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🔌General Home Automation => Automating Your House => Troubleshooting Automation Problems => Topic started by: sarcasmo on November 30, 2007, 03:24:19 PM

Title: Wire Decor Wallswitch at end of circuit - Can it be done?
Post by: sarcasmo on November 30, 2007, 03:24:19 PM
Can anyone help with wiring a Decor wall switch module at the end of a circuit? Since my existing mechanical switch is at the end of the circuit I only have a line (black) and neutral (white) wire. The load is obviously in the middle of the line wire between the breaker and the switch.

This end of line switch location happens to be in a gang box with 2 other switches. Another switch is end of line and the third is middle of the line.
Title: Re: Wire Decor Wallswitch at end of circuit - Can it be done?
Post by: Brian H on November 30, 2007, 04:17:21 PM
Does the old switch has two terminals and it is not a three way setup? If so it sounds like a switch loop and Yes sometimes White is not a neutral.
If the old switch has two terminals connect the new switch to the black and white of the switch loop. If it is NOT a simple two terminal old switch; stop and give us more data.
Title: Re: Wire Decor Wallswitch at end of circuit - Can it be done?
Post by: KDR on November 30, 2007, 07:29:30 PM
Quote from: sarcasmo on November 30, 2007, 03:24:19 PM
The load is obviously in the middle of the line wire between the breaker and the switch.

If this is the case you can test it by removing the light bulb, (if your load is a light) and then testing the terminals on the switch. Both terminals should show zero volts, (switch in off position) when tested to ground, (the bare ground wire in the box if you have one). Let us know how it checks out  ;D

(http://www.bdshost.com/X10/lpup.gif)---(http://www.bdshost.com/X10/lpup.gif)---(http://www.bdshost.com/X10/lpup.gif)---(http://www.bdshost.com/X10/lpup.gif)---(http://www.bdshost.com/X10/lpup.gif)----KDR
Title: Re: Wire Decor Wallswitch at end of circuit - Can it be done?
Post by: sarcasmo on December 05, 2007, 06:22:00 PM
Thanks for the replies.

There are only 2 wires. I did hookup with black to line and white to load but new x10 decor switch did not respond to either manual turn on or remote turn on. I also hooked it up black to line and white to neutral. This allowed the switch to work but since there was no load attached there was not much point in it.

I realized later that I had access to a device (an outlet) in the middle of the circuit and according to another post in a forum on this site I should be able to replace the device with the switch. So I wired them in and it worked!
I had 2 such circuits to wire. Both worked fine at the start. Since then one of the switches stopped responding to manual switching and when switched remote it "double clicks" and does not turn on any longer. The red light on the switch does not light.

Does this mean that this one switch has gone bad already?