First post so of course I’m begging for help at 1:15AM lol. These control 6 can lights in my kitchen and I can’t figure out what in the world to do. When I placed the order the guy at Home Seer had me order the WD100+ and a WA100+ which I can’t seem to use since Box 2 has no neutrals only the 3 wires and a ground.
Which switch should go in which location and does it matter? I never tried to install the new switches in Box 2 since there are no neutrals and both of these switches seem to require it.
----- Box 1 & WD100+
Black Wire @ WD100 Port: Load
Black Wire (goes to Box 2?) (Hot based on switch 2 position) @ WD100 Port: Line
Red Wire (goes to Box 2) (Hot based on switch 2 position) @ WD100 Port: Traveler
Neutral’s @ WD100 Port: Neutral
----- Box 2 & Original dumb switch (wanting to install WA100+)
White Wire w/ black tape (HOT)
Black Wire (goes to Box 1?)
Red Wire (goes to Box 1)
NO Neutral’s :’(
Out of desperation I put Box 2 switch back how it was with the original switch and Box 1 with the new HS-WD100+.
Box 2 Switch Up = Lights on & Box 1 zero functionality
Box 2 Switch Down = Lights off & Box 1 full dimming functionality as normal
Did you ever figure this out? I think I have the exact same setup as you. I am missing the “neutral” in the aux switch box and the white wire that normally would be a neutral was wrapped in black tape and used as line power to the Lutron switch that was in there. I had a 3 conductor cable (black, red, white) wires with the white wire wrapped in black tape. I think this is required by code if you use a different color for power. My house was built in 2002 for your reference.
I spent a while thinking about this yesterday when I had that Eureka moment that might fix your problem. I went back to my first box where I actually have two 3 way switch setups (upstairs hall light 3 way switch and stair light 3 way switch) and inspected it more closely. As it turns out there was a white wire wrapped in black tape being used for the line power on the switch in box 1. Just to make sure I did a continuity test on the white wire wrapped in black tape on the bottom switch (box 2) to the one at the top switch (box 1) and confirmed that was the same cable. I ended up using one conductor of a 50 foot extension cord to test continuity as I did not have anything else. Also, I confirmed 120V was on that line when measuring between that and ground when the power was turned on. Since only one 3 conductor cable went into the bottom switch the electrician repurposed the white wire (normally neutral) to be the line power, the red was the traveler as it should be, and the black cable ended up being the load. Of course ground was connected.
Ok so here is what I did. On the top switch (box 1) I took the white wire wrapped in black tape and disconnected it from the line power coming into box 1, connected it to the bundle of white neutral wires that was in that box 1, and then made a white jumper cable from all those neutral wires (now including the white wire wrapped in black tape) to the neutral input on the WD100+. I then connected the black wire that was load on the previously installed lutron switch to the load of the WD100+. The red wire went to the traveler input. Ground went to ground. Finally, I ended up making a short black jumper cable and tied that to the line power (This is the same set of cables the white wire wrapped in black tape was initially connected to) to connect it to the line input of the WD100+. On the accessory switch at the bottom I connected the red traveler to the traveler input, ground to ground, and I took the white wire wrapped in black tape and connected that to neutral. There was one black wire left over in the bottom switch but that can be left dangling as it is just the load and the wiring diagram states you don’t need to connect neither the load nor the line power to the accessory switch.
Everything is now working.
You should use a DMM to verify voltages before you connect everything back up but I believe you have the same situation as me. I think the electrician in your house just used the white neutral wire to run line power to the box 2 switch so it can all be done on a 3 conductor cable (black cable = load, white cable wrapped in black = line, red cable = traveler). If that is the case and your box 1 has that same white wire going to it (hopefully wrapped in black tape to indicate to you it is being used for power) then you should have all the cable connections you need without needing to run more cable. You will probably have to make 1 or 2 short jumper cables in your box 1.
Man this is a hard topic to follow and explain. I did figure it out though!
Okay the white cable at the Aux box wrapped in black tape ran all the way over to the Main box (3 switches for kitchen etc). There it was under a twist cap and I noticed that my 2 other switches had their black power wires running into a twist cap and that there was a white wire that joined them. Since it seemed out of place I removed it from the bundle and tested it. Turns out this is my wire that ran over to my Aux box as power. I simply removed it from the power bundle and added it to the neutral bundle with the other white wires.
I kept Red as my traveler and got lucky with the black wire when i ran it to the load lol!
I am glad you figured it out. It is very hard to explain! I was extra wordy on purpose trying to be 100% accurate because it is confusing. I spent an hour on a Micasa Verde forum from a few years ago on GE/Jasco switches trying to get clues. It helped but no one had my wiring setup. When you make it into a circuit diagram it is actually very easy to understand but trying to figure it out from wads of wires wrapped together is much harder. Hopefully this thread will help others.