Blue Series - Flashing Lights (Multi-Way w/Dumb Switch)

I think I’m having same problem. I’ve wired a blue series into the circuit matching the existing switch. This is a 4 way switch (3 total switches) 2 dummy and the one Blue series.

If I turn on one switch (smart) it works fine but if I hit either dummy the lights start flashing. If I switch both dummy switches and turn on the smart switch the. The smart switch flashes and the other two work just fine.

I’m on SmartThings currently using the edge driver 2022-12-16

What was the “existing switch” that you replaced? You should normally wire in accordance with an Inovelli wiring diagram. Unless the switch you are replacing is another Inovelli, “matching the existing switch” probably won’t be correct.

But let’s start with the easy stuff first. What is Parameter 22 set to?

Aux 3 way dummy switch.

I should clarify. I’ve done ~50 switches in the house so I’m not a complete noob. But I’ve wired the line into the bottom and the load into the top, the traveler into the traveler, and tied into the neutral. I didn’t touch the other 2 switches so I have to assume the 3 way and 4 way switches are wired correctly (as it worked with dummy switches before). I don’t put it beyond myself that I swapped wires some where but I would have assumed lights just wouldn’t work in one state or the other not that the lights would flash on and off.

I’m also noticing I was reading 2 threads and I think I wrote on the wrong one. Flashing lights in 3-way Blue + Dumb - #29 by tachyonFlux - Wiring Discussion - Inovelli Community is the one I meant to respond on - video looks very similar to my issue.

From what you describe, you have a Line and Load in the same box and you put the Inovelli in that box. When you say that you wired the “load to the top” I am guessing that you wired the black conductor from the 2-wire going to the light(s) to the top load terminal of the Inovelli.

If that is what you did, then you have not wired correctly. Take a look at the Inovelli drawing. When wiring a 4-way with dumb switches, BOTH travelers (typically the white and the red) get wired to the traveler and load terminals on the Inovelli. The black (load) conductor going to the light gets connected to the black conductor carrying the switched load back from the common terminal on the far switch.

First, I want to clarify this:

By Aux dummy switch, do you mean you installed the special Aux switch (Add-On (Auxiliary) Switch – Inovelli) or did you leave the existing, “dumb” switches in there (ie: the ones originally in your house)?

If you have the dumb switches in, is what you’re seeing similar to this?

If so, I had a similar issue during my installation. It happened when it was first turned on and was an, “on/off” switch. When I changed it to Dimmer, it worked fine.

However, if you want it to be on/off (or it’s still flashing when you have it as a dimmer), then try adjusting the max brightness to 90 and see if that works. If not, then start backing down your max brightness by 1 integer until it stops blinking.

Here is the technical explanation from the engineers as to why this is happening:

“This problem mostly occurs when the switch is connected to multiple LED light bulbs. There are capacitive loads of each bulb. With too many light bulbs connected, this overloads the traveler circuit and interferes with the signal received. When that happens, the switch has difficulty identifying whether the load is in traveler state or load state. Reducing switch max level effectively reduces the interference and the switch can correctly identify when the load is in traveler or load state.”

Wow this did the trick and thank you very much for the explanation. I had to reduce the max all the way to 80 for it to work. So there’s no way to have it as an “on/off” and utilize the switch? It’s not awful considering most people won’t attempt to make it a dimmer and its. default is to set to max on. Worse case I can use an app to always set it back to max if attempted to lower.

You should be able to use it as an on/off. I guess I haven’t tried it to see for myself, but if you change it back to on/off, but keep the max at 80, does it work properly?

Another option is to try new bulbs, but I realize that’s an added expense.