Unfortunately no. Traveler wire on GE switch actually carries 120VAC so it’s not low voltage as you describe.
Thanks for the feedback
Can you describe more or post pictures of the inside of your boxes? The Aux switches only need 2 wires so you might be able to use the white and black wires to make them work. But you must have line from breaker and load to light and a neutral in your Master switch box to make this work. The Aux boxes will just need 2 wires one for neutral and one for traveler.
I could use some input on my installation. I have 3 switches controlling the same can lights. I’ve installed the primary GE Smart Switch and 2 Add on Switches. The first and second switches are controlling the lights correctly. The 3rd switch in the series will turn off the lights but will not turn them on or dim. Do I have a defective add on switch or is my wiring incorrect?
The first switch has a black line wire, black load wire, red traveler and white neutral connected.
The second switch has 2 red travelers and neutral connected and 2 black wires have been tied together.
The third switch has 1 red travel and neutral connected and 2 black wires tied together.
Thanks for the help!
I’d need to see pictures of wiring to help. You may have load and line in separate boxes which could cause this.
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Did you get any pictures of the original dumb switches?
Hi,
Could really use some help here.
I have a 3-way setup as shown below, and a little confused. My line switch doesn’t seem to have a neutral, or is the single white wire the neutral? My understanding is that the primary switch requires both the line, load, neutral and traveler connections while the add-on requires only the neutral and traveler.
What does the other box look like?
Is that black wire hot regardless of how the other switch is flipped?
Check the different wiring diagrams here. You’ve most likely got one of the variations where hot from the breaker goes to the fixture(s) first.
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Since you only have one Romex in that box, your power is either going to the other box first or the light first. The key to these is determining the source of the power.
As @HalD said, post pics of the other box. More than likely, your GE switch is going to go there.
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You’re correct about what wires are needed for GE/Honeywell/Jasco 3-way switches or dimmers.
Couple of other things.
I’m assuming that
- the black wire by the illuminated non-contact tester was attached to the black (common) terminal on your 3-way dumb switch, and
- the red and white wires were attached to the two brass terminals on the dumb switch
Given those assumptions, the white wire is not functioning as the neutral, it’s functioning as a traveler. It’s like the blue wire in figure A or figure C in the diagrams at the site I linked above.
If your other box in the 3-way looks just like this one then what you have is “power to the fixture with fixture between the boxes”. That’s Figure C at the site I linked except you don’t have the unconnected neutral that diagram shows. If that’s what you’ve got then I don’t believe you can install GE switches with the wires you have.
If your other box in the 3-way has two separate Romexes like in Figure A, then you’ve got “power to the light fixture” (and then to the switches). In this case it might be possible to install the GE switches but the wiring advice would be a job for @ritchierich
It all depends on what that other box looks like.
Yup. Figured it out. Setup had line and load in same box for one switch, then line and load in separate boxes for one, so it was a bit confusing. Got it all figured out.
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Hey guys I have installed a bunch of GE smartswitches, but this one is giving me trouble. In the line box, there are 3 bundles of wires–two bundles with black, white, and grounds, and 1 bundle with red, black, white, and ground.
In the load box, there is one bundle with red, black, white, and ground.
Pics are attached.
I have no idea how to wire this to the GE dimmer and addon. Any ideas?
Do you have pictures of old dumb switches? I’d like to see those. Second picture/box would have to be Aux assuming box 1 has the right wires though it’s blurry so I cannot see wires in back of box. I need to be able to follow wires to see where they go. Seeing old dumb switch is helpful.
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Sure, thanks rich! Lemme go get them now
Here they are, I also tried to get a better picture of the wires.
So on the left you can see the 4 wire cable with the red, black, white, and ground (if you see the sheathing it matches the other box, and on the right you see two of the 3 wire cables (I was assuming that one of those was from the breaker and one was to the light).
Let’s call this box 1 and the other with a single 14-3 Romex box 2. Master will go into box 1 and Aux will go into box 2.
You have line and load in box 1, that’s the two gray looking 14-2s on the right side of the box and then as you mention the 14-3 on the left with the same color sheathing is going to box 2. But I don’t know which of the 14-2s is line and load and that is why I was hoping you had pictures of your old switches still wired up. You can usually tell by looking at that wiring and paying attention to the wires hooked up to the black screws. Another indicator is if wires are coming in from bottom or top of the box if you have a crawl space. At least in my house line comes in from bottom and load goes up to fixtures. But both all of yours are coming in from top.
In box 1 you see that wire bundle with a white wire and black wire? That is sending line or load to the box 2 to make the old 3 way work. Disconnect that wire bundle and connect that white wire from the left 14-3 Romex into the bundle of other white wires so your Aux switch gets neutral. See you already have a white pigtail in that bundle of white wires for neutral to your master switch.
Now we need to figure out which is line and which is load. Again we are talking the black wires from the 2 14-2 Romex on the right. Use a multimeter and measure voltage of that black wire you just disconnected from the white wire. If it measures 120VAC that’s your line on the master switch. If nothing that’s your load on the master switch. Find the other black wire from the right 14-2’s and measure it to confirm the opposite reading. That will either be load or line in your master.
Hook up the red wire from the left 14-3 Romex to the traveler terminal on your master. And find the black wire from that same 14-3 and put a wire nut on it as you no longer need it.
In box 2 in your Aux white wire to neutral and red to traveler. Then put a wire nut in the black wire as you no longer need it.
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Rich, you are AMAZING! Everything you said is so clear and now that you explained it seems so simple thanks to you! I completed the wiring and everything works perfectly! I wish there was some way to repay you! In any case, Karma to you.
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Awesome to hear and very happy you got it working. Glad to help.
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One more quick question–if I see a bundle of grounds, I’m assuming that it doesn’t matter which one I connect to each switch if they are all touching? If somehow they stop touching does it matter then?
TIA!