Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

WD-100+ Dimmer lights turn on, but don't turn on lights in ceiling

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    WD-100+ Dimmer lights turn on, but don't turn on lights in ceiling

    I recently purchased 5 HS-WD100+ dimmer switches for my house that was built this year (so it hopefully has up-to-date wiring) and this is my first DIY attempt at wiring up my place.

    I'm trying to install my first switch into a double-gang box that previously held two separate on/off switches. One of the switches went to a ceiling fan/light combo, and the other goes to 8 recessed incandescent lights which are 65W apiece.

    Before I started swapping things out, the double gang box had a hot wire which was junctioned off into two separate lines, one for each switch, then there is a load wire for the fan/light and a load for the recessed lighting. In addition to all of that, there were three white, and what I assume to be neutral wires, that were joined together with a connector and connected to nothing else.

    I've tried almost every combination that exists in order to get the dimmer working but I'm having no luck. The dimmer lights on the WD100+ switch will actually turn on and I can press the up and down button to get the lights on the dimmer to change, and I can connect it to the SmartThings hub, but the recessed lighting isn't responding to that at all. Right now I am leaving the fan/light combo out of the equation and focusing on just the recessed lighting.

    I've also search around and can't find anything else that is connected to the lighting in the living room. I've stuck my multimeter in every outlet in the room and they still have current when I flip the breaker for the living room lights.

    The light bulbs are 65W 130V incandescent bulbs (https://www.amazon.com/GE-Lighting-2.../dp/B000FBATB4), cheap but dimmable according to Amazon, and with the maximum load of 600W on the switch I am under the limit at 520W total.

    Here are a few questions if anyone wants to take a stab at helping me solve this...


    Is 520W too close to the 600W limit to work?

    Right now I am leaving the fan/light combo out of the equation and focusing on just the recessed lighting as a single-pole circuit. Is it okay to leave the load of the fan/light disconnected? I'm not sure if that is considered breaking the circuit. If it is, should I join it with the rest of the neutral wires or do something else with it?

    Will any neutral wire work for the WD-100+? I am reconnecting the other two back together with the connector cap.


    And if I actually progress to having the light work and want to rejoin the ceiling fan/light...

    Is it okay to pair a generic on/off switch and the WD100+ dimmer in the same double-gang box if I treat the dimmer as a single-pole circuit and only split the power off the hot line for the ceiling fan/light?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!
    Last edited by blueridgeatx; December 8, 2016, 11:32 AM.

    #2
    Did you connect the neutral wire to your new dimmer switch? When I installed my switches the wiring in my boxes was the same as you describe. I had to remove the wire nut from the neutrals, add a short pigtail to the neutral bundle, and reinstall the wire nut. The new neutral pigtail was connected to the new HS switch. The smart switch needs a neutral connection to function properly.

    Comment


      #3
      I am not 100% clear on exactly what HS switches you have because you mentioned purchasing a 5 pack of the WD100+ but later referred to a WS100+, which is just an on/off switch with no dimmer. I say this because if you have a single wall switch that controls the power to a ceiling fan/light combo then you DO NOT want to use the WD100+ to control power to that device. You can use a dimmer on the fan light but not the fan itself and if the power is fed from a single switch then you must use a WS100+.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by wsume99 View Post
        I am not 100% clear on exactly what HS switches you have because you mentioned purchasing a 5 pack of the WD100+ but later referred to a WS100+, which is just an on/off switch with no dimmer. I say this because if you have a single wall switch that controls the power to a ceiling fan/light combo then you DO NOT want to use the WD100+ to control power to that device. You can use a dimmer on the fan light but not the fan itself and if the power is fed from a single switch then you must use a WS100+.


        Apologies. I mistyped. I only have the WD100+ dimmer switches. No on/off switches from Homeseer. I want to keep using my old dumb on/off switch for the ceiling fan light for now (if this is possible).

        Originally posted by wsume99 View Post
        Did you connect the neutral wire to your new dimmer switch? When I installed my switches the wiring in my boxes was the same as you describe. I had to remove the wire nut from the neutrals, add a short pigtail to the neutral bundle, and reinstall the wire nut. The new neutral pigtail was connected to the new HS switch. The smart switch needs a neutral connection to function properly.
        Originally, I had 3 neutral wires coming in to the outlet box and they were all joined together into a single connector cap. What I did was remove one of the three from the connector cap and directly plugged it into the WD-100+. I then put the remaining two neutral wires back into the connector cap. Should I have created a pigtail off of the neutral connector cap instead (so 3 neutral wires going in, and 1 pigtail out) and fed it to the WD-100+?

        Comment


          #5
          In short, Yes!

          Tie all of the neutrals together, adding a fourth white wire 6+ inches long. Run that short wire to your switch.

          You may need a larger wire nut, even then, I'm not a big fan of re-using them....
          HomeSeer Version: HS4 Pro Edition 4.2.19.0 (Windows - Running as a Service)
          Home Assistant 2024.3
          Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro - Desktop
          Z-Wave Devices via two Z-Net G3s
          Zigbee Devices via RaspBee on RPi 3b+
          WiFi Devices via Internal Router.

          Enabled Plug-Ins
          AK GoogleCalendar 4.0.4.16,AK HomeAssistant 4.0.1.23,AK SmartDevice 4.0.5.1,AK Weather 4.0.5.181,AmbientWeather 3.0.1.9,Big6 3.44.0.0,BLBackup 2.0.64.0,BLGData 3.0.55.0,BLLock 3.0.39.0,BLUPS 2.0.26.0,Device History 4.5.1.1,EasyTrigger 3.0.0.76,Harmony Hub 4.0.14.0,HSBuddy 4.51.303.0,JowiHue 4.1.4.0,LG ThinQ 4.0.26.0,ONVIF Events 1.0.0.5,SDJ-Health 3.1.1.9,TPLinkSmartHome4 2022.12.30.0,UltraCID3 3.0.6681.34300,Z-Wave 4.1.3.0

          Comment


            #6
            I thought it was a mistype but wanted to be certain. Yes you can have a smart and dumb switch in the box as you described.

            Also, yes you need to have all the neutral wires connected together as they originally were and add a pigtail into the neutral bundle and connect it to the smart switch. That is exactly how I connected the ones I have installed in my house and they all function normally.

            Comment


              #7
              Okay hopefully that is where I went wrong. I will try this when I get home from work today. Thanks for the suggestions! Buying a house depleted all of my money and I could definitely use the money in places other than hiring an electrician!

              Comment


                #8
                Completely understand where you are coming from. Just moved into a new house myself and am beginning to replace all the existing switches with smart dimmers/switches. Single pole is pretty easy. Just wait until you get to a 3 or 4-way switch. I am entering that territory now.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Update: The suggestion to reconnect the neutral wire back to the original configuration of 3 to a wire nut, then add a pigtail from the wire nut did the trick. The installation of the second one went much smoother. Really appreciate the replies.


                  Question- If I install another switch, I may run into problems with spacing. How tight does it get when you all install these things in the outlet box? I basically had to force the switch back into the box and use screws for it to get flush with the wall due to all the wiring in the way.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Yeah, depending on the size of the box it can get pretty tight. Usually you can make it work though if you're tidy with fitting all of the wires, nuts, etc. into the box.
                    Originally posted by rprade
                    There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by blueridgeatx View Post
                      Question- If I install another switch, I may run into problems with spacing. How tight does it get when you all install these things in the outlet box? I basically had to force the switch back into the box and use screws for it to get flush with the wall due to all the wiring in the way.
                      I had a similar issue with spacing from side to side. I have deep backboxes so depth was not an issue.

                      For all of my 2 gang boxes, I had to use a Dremel and these bits https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 to shave the rounded corners, sides, top and bottom of the mud ring to open the space.

                      Of course my mud rings are metal so this was something I could do.

                      On my 4 gang backboxes, mud rings do not exist and the fit was tight. I very slowly placed the switches and tighten them down slowly to get them to fit. They are not completely flush, a couple are slightly angled, but not noticeable.
                      Attached Files

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by blueridgeatx View Post
                        Update: The suggestion to reconnect the neutral wire back to the original configuration of 3 to a wire nut, then add a pigtail from the wire nut did the trick. The installation of the second one went much smoother. Really appreciate the replies.





                        Question- If I install another switch, I may run into problems with spacing. How tight does it get when you all install these things in the outlet box? I basically had to force the switch back into the box and use screws for it to get flush with the wall due to all the wiring in the way.


                        It can get tight, but as stated earlier, take the time and route the wires as best as possible. In my house they went 3way/4way happy and I have very few single gang boxes and mostly double gang.

                        This wall was the worst for me to get things buttoned up. I have 4 zwave switches of the 7 and the 5 gang box was a true test in patience. (Never mind the old intermatic on the far right , just haven't gotten around to updating it yet).

                        Comment


                          #13
                          @Jim: Now that I've moved on to my double-gang box with 2 Homeseer switches, I see why you used the Dremel tool.

                          Do outlet plates exist which have a wider gap between the two switches (standard gap seems to be 1/2") or is a Dremel tool the way to go?



                          @Wayne: And I guess that removes any room for complaining if you can get 5 z-wave switches in there.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I also have to add that buying a pair of linesman pliers was also a huge help. Getting 5-wires twisted together would have been impossible with a regular pair.

                            Comment

                            Working...
                            X