zWave switch won't work in 1 location

IVB

Senior Member
I have a location where I have a rocker switch, and want to put in an Intermatic zWave switch.

I can't get the switch to come on (even just manually, no green LED, no power).

I've tried 3 different switches, tried 1 of the switches elsewhere and it works. It's just this location. I tested, and i'm getting 117V across the wires, furthermore confirmed that I'm hooking up the hot to the black wire, ground to blue, as per directions. (although that wire color sounded funny, why not make them red/black).

Any clue as to why I can't even get any zWave switch to work even manually?
 
IVB,

Three quick things:
1. The blue wire goes to the load (i.e. the light bulb), not to ground :( The bare wire goes to ground.
2. There's an airgap switch on the bottom of the front of the switch. It slides left and right. Slide it both ways, and see if that fixes things.
3. The light switch is designed for dimmable loads up to 300 watts. What is it hooked up to?

Oh, also the light bulb that it's attached to has to be working for the light to come on the switch; if the load is "burned out" the switch will appear dead, as it has no return path.

Chris
 
ChrisWalker said:
Oh, also the light bulb that it's attached to has to be working for the light to come on the switch; if the load is "burned out" the switch will appear dead, as it has no return path.
Quoted for emphasis. A burned out light sent me on a pissed off rant until someone mentioned it elsewhere. Be sure to try another bulb.
 
1) sorry, yes, blue to load, not ground.

2) I tried both airgap options
3) It's hooked up to a fan/ceiling light that's got a 60W bulb in it (meeting the 40W min).

But, I think I just realized something - this is the first fan/ceiling light that i tried. I put the rocker back on, and literally *just now* tried the rocker and realized that the light ramps up.

My latest bet which is only testable indirectly is that the ramp-up of the fixture doesn't present 40W immediately to the switch, which doesn't activate it.

This is a problem, since if it's true, I cannot zWave this particular fixture. Is that true?
 
IVB,

You can use a Z-Wave switch from another manufacturer, or you can use Intermatic's upcoming HomeSettings relay switch.

Chris
 
awesome. I'd prefer to stick with a single vendor so as to minimize any "protocol interpretation" issues. How far off is that relay switch? I could easily wait until Feb before dealing with this one, i'm not in any rush.
 
IVB,

Silly question, but are you sure the bulb is in the circuit (as in not switched off at the light/fan fixture)? This particular switch is powered by drawing a little current through the load. The load needs to be a incandescent type of bulb and it makes no difference if the Z-Wave switch is on or off, it is still drawing enough current to keep the internal electronics powered up.

After reading your initial post, the only thing that makes sense is that the bulb is not switched on and maybe you are reading a voltage through the fan? Just a thought.

Ken

Edit added:

I think I just got it, there is a electrical circuit in the fixture, sounds like, that makes the light ramp. dh-oh.
k
 
IVB said:
awesome. I'd prefer to stick with a single vendor so as to minimize any "protocol interpretation" issues. How far off is that relay switch? I could easily wait until Feb before dealing with this one, i'm not in any rush.
IVB,

I'm expecting to see them in the next three to six months, along with their new duplex receptacles.

Chris
 
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