Just received by White Series Smart Dimmer (VTM31SN, formerly 2-1 Switch) and Fan/Light Canopy Module (VTM36) kits and installed my first one to replace an old RF remote control unit. The Fan/Light Canopy Module works perfectly - powered up, put it in dimmer mode for the light, and paired it to Apple HomeKit via Matter with zero problems.
However, the Smart Dimmer does not power up at all. I suspect that’s because there is actually no load being applied to the switch. The way this house was wired, there is only one wire to the single-gang box in the wall for the switch, and the ceiling fan/light are powered separately (constant power) assuming the use of an RF remote. So - the module works great, but I suspect the dimmer isn’t working because the firmware is looking for a load that doesn’t exist.
Is there a way to get the Smart Dimmer to power up and work without a load? Or do I need a different product for this?
When you say “one wire”, do you really mean one Romex where there are two conductors plus a ground? I am presuming that you have that or perhaps fabric covered wire, because no switch will work with just one conductor.
If that is the case, and you have power originating at the fan box as you described, you need to rewire at the fan box. Connect the two conductors that go to the switch box to the hot and neutral in the fan box. This will provide you a hot and neutral at the switch box.
That hot and neutral at the switch box will be connected to the line in neutral terminals and the switch will power up.
If you have Romex, connect the grounds properly as well.
You should refer to the Inovelli wiring diagrams. There is one that shows what I just described.
@Bry Yes, I should have been more precise in my wording…one three-conductor Romex cable going to the switch box, with black (hot), white (neutral), and ground (bare copper). The crazy part is that the wall box is not in any way tied to the ceiling power for the fan and light (again, only a single three-conductor Romex cable in the ceiling, black/white/bare). In other words – there is zero connection between the ceiling box and the wall box. They are different legs of the same circuit back in my breaker panel. (Side note – I have the same situation in another room where the wall box is on a different breaker completely from the ceiling box. I have no clue who wired this house this crazy. )
So – I will do some testing as @alexdykes suggested to confirm power is flowing when the breaker is on. I also have another White Series Smart Dimmer/2-in-1 Switch that I can test to see if the first one was somehow DOA. But I’m suspecting now that the White Series Smart Dimmer isn’t what I really need since it would be trying to directly control the ceiling fan/light via the wiring in the wall which doesn’t exist.
I just found the product selector for HomeKit that mentions that the Blue Series canopy relay and Smart Dimmer can do direct Zigbee bindings between the two pieces. That seems to be supported by the Matter protocol, but not sure how to make it happen. While I have the fan working with a Lutron Pico controller right now using a HomeBridge plugin and Apple HomeKit, I prefer the look of the Inovelli switch and I want to use the LED strip to help me know when my garage doors are open and shouldn’t be, etc.
Any further advice on whether to return the Whites for Blues, or how else to proceed? Thanks!
So…if anyone cares :)…gotta love the early 1980s wiring of this house.
It turns out there is no power to this light switch. Best I can tell, this switch was originally wired to one of the lower wall power outlets to switch that outlet on/off (it’s like this in other rooms in the home). Prior owner apparently disconnected the switch from that outlet and used an RF remote module for the fan (or maybe just the pull chains…I honestly can’t remember from buying the house 20 years ago when I put in or replaced the RF module for one with a remote).
SO…now I have to take apart a wall outlet to see if I can use the existing wiring to just run power to the switch box and power my Inovelli 2-in-1. Fun!
So you probably have a switch loop between the switch and the outlet. Same wiring adjustment applies. You’ll have a hot and neutral at the outlet. Just connect the hot and neutral there to the black (for the hot) and white (for the neutral) and the grounds and that will provide you a hot and neutral at the switch.
If that switch is still working to control the outlet and the switch only controls one of the two receptacles, there is a tab on the receptacle that was purposely broken to accomodate that. If you want both receptacles to work again, you’ll have to replace the outlet.
Agree 100%. I just need to move a heavy dresser away from the outlets and play around to get it all fixed up. I haven’t messed with that outlet in about 17 years.
All that said, I am wondering whether I should switch to Blue Series Zigbee switch/canopy modules to get the direct binding instead of sticking with White Series Matter. I’m primarily using HomeKit right now and would love to avoid hub proliferation (I already use Lutron in some applications) but if Matter Binding for local control isn’t coming soon to HomeKit or HomeBridge (preferred)/Home Assistant (would prefer not to move to this but I could), I probably need to make the change.
That’s a personal decision. I don’t use Whites or anything Apple so I don’t have any experience with them. The decision to switch should be centered around if you really need to bind or if automations will suffice.
I’d inquire in Apple communities to see if Matter binding is on the horizon. AFAIK, it’s not in anyone’s near future.
I have bound a switch and light using matter. I am using home assistant so I have the matter-server running and performed the binding through matter server using a utility I found online and it worked. I had the same decision to make and decided matter will evolve as it is simply zigbee 4.
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