I wanted to wire up my landing light in a 3-way configuration. With the micro smart switch you can have a live connection on the switch input, but I wasn’t sure if this applied to the dimmer as well. I emailed Aeotec and got this response:
Hi Pete,
Thank you for your inquiry. The micro smart dimmer can be wired in a 3-way configuration, but cannot have live wiring on the external switch. I have attached a compatible diagram that you can use. But with this method, you may have to pull some wires around.
This is the only method that the micro dimmer can be wired in a 3-way.
Best Regards,
Chris
See attachment for diagram.
It looks like it can be done, but it can have no live feed to the switch.
So what’s the easy way to get around this? Cap off the wires and install a battery operated z-wave auxiliary switch / transmitter in the other locations?
I have a bunch of 3-way and 4-way switches I’d like to automate. I really don’t want to have to redo the whole house in decora and was hoping to just use these (or Fibaros if they ever come to the US) behind select wall switches.
Fibaros are much easier to use. I have installed dimmers (FGD211) as both dimmable and switched multi-way circuits without running any more cables. The secret with Fibaro is that they use mains voltage switch inputs.
Can you please share how you achieved this goal with a schematic of the wiring. I want to do the same thing using the Fibaro relay. I have a four-way switching with three switches at the entrance and hallway to operate one light. How do I connect the Fibaro so that the mechanical functionality (choice of switching on/off from any of the three existing switches is retained while adding the light control also to the Z-network ?
Thanks
Can you please share how you achieved this goal with a schematic of the wiring. I want to do the same thing using the Fibaro relay. I have a four-way switching with three switches at the entrance and hallway to operate one light. How do I connect the Fibaro so that the mechanical functionality (choice of switching on/off from any of the three existing switches is retained while adding the light control also to the Z-network ?
Thanks[/quote]
It all depends on how your existing switches are wired. The way this often done is as shown in threeway.png with two-way (SPDT) switches at each end and one or more intermediate (DPDT) switches in the middle. This wiring does not provide a Neutral at any of the switches so you would not be able to use a Fibaro FGS211 relay module.
You can use a Fibaro FGD211 dimmer, though. And you can always configure that to only switch on/off if you don’t want dimming. You would need to place the module at the switch that feeds the lamp and replace all the switches with momentary types (retractive). See threewaydim.png for the wiring.
If you do have a Neutral at one of the switches you may be able to use an FGS211. Post a diagram of your wiring if you need help with that.
Of course, now the $64K question. How do you go about figuring out how your switches are wired? And if you pick the wrong one do you fry your expensive dimmer module or do you just get to keep trying until you get it right??
There are inexpensive voltage testers available. By carefully contacting the wires with the voltage meter, find out which is the hot line (typically black in the USA) which goes back to the breaker. Mark that wire with some tape. A Neutral wire is not always there, by the way, so you may need to locate an alternative neutral source in the house such as an outlet, an adjacent switch. Neutral wires are sometime referred to as ‘common’ and are not controlled by any switch, so no matter where you pick up the neutral, it will be the same and you should read a voltage with a hot wire.
Any other Hot wire that gets interrupted by the switch is not the Line and should not be live when you disconnect the 3 way switch currently installed. After you remove the switch, check all the hot wires with your voltage tester against a Neutral (usually white in the USA) in the switch box or against an outlet nearby to the switch, making sure that they are not live (no voltage).
If you are not sure about all this, find a friend who is is or call an electrician.
Hello people, sorry for bring up an older post, but I’m trying to connect my Fibaro Dimmer to my 3 switches that I have connecting a set of lamps, I already understand that I’ll have to replace all the switches with momentary types (retractive), my question is why we connect N and O together?
I could be wrong, but I think the diagram that shows ‘N’ and ‘O’ connected together is wrong… I do NOT have these dimmers, (I’ve used maybe 50 of the Aeon dimmers/switches), but I looked at the their instruction sheet for fun, and they seem quite similar to the Aeons. According to Fibaro instructions, L is ‘hot in’, O is ‘switched hot out’, and ‘N’ is neutral, so that the switch/dimmer is powered via the ‘L’ and ‘O’ connections, and the lights controlled by the switch/dimmer is con nected to ‘O’ (must stand for Out).
[quote=“Morcegolas, post:8, topic:177787”]Hello people, sorry for bring up an older post, but I’m trying to connect my Fibaro Dimmer to my 3 switches that I have connecting a set of lamps, I already understand that I’ll have to replace all the switches with momentary types (retractive), my question is why we connect N and O together?
Thanks.[/quote]
With the Fibaro FGD-211, connecting N and O together is required only when a Neutral connection is not available. This is a special configuration for two-wire circuits.
When Neutral is available, connect it to N and connect O to the load. See the instruction sheet for the FGD-211 for more details.
