How to install GE Z-Wave In-Wall Add-On Switch at this location. Pic

I have a 4 way setup (3 switches) and one main. I’m trying to figure out how to wire the addon switch here. I have 2 grounds, two blacks, and two whites, (1 of each color wire coming out of a bigger wire (2 bigger wires containing the 3 wires of each). I’m just a little confused since the addon switch only has two connectors on it and a ground.

Have you had a chance to look at the FAQ yet? It should help:

Agree with @JDRoberts that FAQ is great.

I assume that one loose white wire was hooked up to the switch. If so this particular switch is your “4-way” switch sitting in between your two 3-way switches. Given it only has 4 wires coming in (don’t count grounds) I would expect your line from breaker to be in one of the other switch locations and your load to your fixture to be in the other. You will need a multimeter to identify which one is line and load and from there the FAQ should help.

If you do end up having the line and load in separate locations, unfortunately the GE switches will not work for you because you don’t have enough wires. Typically in 3/4-way setups you have white, black, and red wires. Since you don’t have the red wire, you don’t have a way to get power from the breaker to the load through this box. In other words I believe/assume that you have power coming from breaker to one switch, then that is passed via 2 wires to this switch, and then two wires to your other switch onto your fixture. The GE switches require neutral and traveler so you don’t have the third required wire to pass power to your fixture. Hopefully this makes sense.

Verify my assumption with a multimeter and refer to the FAQ if I am correct for other options using a micro controller.

I’ll admit I just took a quick skim of that FAQ but it seemed focused on 3 way wiring. Is there a source like this for 4 way? By that I mean 3 switches and a light. . . not sure if that’s the right term.

US and UK terminology are different. In the US, we count the number of branches, so a “three-way” has two switches and the light. A “four-way” has three switches and the light.

In the UK, they just count the number of switches. So a “two way” has two switches and the light. A “three-way” has three switches. Etc

The FAQ uses US terminology and discusses US wiring. I’m assuming that’s what applies to you, but if not let us know.

The basic wiring concepts for three ways and four ways and N Ways are the same, so it helps to learn those first. (For example, in the US wire colors are not usually mandated by law except for the ground and so any branch can be any color. You need to map the circuits first. So it doesn’t help to know that there are two white wires unless we know exactly what circuit segments those are on.)

And there is discussion in the FAQ of four ways as well. Some of the diagrams are four ways. So people there should be able to help you. :sunglasses: :level_slider::bulb::level_slider::level_slider:

I’m in the US and have 3 switches and 1 light. I have done 2 other 3 ways (2 switches 1 light) just fine, but as I’ve been reading posts about 4 ways and it it has scared me off. I have all the devices (Jasco) sitting in a box. It’s been a while since I have tried to read up on it but I feel like it was the issue of one of the addon switches having to be wired differently than the other which meant you really had to understand the setup pretty well. For the 3 ways I have done once I found where the line was it felt pretty straight forward. The color of the wires in my house seems to be pretty consistent as well as at least when I opened up one of them someone in the past had actually labeled the wires pretty well.

Just found this in case its helpful. This finally makes sense to me how the 4 way works. Now going to take a look and hope I have power at the switch and not the light!

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Just finished and it worked!! Yay!

PS sorry to take over the thread. Hope it works for you too.

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