Help with basic GE z-wave switch wiring

Just remove the bulb and see if the switch still operate. You should be able to tell by the indicator Led on the switch.

After reread this post. I can say it’s definitely not installed per the manufacturer recommendation. I am surprised the switch is actually function properly even with LED. Only thing I could think of is to ask the manufacturer to see what they say. Not hooking up the ground is definitely not a good idea for sure.

Just got home and tried unscrewing the bulb. The LED in the switch went out…

I think it’s ok if there is no ground connected - but what I’m wondering now is if the following would be a safe wiring:

Load and Line were previously connected to the simple light switch, so I should have no problem figuring out which one connects to the GE dimmer in the switch box. Remember, there were only those two wires attached to the old “dumb” switch.

In the same switch box is a 3-way light switch. It is on the same circuit as the GE/Jasco smart dimmer. Can I tie in the neutral from that switch to the GE dimmer?

If you’re sure it’s the same circuit, yes.

I have a couple of multi-gang boxes where the switches are on different circuits so just make sure.

The manufacturer recommends connecting to ground - I wouldn’t ignore that.

I’ve read most of this thread but I don’t believe my situation has been mentioned so I thought I would post a question. I was planning on installing a three way switch in my house. I bought a smart switch and an add on switch to make the three way work but I encountered a problem when I pulled out my old switches. Everyone seems to have common wire issues, mine is different. I seem to be missing a line/load wire. Both switches have a black, a white, and a red wire as well as a ground. To follow the directions I should have a second black wire. I know that the colors can represent different functions depending on how the electrician wired the house but it looks like I can’t use these switches. Does anyone have an idea on a way around this?

Here is a 3-way FAQ. Sounds like you may have your current wiring like the last diagram. That setup is not compatible with GE switches. You may want to look at Cooper or Linear that have add-on switches without needing travelers. Micro relays are also an option if that is the case. Feel free to share pictures as I may be interpreting what you said differently than what you actually have.

I’ll try to explain this simply, but I’m not sure it’s going to work. This method does require a way to ‘associate’ switches to each other, but the remote to do this is cheap and found on amazon…and can be used for some other things. I wired in a three way setup (replacing a conventional 3-way set up) like this: essentially, I used the red traveling wire as a hot (line) extension to power the second switch (since it’s a slave to the first, it just needs power, neutral and ground). So, first you need to figure out which switch has the load coming off it…that’s the last switch in the line up. Take the incoming black line off and tie it into the load, all by itself. Essentially, you’ve just put the first switch solely in control of the load.

Back at the first switch, tie the red traveler wire into the same terminal as the incoming hot black line…this powers the red wire at all times.

Back at the second (last) switch, the red wire is now the ‘line’ and you still use the neutral and ground…and that’s it. You’ll have the original line and load tied together in the box as well, but they’ll sit in the back. Now, using your remote, associate the last switch (slave) to the first switch and everything should work just fine. When you change the position of the slave switch, it relays that information to the first switch, which then executes the command. There’s sometimes a little bit of a lag, but it’ll catch up. I have regular switches as well as dimmers set up this way…in theory, you can add as many slave switches as you want using this method. As a matter of interest, where you pull power from to power the slave switch is inconsequential. That means, anywhere you can get a hot, neutral and ground, you can install a slave switch and then associate it to any other switch in the house…anywhere. So, basically, above any power outlet, you can easily install a slave switch.

Incidentally, this also means that you could hardware in a micro switch to, say, a new light you want to install where all you have is power and not an existing switch, and then add a slave switch somewhere in the room (or anywhere for that matter) and control that micro switch without writing background code…of course this could easily be done through CoRE, but I digress.

Hope this makes sense!

I have two GE in wall dimmers in a single junction box , one for each overhead light in my kitchen . I have black and ground hooked to each switch . Then I have a bundle of 4 white ( neutrals) with a wire nut . I added in a short white wire and connected to my first switch , works fine . But when I add another short white and connect to second switch neither switch works ! Do I need to somehow split those 4 nuetrals off between the two switches ?

You say black and ground on each. Do you mean two black and ground? One black is the line/hot and the other is the load/fixture. These are required on all master switches/dimmers as well as a neutral.

With the white/neutrals, make sure you are not separating the white bundle in any way. You should pigtail from the bundle to each switch or, pigtail from the bundle to one of the dimmers and then add a jumper from that dimmer’s neutral to the other dimmer.

Yes each switch has the ground and two blacks connected . I connected the bundle of 4 wires to each switch with a short wire , when both switches are connected , neither works , when just one of the neutrals is connected to the 4 wire neutral bundle it works fine .

In the prior post you said you had 4 whites nutted together. In your photo it looks like there are two sets of two with the pigtails added. If all 4 whites were in fact all nutted together initially you need to keep it that way as I explained in my post above. Otherwise you are breaking the circuit.

I had all 4 nutted together and only the first switch connected and works , when I connect the second switch neither works . ( the picture was an attempt that failed )

Okay, got it. At this point my only suggestion is to be absolutely sure you have line and load on that second switch identified correctly. I will admit, this has me a little confused and I need to think on it a bit. Tagging @Navat604 for some advice.

Maybe try this:
Put the old switches and neutral wires to their original connection. Test if original switches work.

Be careful with this process:
–Do not touch any bare wire from hot or load.–
Grab multimeter and put it in AC mode, using the black probe tap and hold the ground wire and with the red probe tap and hold one of the black wires to get a reading, if you get ~120-124V this is your hot wire.Use duct tape to mark the hot wire, test other black wire on the same switch, keep black probe on ground and measure the voltage on the second wire, should not be anywhere near 120v maybe ~1-2v this is your load wire–Do not touch any bare wire from hot or load.–

Repeat for your other switch.

Turn off your main electricity switch. Time to try again now that your two hot wires are confirmed.

As explained in earlier post your neutral bundle will now have two additional neutral wires (one from each dimmer switch)

When dimmer is off the blue led light will be on in each of your switches. When on the blue led will be off, if switch is on (blue led off) and lights are not on hold the toggle on the on position for about 10-15 seconds, this should raise the dimmer level well above 20% brightness level. If still not on, make sure you have at a minimum 20watts on the light fixture per switch, otherwise dimmer wont work no matter if wiring is correct.

That’s a weird issue for sure. Possible wrong connection or only thing I could think off is a loose connection at the neutral bundle. I would try testing each circuit separately by connecting the neutral and line romex directly to one switch at a time and see if it’s working correctly first.
You could then pigtail the neutral/line wires from one switch to the other switch. 4 wires with one connector is a little tricky especially if you don’t have the right size connector.
One faulty switch shouldn’t caused the second switch not to work unless it popped the circuit breaker.
When you said it didn’t work. Does that mean you couldn’t turn on the light? Tripped the breaker? Any indicator Led on your GE switches?

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Alright so I really need some help on this one, Thank you in advance! I have a 4 gang box in my downstairs hallway that control my 1. outside lights (single pole) 2. Hall lights downstairs (3 way) 3. Hall lights upstairs (3 way) 4. switch that is connected but does not control anything. There is 6 wires coming into the box. 3 wires to the switches and I assume 3 other wires feeding other outlets/switches. Switch 1,3 and 4 are one the same circuit and are daisy chained together (black hot wire). The second switch is on a separate circuit. I found this out because when I turned off the breaker to the switch box the second switch was still live and the other 3 were off. I bought GE smart switches (two single pole and two 3 way switches with add on switches) to replace them. My questions:

When wiring can I keep the daisy chain for the line and pigtail in the neutral and daisy chain that as well to the 3 switches on the same circuits?

Do I just swap out the switch on the separate circuit and add a neutral pigtail from the bundle?

Where do I connect the other three sets of wires on the switch, to the traveler port?

Dear all:

I just got a GE z-wave dimmable switch.

When I took apart my original switch, I got a bit confused: the original switch only got TWO wires hooked up, and one wire “preserved” and doesn’t seems to be hooked to anything:

All the instructions says I suppose to find a black wire (load), a green and or bare copper wire as ground, white is neutral which I needed for this GE device.

but both “A” and “B” (see photo) are black… which one is which?

can I assume that the one didn’t get hooked up is a neutral wire I need?

If white, good chance to be neutral.

Power into the switch and then to the light (load)

thank you.

my silly question is, how do i know which one is load, which one is power, when they are both black?

You need a multimeter that you can get at Lowes, Home Depot, or Harbor Freight. Turn off breaker, disconnect switch keeping wires separated turn back on breaker and use multimeter to see which wire has power. You do this by putting one probe on the ground wire and the other on one of the black wires. One should read 120v and the other should have no reading. The 120 is your line and the other is your load.

There are tons of videos on using a multimeter on YouTube.