I am replacing an older Inovelli NZW30 Z-Wave switch with the matter White Series on/off switch in a 3 way scenario. Before purchasing I had asked the chatbot if I could just replace the NZW30 with the new White and it said it would work, but after installing and troubleshooting I am now seeing the note saying the white on/off does not work with a dumb 3-way switch…so I’m hoping to just pivot to disable the 3-way dumb switch, since it really isn’t needed anymore. I think I understand what to do but wanted other input.
For the NZW30 original install in 2018, Inovelli support had me wire it such that I believe the load was connected from the NZW30 to the dumb 3 way switch box via the black traveller wire, which was tied off to the load in the dumb switch’s box, but bypassing the dumb switch itself. That gave the Inovelli switch a direct connection to the load itself. That left the red traveller connected to the screw opposite the common screw, and the white neutral wire connected to the common screw.
As mentioned, yesterday I initially swapped out the new white series on/off using the same connections before seeing that the white on/off switch does not work with a dumb 3-way, so naturally it isn’t working fully. So currently as installed, the Inovelli White switch itself seems to work as expected, but the dumb 3-way switch does nothing when I flip it. I assume that is because the Inovelli switch is effectively connected direct to the load, and the dumb switch is not ‘seeable’ by the White the way the NZW30 could, but either way the wiring to the dumb switch is not performing an actual ‘switch’ function mechanically/electrically?
First, is how I have it currently an ‘acceptable/safe’ wiring, if I’m ok that the dumb switch is effectively useless?
Second, if I wanted to actually disable the dumb switch, would I just remove the red traveller from the Inovelli and cap it off, and then just cap off the two wires (red/white) separately in the dumb switch’s box?
The photos are ones I took while initially installing yesterday, and do not show all of the box wiring. However, it shows the Inovelli swithces side by side to show where I just replaced it. In the dumb switch photo, the black traveller is connected to the load wire by a wire nut.
