VZM31-SN and Aux Switch - Aux Switch Only Turns On Bulbs, Not Off (SOLVED)

Title describes the problem. I’m 99.9% sure I have things wired correctly, I’ve done the PaddleUp+5pushes to program the VZM31, set switchType = “3Way Aux Switch” in the switch config and same behavior.

EDIT: Non-Neutral setup, Firmware 2.11, Identified the line, load and traveller lines via voltage testing.
EDIT2: 6 Hue bulbs connected as load.

I see a related thread with similar behavior but is on the Red Series.

Am I missing something dumb?

Just to be clear, the Inovelli is not powering up at all? No LED bar illuminating? So you were doing paddle pushes to try to program even though the Inovelli was not powered up?

What is your load? i.e bulb(s), quantity, etc.

The VZM31 is working as expected with 6 Hue Bulbs as Line. Configurations made within for Smart Bulb Mode, 3-WAY AUX SWITCH, outputMode=on’off. Did the hold the paddle up while pressing the button 5 times. That resulted in white LED as expected.

The Aux Switch can turn the lights on when the lights are off. If the lights are on, I am unable to turn them off with the Aux Switch.

I’m going to investigate some MQTT traffic to see what I see.

Got it now. The Aux will turn the bulbs on, but not off.

I would set/confirm the Aux Switch Type parameter via your hub. Also, set it to none and them put it back.

Which Aux are you using?

Got it now. The Aux will turn the bulbs on, but not off.

Correct.

I would set/confirm the Aux Switch Type parameter via your hub. Also, set it to none and them put it back.

Done with no change in behavior

Which Aux are you using?

Inovelli White Series Aux Switch

Hmmm. And just to confirm:

  1. The two Traveler terminals are connected together; and
  2. A HOT conductor from the Inovelli box is connected to the NEUTRAL terminal of the Aux.

What you wrote is not how I interpreted the schematic on the config page:

Red = Traveller 1
Bottom Black = Traveller 2
Black/White = Hot / Line
Top Black = Lights / Load


In my scenario:
Yellow + Blue Tape = Traveller 1
Yellow w/o Tape = Traveller 2
Black = Hot / Line
Orange = Lights / Load

Also - I swapped out a spare White Series Aux switch I had with no change.

That looks correct. The traveler terminals on the two switches are connected by the yellow w/blue tape. The neutral terminal on the Aux is has a constant hot from the yellow w/o tape which is connected to the Line terminal of the Inovelli, which is hot.

At the Aux box, double check the yellow w/o tape with the conductor removed from the Aux. It should be a constant hot. Either use a proximity tester or meter between it and your box, presuming the box is grounded. This will double check proper line/load identification at the Inovelli box.

Confirmed that the wire going into the Neutral terminal is constant hot.

I have 6 of the 60W equivalent bulbs running on load.

I see there’s a HigherOutputInNonNeutral flag I can set. Would my setup benefit from that?

Also going to hardwire the load wire into the line wire to remove the variable of the switch.

A few more data points:

  • I checked the hot wire and load wire again just to make sure they were correct. They were.
  • Hard wired Load into Line, also going into the Blue Series Line. Oddly enough, the light immediately lit up (expected since hardwired to line) but the switch did not.
  • Reconnected everything as before, with same behavior.

Dim it to say 50% and see if it works.

Also, you want that flag off.

To close this one out:

I checked all the wiring again, checked voltages, switched Smart & Aux switches and continued to have an Aux switch that wouldn’t turn off the lights. Plus, after some period of time, 2 of the 6 lights would start blinking randomly. Upon turning the lights off at the Smart Switch, the 4 would turn off as expected, the blinking 2 might take a little while to turn off, not turn off or turn off immediately.

I had easy access to the Neutral within the circuit, so I pulled that to the Smart & Aux Switches and all is working as expected.