I have 4 wires on each end: line (black), load (black), traveler (red), ground (copper green). The master has power and seems like it could work but I have no idea what to do with the black wires for the slave. I am stuck there, I can see and hear the switches communicate with each other but obviously the light won’t turn on or off… Anybody have any ideas what I am missing?
Are you in the U.S.? If so on a standard 3-way circuit one switch has the line and one switch has the load. Two traveler wires go between the master switch and the auxiliary switch. The line and load are always on separate switches because they are basically two double pole switches passing the current from the line to the load via either traveler depending on the relative position of the two switches. In your case the wire you think is load at the master switch is probably one of the travelers. Look at the screw terminals on the master switch. They should be labeled, or at least one terminal (usually with a black screw) will be marked “common”. This is the line on the master switch and the load on the slave switch. Two other terminals (usually with silver or gold screws) will not be marked; these are both travelers. You can also check this by probing the black wire on the master switch. With the switches in one position (with the light on) it will likely be hot; with the switches in the other position (with the light still on) it will not be hot. This shows it is a traveler. If it is truly the load it will always be hot when the light is on, regardless of the switch positions.
In the Z-wave world the master switch does all the heavy lifting, switching the line to the load. The auxiliary switch simply is a communications device, signaling to the master switch to turn the load on or off. It doesn’t switch the actual power the way a slave switch does in a traditional 3-way circuit. To make the switch work you will probably have to convert one of the travelers to a load wire to pass the load connection back to the master switch. You only need one traveler. If you aren’t comfortable with this wiring please get an expert.
Yes in the U.S., all four “black” cables had black screws, I metered the line and load on both ends to figure out the “hot” cable, same with the traveler. I have contacted an expert and still waiting on his response… Second paragraph, where do I connect the load wire, which I agree with that logic, when there is no where to insert in on this auxiliary switch? The GE auxiliary switch only has inputs for traveler, neutral and ground.
That’s right. As I stated the master switch switches the line to the load; both line and load must connect to the master. There is no line or load on the auxiliary; just neutral, traveler, and ground. That’s why I said you might have to convert one of the existing travelers to a load wire to pass the load connection to the master switch. Since you only need a single traveler with the GE switches you should have a spare wire, since a normal 3-way has 2 travelers. Connect that spare wire to the load wire in the auxiliary switch box and then connect the other end to the load terminal on the GE switch.
Hope this is clear. I realize trying to follow this is difficult to picture.
There is no load connection on the auxiliary switch, you mean hook up both the traveler and the load on the same connection of the traveler input?
It is not difficult to picture but if you were looking at the manual you could see what I am also talking about.
As @ufd108 said, not on the aux switch, but in the box that has the aux switch?
In other words, does the box that has the aux switch only have one cable, or is there a second one? If there is a second one, it presumably is the light. In a traditional 3-way that would be connected to the switch in that box. But now you need to connect it to the primary switch in the other box. Use one of the wires in the cable going to the primary switch to create that connection, is how I read @ufd108’s suggestion.
You all need to use names other than the other box and this and that cable.
The GE main switch has five connections on it, the ground, the traveler, the neutral, the line and the load.
The Aux relay switch only has four connections, the ground, the traveler, the neutral and the ground.
I have 5 cables for my home wiring on each end, the ground, the traveler, the neutral, the line and the load, now what cables go where? Like I said, the switches communicate to each other but no lights go on or off.
Back to that load wire on the aux switch, do I connect the load with the traveler in the same traveler connection?
I need to know signal flow not just vague cables and connections.
Hopefully the following shows up properly, and hope it helps.
Normal configuration:
[font=courier] The Two Travelers, Red and black
(light) ---- [Switch] ==================================== [Switch] ---- (black hot line)
\
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (white neutral line)
White neutral
ZWave configuration:
Black Traveler (zwave load) (zwave hot)
(light) ------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------- (black hot line)
\ Red Traveler (zwave traveler) \ /
\ -------------------------------------------------- [Main Zwave Switch]
\ / | (zwave neutral)
--------- [Auxiliary switch] ----------------------------------------------------------------- (white neutral line)
White neutral
[/font]
Note that the ground (green or bare) wire is not shown, and needs to be connected to both switches and the light.
Calm down, we’re trying to help!
The GE main switch has five connections on it, the ground, the traveler, the neutral, the line and the load. The Aux relay switch only has four connections, the ground, the traveler, the neutral and the ground.
The Aux has 3 wires; the neutral, the traveler, and the ground.
I have 5 cables for my home wiring on each end, the ground, the traveler, the neutral, the line and the load, now what cables go where? Like I said, the switches communicate to each other but no lights go on or off.
I doubt you have load in both boxes. A normal 3-way switch has to have 2 travelers. The wire that you think is load in the master box is likely the second traveler.
Back to that load wire on the aux switch, do I connect the load with the traveler in the same traveler connection?
No. You connect the Neutral wire to the neutral terminal on the Aux switch, the ground wire to the ground terminal on the Aux switch, and ONE traveler wire to the traveler terminal on the Aux switch. The SECOND traveler wire can be connected to the load wire (and NOT to the switch) to convert that second traveler wire into a load wire to pass the load back to the master GE switch. The master switch HAS to have both line and load connections, in addition to the traveler, ground, and possibly a neutral (dimmer masters don’t require the neutral).
I need to know signal flow not just vague cables and connections.
See the post by aa6vh. That’s about as clear as you can get on a text-only forum posting.
I doubt you have load in both boxes. A normal 3-way switch has to have 2 travelers. The wire that you think is load in the master box is likely the second traveler.When you wrote load and master box, you really meant line and aux? Because why put load on the master switch when its actually a secondary traveler? Am I wrong?
I do get you REALLY know what you are talking about, you just missed an important part in this paragraph for me to understand on your first reply:
As I stated the master switch switches the line to the load; both line and load must connect to the master. There is no line or load on the auxiliary; just neutral, traveler, and ground. [b]That's why I said you might have to convert one of the existing travelers to a load wire to pass the load connection to the master switch.[/b] Since you only need a single traveler with the GE switches you should have a spare wire, since a normal 3-way has 2 travelers. Connect that spare wire to the load wire in the auxiliary switch box and then connect the other end to the load terminal on the GE switch.
Easier to say that my logic was wrong about the black wires on the aux side, and that the second set of black wires were actually a second traveler and a load, connect and done to complete the circuit.
Done and works by the way…
Glad you got it working.
(Going by your original wiring, you have 2 travelers and 1 neutral going from master to aux. There is no load in your master box; it is the second traveler. Once converted to Z-Wave, you have 1 traveler, 1 load and 1 neutral going from master to aux. This is what we were trying to describe, what @ufd108 meant with the line you quoted, and what @aa6vh depicted.)
Then I really am not liking the terminology on the manual or their labeling on the units. They really should consider other quick explanations of how it alters with different wiring in it.
So wouldn’t it be for the master:
[ul][li]line (switch)[/li]
[li]common (switch)[/li]
[li]traveler (switch)[/li]
[li]neutral (switch)[/li]
[li]ground (switch)[/li][/ul]
Then on the aux:
[ul][li]traveler (switch)[/li]
[li]neutral (switch)[/li]
[li]ground (switch)[/li]
[li]with common and load to finish the circuit?[/li][/ul]
The flipping of terminology was throwing me off, I need linear to understand and if what I wrote is correct, I get that concept. Problem with the diagram aa6vh posted, it still didn’t tell me what to do with the common and load cables. I’ve had everything else connected correctly, this connection was all I was missing and understanding.