One Z-Wave switch in 3 way circuit

Other Devices & Integrations Lighting & Load Control
1

Forgive me if this has been brought up before. But the forum search is a little too literal, and I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Do you know how many words have “one” in them… :o :slight_smile:

I am assuming that you can wire one Z-Wave 3 way switch into a circuit and have the other be a normal 3 way switch. I was just wondering if anyone could confirm this. Does it still work well, as far as knowing the status of the circuit On/Off condition?

Adding up the amount of 3 way’s I’d have to replace is pretty scary at nearly 50 bucks a pop! Does anybody know a cheap, reliable, place to get them besides Amazon?

Thanks

2

In case you were wondering Wolfram Alpha says that 770 words in the English language contain the sequence “one”.hahaha The internet…

3

Unfortunately, no, regular switches will not work like that. On the three way circuit, you do require the special switches that accompany the main Zwave switch. The auxiliary switches do not directly switch on or off the light - they just notify the main Zwave switch to turn the light on or off.

You will also need to have the neutral wire present in the auxiliary switch boxes.

4

Also, because the aux switches have fewer electronics, they are a lot cheaper than the primary switch.

5

Another option if you have suitable access to the wiring could be to use something like the Fibar FGS211 (in Europe) and place it near the light fitting so that the switched live connects to the S1 terminal for manual control of the lighting. You then don’t need to replace any of the existing switches but will need Live and Neutral connections for the Fibar module.

6

You can do this with the no-longer-manufactured Intermatic HA-14C / Wayne-Dalton HA-14WD. I have about a dozen of these switches working fine. You can still find these for sale.

7

Would the HomePro AS101 do the trick? It’s <$15 at smarthome-products.com (sorry, I can’t post a link).

8

The AS101 has no Z-Wave in it whatsoever.

9

You can also use the discontinued CA600 Dimmers or CA3000 Relay switches with regular 3way switches. I found them on Ebay for less than $20 each in a 6 pack Buy it now deal.

The only quirk is that you have to have Hot and Load in the same box as the Z-Wave switch.

Sent using Tapatalk from my Samsung Galaxy S II

10

I ran into a problem in my new house, because, even though the electrician was instructed to have a neutral in every box, he installed many “dead-end” 4-way and 5-way circuits. This meant that the line/hot and load/light wires were in the same box and the white/neutral wire was converted to a traveler. The telltale sign of this is a white wire wrapped in black electrical tape at its end. I contacted Intermatic who said that the HA-14C wouldn’t work in this scenario. After reviewing the situation for awhile and getting a brain cramp from trying to understand multi-way circuits, I figured out how to do it.

The first image is what a typical multi-way dead-end circuits looks like. The second is how I converted it to use HA-14C / HA-14WD switches. The first switch beyond the Z-wave switch is changed from a standard 4-way to a standard 3-way switch. Otherwise, the wiring changes are only in the Z-wave switch box. The third and fourth images are wiring diagrams from Intermatic for the HA14 and the CA600. It looks to me like this wiring method will also work with the CA600.

11

I’m looking for some wiring help with an Intermatic CA600. I know this has been discussed a lot in this thread and others (http://forum.micasaverde.com/index.php/topic,10295.0.html). I’ve read every relevant post, and I can’t figure out a way to get the switches working in my current situation.

My wiring diagram is attached. If anybody would take a look at it and provide some advice, I would appreciate it. There is no way my wife is going to let me cut any holes in the wall, so I have to work with the wires that are in there right now. My end goal is a dimmer (CA600) where the first 3-way switch currently sits. If someone can figure out a way to make this work, great. If not, does anyone know of a combination of switches that would work with my wiring?

Thank you to everyone who has already contributed to this topic. You’ve been a huge help.

12

Believe it or not, having standard wiring like you do is actually worst-case scenario for installing the CA600 in a 3+ switch circuit. Without having that “extra wire” available, you simply cannot use a CA600 with 3 standard switches. However, if 2 out of 3 of those other switch boxes have a hot/line supplying another switch, you may be able to use the CA5100 in those boxes. The CA5100 needs an unswitched hot/line and neutral. It does not need to be on the same circuit as the CA600. Attached is a diagram showing one possibility. I have one 3-switch circuit operating this way.

Thanks for providing the wiring diagram. It makes it much easier for others to help when you’ve done your homework.

13

Thanks for the reply and the advice. I was thinking that I could just remove 2 of the switches to make it work, but your idea is much better. Having 2 blank plates/dummy switches isn’t a very elegant solution. I’ll have to look and see if I have other lines available (there are wall outlets below those switches). Thanks again.

14

This is one of those situations where a Leviton would be much simpler and possibly not that much more expensive considering the relatively low price of accessory switches.

15

I just thought of another potential wiring option for a conventional multi-way circuit where the hot/line is at one end and light/load is at the other, when no “additional wire” is available. IF there is another hot/line source in the end switch box where the light/load connects (i.e. from another switch), the circuit can probably be converted to a dead end configuration. If neither circuit is GFCI/AFCI, then it shouldn’t matter if the neutral is from the same or different circuit.

16

That’s genius! Adding a hot line to one box in the system is much more feasible than any other alternative.

17

Yes you can. I have it set up like that in my kitchen and Den. You just have to do your reaserch and get the right switches. I will add to this post when I get the model number and brand of my switches I have wired.

18

So surfingman1, did you ever get the switch info and if so can you post it?

I’ve got an existing 3-way circuit for some of my landscape/deck lighting.
1 of the 3 way switches is inside of the house, the other is out on the detatched deck and has the whole hot/neutral/ground/red traveler run to it underground and up to the weather resistant enclosure.

Its all operated by traditional mechanical 3-way switches (two of them) and the load (the 120vAC outlet) is located out at the detached deck.

I would like to replace only the switch inside the house with a zwave 3-way and leave the wiring in place, as well as the mechanical 3-way out in the weather.