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[Deemar]

I realize you may get a lot of these request so even if you don't want to spoon feed me, I could read up on it if I'm pointed towards a writeup or schematic of some sort. But I've got an older X10 light switch unit that says the following:
Decorator (Master) Wall Dimmer Module
Model WS12A
For Single And 3-Way Applications
Line: Black, Load: Blue, Slave/Compression Switch: Red

There are 3 wires coming out of it, red, black and blue. They're labeled above for what they do only I don't know how to hook this thing to my current switch box. Here are some pictures and an explanation of what I see in the wall:





There are 3 sets of white/black wires coming out of the wall. It's a single switch controlling my bedroom light, there are no other switches controlling this light. All 3 whites are put together as you can see there, and the 3 black go to the switch. 2 of them go to one end of the switch and the third black go to the other end of the switch. Any ideas how I get this working?

This switch will be controlling my ceiling fan I just put up as well but I'll be replacing lights switches all over the house that are just lights.

[-Bill- (of wgjohns.com)]

Deemar,

Well, first off, I wouldn't suggest using any dimming module to replace a switch that controls a ceiling fan's motor.

As far as the wiring, it looks like the two blacks that are tied together would be the "Line" and the single black would be the "Load".

You should really do some testing to confirm this.

Maybe someone else can chime in about a better wall-switch module to use with a ceiling fan.

I know there have been posts about it.

Try searching on "ceiling fan".

[Deemar]

I got it, you were right about the blue/black and the other one is the red which just gets capped off to nothing. Why wouldn't you suggest using this with a ceiling fan? What if I just use the on/off feature and don't dim it, will that help? Maybe I have another switch which isn't a dimmer, I got a box full of this stuff here.

[Brian H]

The two wire dimmer switches steal power through the load. Fan motor in your case.
The electronics in the switch maybe damaged by this type load and if dimmed by accident may overheat the switch or the motor.

The non dimming module use the Neutral power wire to get their power and also get along with inductive loads like a fan motor. Your photo shows white wires that are most likely Neutrals.