How to wire HAI UPB 3 way and 4 way switch?

[mobile1]

I am currently installing my first HAI UPB 3 way and 4 way switches.

I am a bit confused as how to replace my existing switches.

The HAI Main (Master) Switch has a black, red, white, yellow and green cable.
The HAI Auxillary (Slave) Switch has black, blue and a yellow cable

The Boxes containing the 3 way and 4 way switches I am replacing with HAI UPB switches have black, red, green and white cables coming out.

The question now is how do I wire up the main switch and how to wire the auxillary /slave switch.

I assume red conects to red, black to black, green to green. White to White. However where does the YELLOW CABLE GO (for master and slave), and where does the blue one conect to (for Slave)?

The installation instructions are here.here

However since I don't have a yellow cable in the box I don't know what to do with it?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mustangcoupe]

I do not take responsibility for any actions you take with this information you are liable for any hookups you make, right or wrong.....

DO NOT ASSUME that the colors are to be connected are matched to what you have in the box….red to red, black to black white to white.... If you are not 100% sure what goes where then you may want to hire a professional.

AS shown in figure 5 in the link you provided...
The yellow wire is your "control" a connection between the master and slave.
The Black wires are the line (the Hot feed wires from your breaker box).
The white on the master is the neutral from your breaker box.
The green on the master is your ground.

The blue and Grey on the slave is for your indicator light. They need to be connected to the neutral depending on the color of indication you want.

And the red on the master is your LINE/HOT OUTPUT to the light.

Again, If you are not 100% sure what goes where then you may want to hire a professional. So you do not make a mistake and burn the house down.

 

[mobile1]

That's what I figured out myself reading the instructions and they make sense.

Howevermy question is how does the existing 3 way/4way switches work, since they don't have a control wire - only a white, red, black and green wire. Black conects to the Line, red to the load, green to ground, white to neutral. No yellow.

I thought that replacing a switch with upb doenst require any new wiring. Also this is a new house so I think there aren't any wires missing.

 

[ano]

O.K. Here is how it works. I'm assuming you have "normal" 3-way wiring. In one box you have hot and neutral, in the other you have neutral and load (light) and between them you have three conductors, neutral and two "travelers" usually black and red.

What I usually do is this. On the box where the power comes in, connect the hot wire coming in to the black traveler wire. Now you will have hot and neutral in both boxes and a red traveler wire you can use for communication. Install the main swich in the side connected to the load and connect the slave on the side where the power enters.

For the main switch, white to white, black of switch to the traveler black which is now your hot, and switch red (I think) to the black load line from your light.

On the slave side, its black to black, white to white. Now you have this red traveler wire in both sides, and yellow (I think) communication wires unconnected on both switches. Connect each switch yellow wire to that traveler red wire. Now your done.

Oh, you'll have to figure out the two slave light wires yourself depending how you want that to work.

 

[Steve]

Different electricians wire multiway differently. Sometimes the line goes to the load, sometimes to the switch. Also sometimes they use different colored wires, or will used a white/neutral as a switched/hot line (they usually put tape on it to indicate so).

A multiway has a traveller that usually goes in between the switches. I am purely guessing, but I would think the red wire in your box is a traveller and not the load. You really need to understand the way your switches are wired before you hook things up.

There are some sites online that descibe multiway circuit, but I agree if you are not comfortable or have the tools or knowledge to fully understand how things are wired, hire a pro. Watch and ask him alot of questions and maybe you will be better prepared for additional switches.

 

[frankdr]

Different electricians wire multiway differently.

That's for sure. In my house, there were apparently two different people doing them two different ways. You can tell by the way they wired their boxes which one it was. I wish I had made some notes before the drywall went up. Knowing which of the 3way switches has the power coming into it and where the load is connected can take some investigation after the fact.

Good luck

 

[ano]

There are really only two ways it can be wired. Like I describe above, which I think is the most common, and a second way where all the wires, loads and power go to one box, but three wires leave the box and go to the other box. (Assuming 3-way, 2 switches.) In a relatively moden house, the three wire bundle is white, red, and black, so in the US at least, there aren't a whole lot of color options unless your electrician really went out of his way to be creative and violate the National Electrical Code. (NEC)

 

[elcano]

...unless your electrician really went out of his way to be creative and violate the National Electrical Code. (NEC) :lol:

Which is only a big deal if the NEC is mandated by state or local ordenance in your zone. To my suprise, I learned recently that the local ordenance where I live requires compliance with the Uniform Building Code (97), but not the NEC.

In my 17 years old house I have red for one of the AC phases and black for the other one. Then, between the switch and the load I have light blue in one of the phases and yellow in the othe one. I find it easier to understand that having everything in black. I don't know if this is against any code, but I appreciate this creativity.

 

[Steve]

I think there are more than 2 ways to do it depending on the exact circumstances. Here are just a few examples.