WD100 + WA100 in Three-Way... with a twist

[guitarchitect]

Alright, I'm going a bit nuts here so I'm hoping someone with more experience than me can help.
We have a number of three-way switches and this one is just the first, so I'm hoping it can work!!
I'm using a WD100+ and a WA100+.

Our house is 100 years old, and was renovated by the previous owner around 10 years ago. Based on what I struggled with today it seems like they added a dimmer on the load-side of the switch and I can't figure out how to wire everything with the homeseer switches and their labelling/wire counts.

So, without further ado, here are what the labels refer to in the pictures:

Switch 1 - Regular Lutron Switch
A - Red+Black wire - tied together bypassing this box (Load?)
B - Black Wire - Traveller from previous Lutron switch
C - Black Wire - Common from previous Lutron switch. Pigtailed to other switch and into the box, always hot
D - White Wire - Traveller from Previous Lutron switch
E - 3 white wires tied together - this box serves Living room and dining room so I presume it is the netural from the two fixtures tied back to the panel

Switch 2 - Dimmer (Lutron DVDE-603P) switch location. The switch was hard-wired with two reds and one black and no labels.
F - White wire taped black - always hot when circuit active
G - Black wire painted white - always switches when circuit active and i switch Switch 1 on/off. (Maybe connected to B?)
H - Red wire painted white - Never seems to carry power no matter what is going on. (Load? Maybe connected to A?)

Note that little red wires are maretted onto the wires i'm describing... this is because the lutron dimmer had 3 wires, unlabelled, coming out of it and they were hard-wired into the dimmer... I had to cut them free and will just un-marette them when i figure all this out.

I feel like the thing i'm missing is - WA100 only has "Traveller" and "Neutral". It would usually take the Load, so I have to do something with H.
I also can't figure out why F is in this box and is always hot.

I know I need to connect something to something else to bypass another thing... but I can't seem to wrap my head around it.
My first thought is - I can disconnect A and tie the black wire (light-side load wire) into the WD100, and then H is a free/spare wire.
it can then be wired as a neutral for the wa100 and G stays the traveler.
But what is F and what do i do with it?

[drhtmal]

It is a bit difficult to see all the wires clearly in your picture and to determine which of the pairs of wire are from the same cable.

Additionally, you might not have much space in the existing boxes for the WD100 and WA100. You might consider installing larger boxes.


I am going to assume that the black, red and white wires run the the other single gang box.

What is marked as load in my picture below (black and white wires) probably run to the light fixture.

The wires in the yellow wirenut (looks like there are 3 wires). One of them is your line (hot wire) the other 2 are for each of the 2 switches in this box one of which you have disconnected..


Here is how I think this needs to be wired based on what I can see in your pictures. Since I really can't see all the wires clearly I could be incorrect.

1. Disconnect the wires marked "A" the black wire will then go to the load on the WD100. The red wire will go the the traveler on the WD100.

2. Hook all the white wires together and add a pigtail. This pigtail will go to the neutral on the WD100.

3. Cap off the wire marked "B" (black wire) it will not be used.

4. Hook the wire labeled "C" (black wire) to the line of the WD100.

5. In the single gang box hook the white neutral and red traveler to the WA100. Cap off the black wire.

[guitarchitect]

It is a bit difficult to see all the wires clearly in your picture and to determine which of the pairs of wire are from the same cable.

Additionally, you might not have much space in the existing boxes for the WD100 and WA100. You might consider installing larger boxes.


I am going to assume that the black, red and white wires run the the other single gang box.

What is marked as load in my picture below (black and white wires) probably run to the light fixture.

The wires in the yellow wirenut (looks like there are 3 wires). One of them is your line (hot wire) the other 2 are for each of the 2 switches in this box one of which you have disconnected..


Here is how I think this needs to be wired based on what I can see in your pictures. Since I really can't see all the wires clearly I could be incorrect.

1. Disconnect the wires marked "A" the black wire will then go to the load on the WD100. The red wire will go the the traveler on the WD100.

2. Hook all the white wires together and add a pigtail. This pigtail will go to the neutral on the WD100.

3. Cap off the wire marked "B" (black wire) it will not be used.

4. Hook the wire labeled "C" (black wire) to the line of the WD100.

5. In the single gang box hook the white neutral and red traveler to the WA100. Cap off the black wire.

Funny enough that's exactly what I did! I finished shortly before your post came online and had decided to go to bed before updating my post to say I had figured it out. Writing it all out helped me make sense of it and having a good break made me realize that, once I knew where the load was coming from, I could just repurpose the wires as needed.

The boxes are on the small side so I will definitely be replacing them but at least it is working for now!

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[guitarchitect]

It is a bit difficult to see all the wires clearly in your picture and to determine which of the pairs of wire are from the same cable.

Additionally, you might not have much space in the existing boxes for the WD100 and WA100. You might consider installing larger boxes.


I am going to assume that the black, red and white wires run the the other single gang box.

What is marked as load in my picture below (black and white wires) probably run to the light fixture.

The wires in the yellow wirenut (looks like there are 3 wires). One of them is your line (hot wire) the other 2 are for each of the 2 switches in this box one of which you have disconnected..


Here is how I think this needs to be wired based on what I can see in your pictures. Since I really can't see all the wires clearly I could be incorrect.

1. Disconnect the wires marked "A" the black wire will then go to the load on the WD100. The red wire will go the the traveler on the WD100.

2. Hook all the white wires together and add a pigtail. This pigtail will go to the neutral on the WD100.

3. Cap off the wire marked "B" (black wire) it will not be used.

4. Hook the wire labeled "C" (black wire) to the line of the WD100.

5. In the single gang box hook the white neutral and red traveler to the WA100. Cap off the black wire.

I have a followup question actually - do you know if there's a way to have a second WD-100+ act as the other switch in the three-way, in place of the WA-100+?

[drhtmal]

You can link the two WD100 together in HomeSeer. For the wiring you would use the black (hot) and white (neutral) to power the second WD100. DO NOT hook up the red traveler, just cap it off at each end.

One drawback of using the WD100 in this configuration is that if your HomeSeer server is down the 3-way will not work. If you use WD200 instead of WD100 you can also link the two WD200 together via Group 2 association in which case the 3-way would work if the HomeSeer server is down. I have several multi-way switch location where I use two WD200 instead of a WD200 and WA100 so I can have the status lights at both switch locations.

[guitarchitect]

You can link the two WD100 together in HomeSeer. For the wiring you would use the black (hot) and white (neutral) to power the second WD100. DO NOT hook up the red traveler, just cap it off at each end.

One drawback of using the WD100 in this configuration is that if your HomeSeer server is down the 3-way will not work. If you use WD200 instead of WD100 you can also link the two WD200 together via Group 2 association in which case the 3-way would work if the HomeSeer server is down. I have several multi-way switch location where I use two WD200 instead of a WD200 and WA100 so I can have the status lights at both switch locations.

Oh, how does that work with the W200's? Pretty crazy that you can have 3-ways without a traveler!

Do you have any idea if the WS200's have a quicker on/off than the ws100? Part of the WAF is the instant on/off of a switch, and we are finding there's a bit of a delay with the WS100... The wd100 seems to come on instantly

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

[jmaddox]

when you think about it, the 'traveler' exists.. it's just a wireless version

[drhtmal]

Oh, how does that work with the W200's? Pretty crazy that you can have 3-ways without a traveler!

Do you have any idea if the WS200's have a quicker on/off than the ws100? Part of the WAF is the instant on/off of a switch, and we are finding there's a bit of a delay with the WS100... The wd100 seems to come on instantly

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

It works by linking the each WD200 to the other WD200 in HomeSeer and using the Group 2 association of the WD200 to link each WD200 to the other WD200.

[Monk]

It works by linking the each WD200 to the other WD200 in HomeSeer and using the Group 2 association of the WD200 to link each WD200 to the other WD200.

Hello!
I just tried this a few days ago - the group association alone allows each switch to control the other - but it seems to be at the cost of Homeseer not knowing the status of the switch. Is this working correctly? I imagine folks add events to compensate for this if so.

[drhtmal]

It works by linking the each WD200 to the other WD200 in HomeSeer and using the Group 2 association of the WD200 to link each WD200 to the other WD200.

Hello!
I just tried this a few days ago - the group association alone allows each switch to control the other - but it seems to be at the cost of Homeseer not knowing the status of the switch. Is this working correctly? I imagine folks add events to compensate for this if so.

You have to link them in HomeSeer *AND* use Group 2 association.

If you only setup the group 2 association HomeSeer will not immediately reflect the status change. If HomeSeer polls the devices the status will update. Once you link the devices in HomeSeer it works great. I have several multi-way switches in my home where I use this.

NOTE: There is no group 2 association in the WD100 and WS100 firmware so the only option is to link them in HomeSeer.

[guitarchitect]

You have to link them in HomeSeer *AND* use Group 2 association.

If you only setup the group 2 association HomeSeer will not immediately reflect the status change. If HomeSeer polls the devices the status will update. Once you link the devices in HomeSeer it works great. I have several multi-way switches in my home where I use this.

NOTE: There is no group 2 association in the WD100 and WS100 firmware so the only option is to link them in HomeSeer.

as it turns out, the WA-100 companion does do dimming control! it just doesn't show you. But if I push and hold on the up/down of the companion switch it raises/lowers the dimming level.

[Dweber85rc]

as it turns out, the WA-100 companion does do dimming control! it just doesn't show you. But if I push and hold on the up/down of the companion switch it raises/lowers the dimming level.

I have a few of those because they were cheaper than the regular switches and would say that is my one complaint with them-no indicator light

[drhtmal]

I have a few of those because they were cheaper than the regular switches and would say that is my one complaint with them-no indicator light

If the indicator lights were added they would cost about the same as a dimmer or switch. On some of my multi-way switches and dimmers having the indicator lights is well worth the cost of a switch or dimmer. Other multi-way switches and dimmers have no need for the indicator lights as I can physically if the light is on or off fron any of the switch locations.