Load is supposed to have some tape wrapped around it to identify it afaik.
ok, thanks guys, I think Iâm going to have to go the electrician route for identification or find someone that know what they are doing. I donât have any of that kind of equipment so this is all a learning point for me. Iâll update with a solution when I get it going.
Thanks
Your white wires in the back of the box are your neutral wires. Your black wire is your line (hot/power). Your other wire is your load wire.
For your white (nuetral) wire, you need to connect the switch to that bundle of white wires. Get yourself a piece of romex wire (electrical wire like the type thatâs in your box already). Connect one end to the neutral on your switch and the other end add to the bundle of white wires.
make sure the power is off before doing any of this. Worst case scenario, the switch doesnt work when you turn the power back on. if thatâs the case, check the neutral wire (is it connected to the bundle of other neutral wires and in your switch?) if so, then swap your line and load wires.
Hope that helps.
I just got my GE/JASCO (model 45609) on-off light switch today. Looked on You Tube and there is a pretty good video for the installation. I wired it up and turned the power back on, so far so good. The little blue LED is on and the lights turn on and off using the manual rocker switch just fine.
My issue is I cannot seem to add the device to my ST router. On the android app, I tap the Plus key to add a device and it starts to search⊠but after 20+ minutes the device never shows up. Something is wrong. The light switch is well within range of the hub, and is practically line of sight. The lights work as expected so I am sure I have it wired correctly but still no z-wave. Is there any way I can troubleshoot this puppy to see if the z-wave is working? Has anyone else had this issue?
Just thought of this ⊠maybe my device is already paired? I checked the documentation that came with the switch, and even Googled but I cannot seem to find a way to reset this to start over. Does anyone know of a way to clear out the pairing so I can try again? The switch works great manually but the whole idea was to use the z-wave function⊠sighâŠ
@carlaydelotte - I assume you tried to pair it - but it didnât show up in your app when you tried. One thing to try first - put the app into searching mode again - then press the on button twice or the off button twice. Like a âtap tapâ - see if it shows up. You also have to give them a little time (like 10-15 seconds to be seen sometimes.
If it doesnât show up - and you suspect that it is already paired previously (did you buy these used? If they are new - they shouldnât be paired.) put the hub into exclusion mode - You can do this in the phone app - go to the hub - then look for zwave commands⊠Iâd have to look for the correct path to get there. Put the hub into zwave exclusion mode - then double tap one of the directions (it doesnât matter if you go âon - onâ or âoff offâ - just tap the same button twice. BUT - once you do the exclusion - let the hub just chill for a few minutes before you try and find the switch again in the app. Maybe even power cycle before hand. Just let it chill for a few before you go right back to trying to add it. 
(As for the double tap⊠not sure if it is necessary - but when I was moved over to a different hub - the double tap seemed to help for some reason.)
@carlaydelotte - definitely try what Eric said. Just wanted to add one thing:
I know you said that you were well within range, but how close are you? Many people (myself include) and found that sometimes you need to be very close⊠10-15 feet for the initial pairing. After that communication can happen at a greater distance, but that first meeting of the two devices⊠well, they like to do that face-to-face I guess.
Yeah - mine paired just fine at like 30+ some feet from the hub - from the basement to the first floor⊠but every house is different. If you do have issues again - do try and move the hub closer to the switches if you can.
Thanks guys, I will try what you suggested in a moment. The switch was purchased brand new and in original packaging. I was just thinking that when I installed it, maybe I was pairing it accidentally without knowing the hub was already talking to it or something. I was pressing the buttons on the switch to test it but never looked at the mobile app until later. The distance is about 15 feet to the hub in a straight line of sight. There is also another z-wave device about 3 feet away that acts as a repeater (the alarm) so it should be good, at least I think it should be. Also, I checked in the mobile app for this z-wave exclusion mode that you guys mention and I donât see it. Can someone give me a little guidance in finding it please? I am on the Android app if it makes a differenceâŠ
OK so I found the exclusion mode using the web tools. I tried what you suggested with no success. I also moved the hub to within 3 feet and tried again, still no success. So next I dug out the receipt/packing slip and noticed that the unit was a refurb, hence the great price I guess. Funny how the description on Amazonâs site failed to mention that, but thatâs another issue. So I sent the company an email asking for some tech support before I try to cash in on their 30 day return policy. I figure worst case they send me another one and I start all over.
So, in my house, there is no ground wire, either. There are just black wires with cloth insulation. There is no âredâ or âwhiteâ or âgreenâ. How do I wire a z-wave switch into such a setup?
Iâm assuming this isnât a three-way setup, correct? If so, youâre only option is one of the z-wave dimmers that does not use a neutral. It only requires a line (black wire coming from the breaker/fuse box) and a load (black wire leading to the light). You ideally should connect a ground wire (usually a bare wire), but this isnât strictly required.
I have re-wired several of my outputs to use the GE/Jasco switches, but in a few places I did get a Leviton VRS05-1LZ Vizia RF. They work very well, and do NOT require neutral. They work well, and I like the LED light on them. They only work w/ incandescent bulbs, so just be aware of that because those bulbs are becoming more and more difficult to find.
Besides that they work well, they are most expensive but it was cheaper for me than running a neutral in a lot of places.
My swtiches in question are 3-way. They look really old. I suspect they might be original wiring from 1924, since the switch is actually sort of a round metal lever rather than a squared plastic tab of modern switches, and the switch body behind the faceplate appears to be made of ceramic. It looks like they only ran hot to all the switches. There is no ground or common wire in any of the switchboxes Iâve opened.
Why do the Levitron switches not work with LEDs? In what way do they require incandescents?
No neutrals is a bad thing, unfortunately. You can use once of the switch types that donât need a neutral, but they do have limitations.
First question: If these are three-way switches, there should be at least three wires. In the first box there should be a hot line (from the breaker/fuse box) and two wires (called traveler wires) going to the next box. At the second box there should also be three wires. The two traveler wires from the first box, and then one load wire leading to the light.
If this is what you have then you can look at Levitron which appears to have both switches and aux switches that do NO require neutrals. See this page: In particular, look at the setup in part 4B. This is what your setup should look like.
Second question: Why only Incandescent bulbs? The important thing to remember is that old âdumbâ switches are simple mechanical devices. By flipping the switch you are mechanically connecting or disconnecting a circuit. The switch is nothing more than a path for power to move through.
However, a z-wave âsmartâ switch is an electronic device in and of itself. Yes it opens and closes the electrical circuit for your lights, but it also has a small radio built in as well as various other electronic components that control dimming, current state, etc. Because this is an electrical device it requires power all the time. This is why most switches of this type need a neutral. The power used to ârun the switchâ comes from the hot, then goes out the neutral.
But some switches obviously donât require a neutral⊠how do they operate then? They operate by allowing a small trickle of energy to move through the circuit. Enough to operate the switch, but not enough to make an incandescent bulb light up. These switches take advantage of the fact that incandescentâs need a (relatively speaking) high level of power before responding with light.
CFLs, on the other hand, take less juice and this constant trickle is enough to occasionally make them flicker or blink. Having a constant small level of juice probably isnât very helpful to the ballast and other parts of the CFL either, potentially shortening their life considerably.
Similarly LEDs require a lot less juice too. Meaning that small trickle might be enough to make them come on at a dim level even when the switch is âoff.â Theoretically if you have enough of a load of LED lights you might be able to get by without this switch lighting up your LEDs. For example, in one room of my house I have 4 LED lights each taking like 16 or so watts. That just might be enough to prevent them from lighting up (I donât know for sure as Iâve got a switch with a neutral⊠just same it might be enough).
Okay⊠so this explanation ended up going long. Sorry 'bout that. Also, I hopefully I didnât sound like I was talking down to you. Not sure how much you know or donât know so thought Iâd start with the basics.
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There are three wires in the 3-way switchboxes, but they are all black, and wrapped in cloth soaked in asphalt. I believe that is called âloomâ.
Ok, so the trickle of current (I would imagine less than 500mA) being used to power the logic/radio and running through the hot line to the bulb is enough to turn on some LEDs/CFLs. I will look into the levitron. It sounded like you were going to paste a link, but it appears to not have made it into the post.
Thx!
Nevermind. I think it was this link: http://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ibcGetAttachment.jsp?cItemId=5LR7Zajji6yxCaUHVAI4cg&label=IBE&appName=IBE&minisite=10251
I have newer heard of 3 way switches not having 3 wires, it cant work with 2.
Okay, so you do have three wires⊠now the fun is just trying to figure out which is hot or load, and which are the traveler wires. You might be able to tell my looking at the back of the existing switches. Hopefully theyâll be labeled, though not always⊠especially if they are so old. It might also be that the travelers are on one side and the hot/load is the lone wire on the other side. Or you might just have to have an electrical look at 'em.
FWIW, Iâve experimented with my GE Jasco switches and hooked up wires wrong many times. Obviously things wonât work when done wrong, but I also havenât ruined any switches⊠after fixing the wires they have always worked. I canât guarantee that you wonât wreak things if you hook them up wrong.
Great explanation of the reason why the switches need neutral, and why the CFL and LED bulbs are not useful with the other switches.