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3-way wiring source at light

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    3-way wiring source at light

    I am trying to wire a HS-WS100+ switch with a WA100+.

    The source comes in at the light so there is no neutral wire. Anyway around this?

    Wiring is currently setup exactly like the image below



    http://www.do-it-yourself-help.com/i...switch_end.gif

    Thanks for any help.

    #2
    I was waiting to see if anyone else had ideas, but it looks to me like if you do not have neutral at either of the two switch locations you will need to fish a new wire for it.

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      #3
      I have one similar to this, though the light is between the switches. I have a neutral in one location and through the wall at the other, so planning on pulling a wire through there. Once that's done, I think we can wire together the hot and the white marked hot at the accessory location, leaving just the primary to switch the load and the traveller to communicate. I am still betting on a couple of hours though.

      Only seems to be the single switch installs in a single gang (without mountains of other wiring etc) that seem to be straight forward.
      cheeryfool

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        #4
        It's called a Connecticut 3-way, at least here in Massachusetts, and there is no way to make these switches work with such a setup without pulling more wire. It's the same even for the GE switches.
        Originally posted by rprade
        There is no rhyme or reason to the anarchy a defective Z-Wave device can cause

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          #5
          Originally posted by S-F View Post
          It's called a Connecticut 3-way, at least here in Massachusetts, and there is no way to make these switches work with such a setup without pulling more wire. It's the same even for the GE switches.
          Right [per our previous discussions on these ], but as long as I have neutrals available in each switch location, I should be able to get these to work, by wire nutting together the hot and white acting as hot in the secondary location. Just gotta fish a short neutral through each wall from the other rooms.

          It ends up being similar to the one I did the other day where the line is at the primary switch and the load goes from the secondary location. In that case I just wired together the two blacks at the secondary location and the red traveller is the only wire connecting the primary and secondary. Works like a charm.
          cheeryfool

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            #6
            Originally posted by S-F View Post
            It's called a Connecticut 3-way, at least here in Massachusetts, and there is no way to make these switches work with such a setup without pulling more wire. It's the same even for the GE switches.
            It depends on where you live. It is also referred to as the "California" or "Coast" 3-way as well. There are actually three flavors of this connection method. The variation I have seen the most is with (2) 3-conductor wires, one to each wall box from the lamp box. These require that you get a neutral to one of the two wall boxes and to completely change the wiring in the lamp box. Another variation on this method has a supply romex, a load romex and the traveler 3-conductor from the other box to one of the two boxes. In this case, just put the primary switch in the box with all three wires and connect only the red (traveler) and white (neutral) at the accessory end. Forget about the black wire at both ends of the 3-conductor.
            The last one, which I have not seen has a single 2-conductor romex to one of the boxes and a 3-conductor traveler between the two boxes. The single romex represents the line on one conductor (usually the black) and the load on the other (usually white). This one requires a neutral to be pulled to one or the other box. Then you use only the red and white wires of the traveler 3-conductor. The new neutral and the white of the traveler are connected together at the neutral terminal of the primary or accessory switch. Then the single romex connects to the line and load connectors on the switch or dimmer.

            The "Common" or "Traveler" system is the preferred method, with the "hot" and neutral supply to one 3-way box, a 14-3 (or 12-3) between the two boxes and the load hot and neutral at the other 3-way box. This method allows you to connect the black line and traveler on one end or the black traveler and the black load line at the other end. Then in the other box where the black wares are separated you install the main switch or dimmer. The other box with the black wires connected gets the accessory switch. The accessory switch is connected to the white neutral and the red traveler.

            There is another method that has been prohibited since the 20's called the "Carter" system. If you have that, you really need to consider re-wiring the house. With this system each 3-way is supplied with a line and neutral, with the one side of the lamp connected to the common terminals of each switch. With this system, both the terminals of the bulb socket can be hot, more importantly the threaded collar is hot in 2 of the 4 combinations, a bit of a hazard when replacing a bulb.

            All of the wiring methods require that you identify the line and load wires. You really cannot use an ohmmeter, because, even with the breaker off on the circuit additional items could make both the load and line show some amount of continuity. You can identify the load side with an ohmmeter as long as there is a single incandescent bulb in the lamp socket. It will show continuity when the bulb is in the socket and an open circuit when it is unscrewed. The most accurate method is to measure voltage on a live circuit. I prefer to take the cover off of both switch boxes as well as the lamp box and verify exactly what the wiring is.
            Last edited by randy; June 14, 2016, 04:26 PM.
            HS4 Pro, 4.2.19.0 Windows 10 pro, Supermicro LP Xeon

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