I have several Red dimmer switches, my electrician was able to swap out all the 3 way switches with the Red switches, however he did not swap out the auxiliary switches, and left the original switch in place.
The original auxiliary switch has 3 wires attached to it.
The electrician says the GE Auxiliary switch i brought has only two terminals and the old auxiliary switch has 3 wires going into 3 terminal ports. So the GE auxiliary switch cannot be used.
Where as i know that is not right. I was told here that the GE Enbrighten Add-On Switch 46199 was compatible with the Inovelli Red dimmers or switches.
Now there is another thing, after he swapped the Red dimmer switche/dimmer it only works from both the ways if the main RED switch is on. If its off, the auxiliary/add-on switch wont turn on the lights.
I guess that prooves it that his theory of the GE Add on switch will not work with this dimmer.
Can someone guide me on what to tell him, a small explaination or diagram will help.
The 46199 is compatible, and yes it only has two terminals. The wiring guides posted above are also included in the paper insert packaged with the switches. Take a look at the parameters on page 10. You’ll need to set the switch type, parameter 22, for EITHER 3-way use, either if you continue to use dumb switches or use the Aux switches. The default setting is for a 2-way installation, so you’ll need to change that parameter either way.
I would expect to have your electrician come back (free of charge) to wire in the Aux switches. The wiring diagrams are in the box and would’ve taken three seconds for him or her to realize how to wire it in. I’m not an electrician and I figured it out in about 60 seconds.
It sounds like he wasn’t familiar with these switches, which is understandable. They definitely do some things a little differently, but they are clearly documented. The instructions are very simple to follow. When encountering something unfamiliar, the correct response is to RTFM, not to declare it impossible and give up. He should come back and make it right for free.
Thanks for your replies guys.
He will come back tomorrow to fix this.
By the way you mention about programming the switch to work correctly, set switch type, and parameter 22 value?
Can someone guide me to a document on how i can do this or even better a youtube video? Does it have to be done from the automation hub? I am using Home Assistant.
However, i also doubt if he returns. The electrician had high ratings on yelp, though he took over 30-40 mins to figure out the type of 3-way configuration at my place. And by the time he figure he seemed annoyed.
So if i have to make an attempt to switch out the Auxiliary switches, would it be ok?
I know for sure the RED dimmers are wired correctly, they work fine. All the four wires are attached to their terminal.
In the GE aux switch we have the Traveller and the Neutral wire, if i follow the same label and colors of the wire on the RED switch and connect the traveller wire to the traveller and neutral… will it be ok?
I mean i know there are risks if i had attempted to connect the main 3-way switch wrongly, but now that the Red switch is wired in correctly, are there risks of BIG fire if i try to connect the auxilary? If the circuit trips or the switch fry’s that should be ok… but i am mainly concerned about the bigger side effects.
Thanks, totally appreciate it.
I have some idea of electrical skills, i can use a line tester, not. the multimeter. I was able to swap out about 70 other switches with the Red dimmer or switch and some zooz too.
I only had issues with the 3 way switch. Many folks on the Home Assistant scared me away telling me not to try the 3-way myself instead use the electrician. Now that i have the 3-way connected… a small push from you guys will help me attain the total smart home nirvana in my home. Every single switch in the house is now a inovelli red or zooz switch/dimmer including the toilet exhaust switches…
You an see here the line wires are commonly shared with the other switches and is ported from a nut cap.
The electrician did not attach the ground wires. DO i need to attach it back again?
I believe i should remove the neutral wire from both the switches if i have to follow the last diagram here.
Shared line is okay. Just need to know which switch we’re looking at (close or far one). Also, photo is good, but May need a little zoom out a bit. Can’t tell if it’s an aux or dumb switch.
