Before I take the route of contacting Inovelli Support for my issue, I’m thought I’d reach out here to see if it’s something I’ve done to cause this issue. Here is a break down of the issue and everything I’ve done in the White Series Dimmer set up:
Issue: 1 of the 6 bulbs is not getting power from the switch. The issue is not about loss of control, it’s that the socket is not getting enough power.
That sounds like a wiring fault at the light fixture or a bulb socket issue. The sockets on multi-bulb light fixtures are wired in parallel. They all get the same voltage.
If the fixture was working properly with all six bulbs illuminated prior to swapping out the switch and/or bulbs, it may be a socket issue. With power cut to the circuit, take a small screwdriver and raise the center tab of the socket to ensure it is making good contact with the bulb. It’s possible that the previous bulb pushed the tab down a little bit too far to make good contact with the replacement bulb.
You can also carefully test the live socket with a meter to see if it’s receiving 120 VAC.
Before I saw your reply, I was checking other ways to troubleshoot narrowing the issue down to the bulb. When checking the bulb I saw it was blinking on and off. Then I realized what could have killed the bulb (which was relatively new). The bulbs I’m using are non-dimmable, if the power delivery is not 100% it starts to blink. During the setup, when I changed the dimmer to on/off only smart mode, I must have dimmed it causing the issue and killing my bulb.
My recommendation to folks it to be mindful of their bulbs if they aren’t dimmable. Or set up the switch with a standard bulb until the correct “mode” is set.
Glad you figured it out. Just following up. The on/off mode and smart bulb mode are two different modes. The bulbs that you linked above are smart bulbs which means they need to be powered fully, 100% of the time.
So for those bulbs you should be using the Smart Bulb Mode. Not only do you not want the switch trying to dim the bulb, you do not want the switch to ever cut power to the bulb. The smart bulb mode will accomplish this.
Once configured properly, you can then control the bulbs via your hub, leveraging the multi-tap scene capability of the switch.
Thanks, Bryan. Make sense. Unfortunately, my “hub” is Amazon Alexa. And I can’t really take advantage of most of the features. Until there is more support for that on Amazon Alexa, It’s just for the Smart Bulb feature that isn’t available in other light switches.
@Bry I’m sad to report that the issue isn’t resolved. In fact, I think it just got worse. I contacted the Smart Buld company and they sent me a replacement bulb (still under warranty). And after adding the bulb, all the lights started flickering (really fast) and it won’t stop. And the Wiz app says it sees the bulbs are not accessible (on and off) as the flickering happens. I noticed one thing, when the White Series switch LED turns on the bulbs go even crazier. For example, The lights are on, they are flickering as mentioned, then I select one of the config modes and then the LED on the switch starts green then orange, etc, and all 6 bulbs start “freaking out” (can’t describe it any better, sorry). I’m not sure what to do now. I think the combination of the 6 wiz bulbs and this switch are just not compatible. I may have to return this device. So sad. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.
I mentioned this before but I don’t think you’ve configured it correctly. Is the switch in the Smart Bulb Mode? That’s required for smart bulbs. You stated “when the White Series switch LED turns on . .”. The switch shouldn’t be turning on the bulbs if it’s in the SBM. The bulbs need to be fully powered continuously. The switch should only be telling Alexa to turn on the bulbs, not interacting with the bulbs directly.
Also, since you have a non-neutral, have you installed a bypass at the bulb?
@Bry Sorry I’m using confusing terminology, I’m still new to lingo for this switch.
Smart Bulb mode is on, yes.
The “switching on” I’m referring to is not the power delivery, I’m just saying when I hit the paddle “on” or “off”. Yes, when I’m hitting the switch it’s telling Alexa “do something” as an Alexa routine. In SBM it is powered, but something is happening that I can’t seem to find the source of the issue. It is non-Neutral. But I’m not familiar with a Bulb “bypass” can you direct me where I can read up on that to try that solution?
@Bry I don’t want to make any assumptions, but I googled “smart bulb bypass” and Inovelli’s forum was the first result and I’ve read through this. Is this what you are suggesting?
I tried following that thread and my take is that I would need to have something like WAGO to have the line (hot) wire go to the White Series switch and the fixture separately. Meaning the Load will not be from the Switch itself. Is this what you meant by a “Bypass”. If so I’ll try it out after you confirm. Thanks!
With non-neutral installations, often insufficient power is being delivered to the switch. When that happens, the switch will not power properly. It will also cause the switch to reboot, which sounds like what you are seeing.
This is often remedied by the installation of a bypass device AT THE LIGHT. It is wired parallel to the light.
Reporting back @Bry I’ve installed the ByPass, but unfortunately I only partly solved the problem. The smart lights at 50% work with the switch fine, but anything higher, the lights start to flicker and become unresponsive as before. I’m stumped. Any other solution? Otherwise, It’s time to call it in and swap it for a normal light switch and return the smart switch and bypass.
The only other solution to remedy a non-neutral configuration is to re-wire the connections at the light to route a hot and neutral to the switch. Your light will remain powered continuously, so you’ll have to flip the breaker to kill power to change bulbs, etc, as the lights will be unswitched. This will give you a neutral installation at the switch, which will no longer have a wired load and will essentially be a scene controller.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I’m not happy with that solution since I’ve already spent close to $90 on products that I can’t get refunded without a restocking fee or at all. That much cost for a scene selector with barely any options in Alexa is very disappointing. At this point, the product should not be a good consideration as a reliable non-neutral option. Otherwise, I appreciate all the help.
What I suggested doesn’t require anything new. You are just changing the wiring connections and using the same switch. This provides a hot and neutral to the switch which will eliminate the non-neutral issues.