I have the GE # 45614 On/Off 3-Way for LED. With all of your help I think I have it set up right. I have old (cloth) wiring in the house. But was able to find to white neutrals in the back of the box. I have the master working correctly. The Aux I hooked up a neutral (from the group in the box) and what i believe is the traveler. I conected the Load and the line to the light. But the Aux switch does nothing. I’m sure it’s within the 25 ft. It’s just top and bottom of a staircase. I’ve read somewhere that there was a bad batch of these. Any other suggestions??
It is likely that either (a) the conductor you “think” is the traveller or (b) the white wires you are assuming are “neutrals” are not what they seem. It is far less likely that you happen to have one of the “bad batch” of auxillary switches. In a house old enough to have cloth-insulated wiring, you cannot make any assumption that modern wiring standards (such as bringing a neutral into every switch box) were followed, or even that any relationship exists between the color of the wire and its function.
You can sort this out by (a) testing the aux switch by temporarily wiring it directly to the master and (b) spending time with a multimeter to logically deduce the exact function of the wires found inside the box you are using to house the aux switch. Your goal is find a pair of wires that run directly between the two switch boxes - and you can use them to provide the “traveller” and “neutral” conductors required for the slave and master switches to communicate with each other.
Gotcha, didnt think of just trying to hook up a small traveler wire to the master and grabbing a neutral. I’ll try that. Thanks.
Could it be that I need to switch the Aux and the Master location?
Again, that would depend on the function of the conductors available at each location. The “master” must be located in the box that provides access to conductors connected to the “line”, the “load”, and a “neutral” common to both that switch and the “load” it is controlling. The “Aux” only requires access to two conductors (a “traveller” and a “neutral”) leading back to the location of the “Master” switch.
So I hooked the aux switch right to the master. Same neutral and 6" traveler wire. Still no luck.