GE 45856 ZigBee Wireing?

I’ll try that as well. Have no knowledge of electrical, so this is a. Learning experience.

Yeah, don’t push it if you’re not comfortable.

Quick question though: Did you check the neutrals when you opened it back up?

One problem that I’ve seen repeatedly is using an existing wire nut (“Marrette”) to pig tail an additional wire can cause that new wire to disconnect when everything is stuffed back into the box. This is usually because the wire nut wasn’t properly tightened with the wire firmly in proper position OR the wire nut is too small to accommodate an additional wire.

This has foiled my “quick” installs on many occasions. If that neutral wire to the switch is not firmly in contact with the other neutrals, the switch will not function.

Edit: Oh, and I doubly recommend @rontalley’s suggestion of buying and learning to use a voltage meter (youtube works well to get you started), especially if you’ll be swapping out more switches/outlets.

Another suggestion when doing a project like this: Use your phone to snap a quick picture of the back of the existing switch (as well as the entire box) before you disconnect any wires.

You should label/mark the wires you’re removing as well. Often, the back of the existing switch will have labeling for each wire near its respective terminal.

Knowing exactly how the previous switch was wired is extremely helpful, especially when trying to determine line/load without a voltage meter.

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I didn’t test the neutral, but connected everything ‘outside’ the box first to test before pushing wires back into the box and closing up.

I would have thought, even without the neutral ‘working’ the switch would work like a dumb switch (but didn’t).

Going to watch YouTube videos to learn to test/troubleshot more, then call an electrician.

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These switches don’t work like dumb switches. If I’m not mistaken, the neutral wire is used to power the Z-wave. But also, if I’m not mistaken, they won’t default to dump switch functionality if the neutral is not connected. So, no neutral, no switching, even if the other wires are properly connected.

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Thanks, not giving up! Too many use cases i want to do with these switches.

Hehe, I’m with ya man. I had a few frustrations the first time I swapped out switches, so I was in the same boat. I’m glad I didn’t give up.

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FYI, not sure if this is too basic or not, but it may help:

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Agreed. Before anything, if you are not comfortable, hire an electrician.
This being said, I am almost 100% positive you didn’t connect the neutral properly. Common sense would dictate that if you have the line where it is supposed to go, you would have power. But these switches get their power through the neutral and the line is only used to power up your light.
Your line is 100% confident, the black wire coming from the pigtails. The other single black wire is your load.
Make sure you are using a big enough wire nut for the neutral bundle. Originally it had 3 and now you are adding a very thick 4th one. Get the biggest wire nut, I believe they are rated for up to 8 wires (I may be wrong). And make sure your neutral has the same bare wire exposure than the neutral bundle. If you try connecting your neutral wire strip with only 1/4" exposed and the bundle has 1/2", then when you wire nut it it will most likely push the neutral out and there will be no contact.

But remember, if you are not comfortable, hire an electrician. They usually charge anywhere from $30 to $60 for a switch, and you can learn how they do it and feel more confident more the next round of switches. Hope this helps.

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So the electrician just finished up. It appears that my line and load wires are reversed from normal. Electrician said that is normal when the 2 garage lights are installed then the porch light (all 3 are on this switch) and the porch light is the end of the circuit, or something like that :).

Anyhow, the next switch should be straight forward.

Thanks to everyone who helped with this issue!!!