I’ve just installed a recent build Blue series 2-1 dimmer in a non-neutral setup. The load is a single LED bulb. My switch is getting solid power (boots well and operates in both power on and power off mode), but the bulb fails to light. I’ve set the switch to simple On/Off mode and have tried both single pole and single pole full sine wave with no luck.
In all of my other no neutral setups, when the loads weren’t enough the switches would fail to boot/stay operational. This is the first time I’ve seen the switch come up, stay stable, but fail to activate the load. If I turn on smart bulb mode, I get a brief flash of light, but then the bulb goes out again.
Is this a failure mode in non-neutral setups, where a bypass may be required?
Thanks for the advice! While I haven’t tried switching them, I did throw on a multimeter and verified that I have 120V from Line to Ground and only floating voltage between Load and Ground.
Don’t switch them to experiment. If you did that test with the conductor not attached to the switch then that is the proper wiring.
If you’re up to testing, power up the switch and then turn the light on. Test in between the load and the ground. You should get 120V. Put it in the smart bulb mode and do the same thing.
TL;DR - Putting in a bypass got things working for me.
My previous meter tests had been with the switch wired up. Disconnecting the switch confirmed I had the wiring correct (120V on line, minimal floating voltage on the load). With the LED bulb (a Cree) installed, I was getting approx 66V on the load side (measured to ground) when on. Switching to smart bulb mode (and high output in non-neutral) had no effect. Putting in my test incandescent bulb and things worked a-okay.
The key change that I experienced was the switch started not being stable in the non-neutral LED configuration. Reboots, quirky responses, etc. Not sure why it was apparently stable yesterday, but this pushed me to throw a bypass on this one and instantly things worked great. This has been the only non-neutral install where a bypass has been both needed and helpful (Philips Hue BR30, I’m looking at you).
