VRMX1-1LZ wiring question

[NomisR]

Here’s some newbie wiring questions.

I currently have Leviton dimmers that i’m going to swap with a VRMX1-1LZ. The current dimmer does not have a neutral running to it, but when I opened the everything up, it does have 2 white wires inside the box that’s tied to each other and capped off. And then there’s 2 black wires in there, one had a white tape on it that’s wired to the red wire on the original dimmer so I’m assuming it’s the load and the simple black is the hot. And then there’s a bare wire that’s hooked up to the green so it should be the ground.

Now, so I wired everything up, black to black, red to black with wrap, and green to bare. Now, my white wire, I simply pulled out the 2 white wires, removed the cap and put it together with the white wire from the dimmer and theoretically it would work. But when I turned the fuse back on, the LED locator light didn’t come up, it wouldn’t switch on. I tried rewiring everything various times, making sure everything is secure, but no luck. I removed everything and put the original dimmer back and it worked again.

So would this be a faulty switch or did I do something wrong with putting on the neutral?

I hope this makes sense.

[Z-Waver]

Your explanation and assumptions sound good, but as you have discovered, you can never assume the wiring. You must positively identify each wire. Most people use a voltage detector or multimeter for this. Until you know, positively beyond doubt, which wire is which you can’t know if the wiring is incorrect or the switch is bad(unlikely but possible).

[Bulldoglowell]

[quote=“NomisR, post:1, topic:180237”]Here’s some newbie wiring questions.

I currently have Leviton dimmers that i’m going to swap with a VRMX1-1LZ. The current dimmer does not have a neutral running to it, but when I opened the everything up, it does have 2 white wires inside the box that’s tied to each other and capped off. And then there’s 2 black wires in there, one had a white tape on it that’s wired to the red wire on the original dimmer so I’m assuming it’s the load and the simple black is the hot. And then there’s a bare wire that’s hooked up to the green so it should be the ground.

Now, so I wired everything up, black to black, red to black with wrap, and green to bare. Now, my white wire, I simply pulled out the 2 white wires, removed the cap and put it together with the white wire from the dimmer and theoretically it would work. But when I turned the fuse back on, the LED locator light didn’t come up, it wouldn’t switch on. I tried rewiring everything various times, making sure everything is secure, but no luck. I removed everything and put the original dimmer back and it worked again.

So would this be a faulty switch or did I do something wrong with putting on the neutral?

I hope this makes sense.[/quote]

The first thing I would check is to see if the load and line may be mistakenly reversed (the lack of a lit LED suggests you don’t have a hot wire on the line terminal). So, check that there is always power at the line (regardless of switch position) and switched power only at the load.

[NomisR]

@Z-Waver

Your explanation and assumptions sound good, but as you have discovered, you can never assume the wiring. You must positively identify each wire. Most people use a voltage detector or multimeter for this. Until you know, positively beyond doubt, which wire is which you can’t know if the wiring is incorrect or the switch is bad(unlikely but possible).

@Bulldoglowell

The first thing I would check is to see if the load and line may be mistakenly reversed (the lack of a lit LED suggests you don’t have a hot wire on the line terminal). So, check that there is always power at the line (regardless of switch position) and switched power only at the load.

I guess i’ll have to check with a voltage/multimeter to see what’s what. But I was simply connecting the same lines to same lines so I was hoping this would work. And under the troubleshooting section in the installation manual, it does show that if the neutral isn’t connected, the LED wouldn’t light. So that’s why i was thinking it’s more the neutral wire.

Maybe i’ll try another light with a different switch and hope it works.