Help with 3-way wiring

[rajbalwani]

I have 3 light switches in my upstairs hallway. I want to change them to all zwave. However can’t figure out what to plug where. I have a 3-way dimmer switch and one aux switch to replace the 3 existing.

Attached is a picture of the master switch current non zwave wiring and the second switch in the hall wiring. 3rd switch is not pictures but imagine it’s same as secondary.

[Mr_Lucky (Bob)]

That first pic (with white wires bundled in back… or maybe it’s just texture-coat overspray on one or more of the colored wires?) looks like it might be a four-way switch wiring. Normal convention is:

• Green = ground
• White = neutral
• Black = hot (unlike in DC wiring, where black is ground return; with AC, you’ll have two of these)
• Red = traveller (required for 3-way and 4-way)

You can run a 3-way switch without neutral, but not a Z-wave 3-way. Neutral is required to keep the Z-wave radio powered so it can receive commands.

[sidjohn1]

Automated 3-way Switches: What should my wiring look like? (US Version)

So you want an automated hardwired light switch, but you’re not sure where to start, and you need 2 switches to control the same light. Well you’re in the right place for a 3-way. The most common wiring requirements of any hardwired automated 3-way light switch is a neutral wire and a traveler. Yes, there are a few…(read very, very, very few) switches that don’t require a neutral, but those will limit you to incandescent only. For those of us using LED, Fluorescent or some other energy efficient bulbs under 20w a neutral is REQUIRED! So what does this look like? [image] This is a diagram of a 3-way switch with the neutral run directly to the light. This is not good for automated hardwired light switchs and i would HIGHLY recommend that if you want to automate the light, contact an elect…