Vizia RF no Ground

potts.mike

Active Member
Dumb question,

Will vizia RF+ dimmers and controllers work without a ground? From a quick glance I have hot neutral and load but no ground.
 
That would be very odd to not have a ground at switch. This type of wiring could present a shock hazard – especially if metallic faceplate is present. Unless the ground wire was clipped (or broke off), surely there must be a wire that does not have any sheathing on conductor.

The lack of true neutral wire and appropriate sized boxes were the two biggest HA lighting problems for me.

If your switch has four wires, then you can use a 15amp Vizia+ switch or VRI10 1000w dimmer. If your switch has three wires, two hots and one ground, then you will have to use Vizia+ VRI06 (http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ProductDetail.jsp?partnumber=VRI06-1LX&section=44140&minisite=10251). The VRI06 requires a 40w load, and this presents a problem for CFLs.

Some Electricians will mark the white with black tape or market to indicate the white wire is really a hot.

Also, if you change out a switch, you may have to upgrade electrical connections at the box to current NEC code requirements. Personally, I would not install any expensive load control device where the ground was missing.
 
I will have to pull it open and look closer. It's an older house with much of the original wiring. If memory serves there are two wires that run to the switch and then in the back of the box two insulated wires that are just tied together with a wire nut. They are metal boxes so I guess the box could be ground in the back.

I'm looking to slowly move over to the vizia rf stuff and want to put a 4 button controller in the bedroom and by the door.
 
I wonder if those metal boxes will be a problem with Z-Wave. I'm not saying they will be, I don't know, just raising the question for someone with experience to possibly answer.
 
Your probably correct about no ground wire. If the boxes are metal your wiring is most likely BX(Armored Cable) the ground is trasferred in the armored outer body of the cable to the box. You should be able to connect a pigtail to the inside of the box and that will be your ground wire, But just screwing the dimmer to the box should provide the ground as long as the switch mounting is all metal.

Mike
 
Was BX popular in the late 50's?

Depends on your area and standards. BX or AC was used prior to Romex (manufacturer's name for NM cable) really becoming prevalent. There was also ungrounded NM cable with a braided outer jacket around that vintage as well. Really, the only way to tell is to either look at the fittings and wiring methods or trace down an unfinished area of the house. re

Certain areas of the country won't allow cabling to be installed in anything but conduit, and BX/AC being only allowed in retrofit, no NM cabling. Not even available at the local big box orange and blue stores.
 
The metal box will not prevent wireless communications especially if the faceplate is plastic. According to GE Z-Wave website, the number is 20%. The range will be noticeably shorter when configuring network using Leviton RF Toolkit. You just need to make sure at least one centralized switch in a two room area is plastic; this switch will act sort of like a centralized repeater.
My house is older too with all metal boxes. I had quite a few metal boxes that I did not replace. I was forced to replace a number of metal boxes because of size restrictions. Leviton installation guide describes minimum box depth as 2 1/2".
 
I opened up the switch where I want to put one of the 4 button controllers and it has a black wire, red wire and a white wire. The black and red are wired into the switch and the white wires are tied together. This is in a metal box and the wires look to be wrapped in paper with a metallic outer layer.
 
Yes, the Vizia 4 button group controller will work without a ground wire. Since you have a 2 hots and neutral at box. Does the box size meet minimum size specified by Leviton? Unless you can determine if the metal box is grounded (as Dell suggested above) you might be creating undo risk to your self (and others). A grounded metal switch box help reduce potential shock hazzard or accidents.
 
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