Input on Leviton wiring

[jriker1 (John)]

I am looking to wire up a 4-way switch so I can manage it with Alexa and looking to use Leviton DZ6HD-1BZ and two DD00R-DL units? I went thru my wiring and am looking for some input on how to wire them up and/or what wires I need to run. The leviton instructions say that each switch needs a hot connection yet on the net they say only the unit connected to the load light need the hot connection.

So I went thru my wiring and here’s what I have:

The switch by the kitchen:
This is the line that comes from the circuit box
Black connects to a black wire that goes to the switch box on the right
Red connects to a “brown” wire that connects to a yellow wire within the right switch box
Red/White connects to another “brown wire that connects to another yellow wire within the right switch box
No white but can run one if needed. Hopefully.

In the box on the right of that box the wires run into the other box. So you can see on the left the black and brown wires coming in and pulled to the left side the brown wires connecting individually to yellow wire.
Also the black wire from the left comes into the right side and is connected to a brown wire

The brown wire and two yellow wires go down into the conduit opening on the bottom left

This is the switch on the far right side by the TV.
This is the load side that connects to the light
Red wire goes to the lights
White bundle in the box
Two yellow travelers in the box to the switch as well

Other view of the conduit up to the lights

That’s all the wires in this box. No hot wire unless one of the yellows are used for it.

The box in the middle of the chain where the current 4-way I guess is. ’
Has two separate switches
For some reason I didn’t get a picture of the actual switch but basically the switch on the right has four yellow wires so the two travelers from one side and the two from the other side. No other wires connected

There are neutrals in this box.

So looks like the bottom left the two yellow wires go out to the TV area switch and connected to the right switch

Then looks like on the bottom right the two from the kitchen area come in and connect to the switch as well

So according to the Leviton documentation, you need hot connected to each switch, and neutral connected to each switch, and the main unit located at the load area which would be by the TV

So in theory then the DZ6HD-1BZ by the TV and the DD00R-DL by the kitchen and on the wall in the middle between the other one.

So some things.

1. Do I really need a neutral in the kitchen since the hot runs into here initially?
2. Do I need a hot connected to each one or as some people say I would connect the hot from the kitchen box to one of the two yellow wires and run it to the DZ6HD-1BZ by the TV directly and bypass the DD00R-DL units?
3. Any suggestions on the overall wiring approach.

Appreciate any suggestions on this. I have a concept but was looking for some thoughts and understand I can ask a contractor and anything here are suggestions.

[JDRoberts]

The neutral is what will power the radio inside the switch so it can hear the next “on“ command from the network even though the light is off. So yes, you need a neutral for each one.

[Ryan780]

@JDRoberts

The neutral is what will power the radio

Well, the hot is what is powering the radio, the hot is where the electricity comes from. The neutral is what is allowing current to flow through the switch (and the radio) when the load is disconnected (switch is off). Otherwise, there is nowhere for the current to flow so the radio wouldn’t get any power.