switch is NOT compatible with a dumb switch. If you have a 3-way, you need to either use and Aux or another smart switch (via binding).
Yep, I didn’t realize it didn’t work with a 3-way when I first read this.
What I’ve done is configured it to be a single-pole switch. I then put both the load and the traveler wires to the three way switch on the LOAD screw on the VZM32. This way the switch at the top of the stairs doesn’t have any effect on the light. The light is solely controlled by the VZM32 at the bottom of the stairs.
Oh yeah . . sorry some of these start running together for me.
So we have to figure out your wiring topology.
In your bottom box, you have a 2-wire and a 3-wire, correct?
Remove the 3-wire completely from the switch. That leaves the 2-wire. What are those connections to the switch. Does the switch power up properly with just the 2-wire connected?
I have the neutrals tied together with a wire nut that includes a pigtail for the VZM32.
I am pretty sure I tried not having the 3-wire connected at all (no LOAD, no TRAVELER) and the switch did not boot up. I assumed it had to have some load present. Is this correct?
I will try this again to be certain.
Do I have to completely disconnect the neutral from the wire nut when I do this test? Or can I just leave the traveler and the hot disconnected (capped off)?
Just pull the 3-wire from the switch and confirm if the switch powers up properly. From what you described, there won’t be any power of the 3-wire so just move it out of the way. You can leave the white bundled to the neutral bundle, I think.
All is good when there is no LOAD connected. Home assistant can turn the switch on and off.
The presence switch is configured for single-pole. It’s configured for On/Off (not dimmer).
I noticed that when turning it on and off, there isn’t a relay click like in the non-presence switches. Is that expected?
I used an AC volt meter and measured voltage between all the wires.
I only get 120v between the HOT/LINE and the ground and the neutral.
I measured neutral to ground, got zero volts
I measured neutral to LOAD, got zero volts
I measured ground to load, got zero volts
I’m certain I’ve identified the wires properly: LINE, LOAD, and NEUTRAL.
I used a non-contact voltage tester to confirm that none of the 3 wires at the top of the stairs with the dumb switch have any voltage.
Next, I connected the LOAD wire to the presence switch. The traveler wire is not connected. I verified that the dumb 2-way switch is set so that the LOAD is traveling to the light. This yields: the switch LED cycling yellow and cyan and the bulb flashing once every ~3 seconds.
There are two lights on the stairs. One is completely disconnected (it’s a fancy hue light and i didn’t want to risk damaging it during all this).
The other is a recessed light with an incandescent bulb in it. It’s not going to be easy to rip it away from the studs and not damage the ceiling. I confirmed that the center of the bulb socket is hot and the ring is neutral, but I suspect you want to see the wires behind the fixture.
Is there any other way to test without taking it down?
