str1der Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 1. What is the standard practice when putting a single C4 dimmer into a 4gang box that has other normal switches in it. I have a 4gang that has 4 normal flip type switches and a normal 4 hole wall plate. the first switch controls the can lights (that''s what I plan to replace with the C4 dimmer), the nex two are wired for a ceiling fan and light rough in that I may or may not ever use, and the third is for a switched outlet. Should I just replace the other three with the generic flat switches that look like the C4 dimmer and get a faceplate that would fit all 4. Any suggestions?2. This is for the electrician crowd out there. On a 3way setup does the power "normally" come from one of the 3way switches. I know it can be done other ways but is this the most common. If it comes from one of the switches is there a difference between the two switches? What I'm trying to ask is when replacing with a C4 dimmer and a multibutton keypad does it matter which goes where. Is it like a master/slave setup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 1) Yes, you would typically replace the others with Decora-style switches, and use a standard Decora faceplate.2) Power in a 3-way circuit may be provided at either end switch, and the load may be provided at either end. In a Control4 setup, you typically would put the *dimmer* wherever the load is being controlled, and the 2-button keypad at the other end. Whether the load is being controlled at the same end as the power is coming in, you'll have to find out.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str1der Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 1) Yes, you would typically replace the others with Decora-style switches, and use a standard Decora faceplate.2) Power in a 3-way circuit may be provided at either end switch, and the load may be provided at either end. In a Control4 setup, you typically would put the *dimmer* wherever the load is being controlled, and the 2-button keypad at the other end. Whether the load is being controlled at the same end as the power is coming in, you'll have to find out.RyanEAnyone know how to determine where the load is being controlled? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Let me try and clarify.The Control4 dimmer is the only one of the two that can control a load, so it needs to be placed somewhere that it can do that. Typically that's the box where the load is wired to. Usually, the 'line' (incoming power) is in the same box, but it doesn't have to be. You need to distribute power to both the dimmer and the 2-button keypad, one of them over the traveller wires.If you have a situation where line and load are in the same box, you just wire the dimmer up to the line and load, and wire the black and white traveller wires as power to the other end, where the 2-button will be wired to power.If they're in different boxes, put the dimmer where the load is, and in the other box, wire the line into both the 2-button keypad, and the black and white traveller wires. Use the black and white traveller wires to power the dimmer, and wire the output of the dimmer to the load.Make sense?RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 It's difficult to figure out sometimes. You can measure resistance of the wire to tell which one is the load, if the breaker's off, there shouldn't be any resistance (to speak of) on the line, but on the load side, there should be less resistance for more lights in the fixture.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 27, 2008 Share Posted February 27, 2008 Oh, and look at the instructions that come in the box. They should go over some of this (like the 3-way scenario).RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str1der Posted February 27, 2008 Author Share Posted February 27, 2008 I guess I'm confused by which switch is carrying the load. In the diagram on this page would it be the one that is directly connected to the light? Is there significance to the switches being oriented differently?http://www.electrical-online.com/3waydiagram.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 In this case, the power is coming into one of the 3-way boxes, and the load is in the other.I would wire this as the left box having the 2-button keypad wired to the neutral and hot, and the neutral and hot being wired to the white and black in the left box.The right box would have the dimmer hot and neutral wired from the wires from the left box, and the light load would have the white wires together, and the hot (black) load wire would go to the red dimmed wire from the dimmer.The red wire in-between the boxes is not used in this case.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil12011 Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 look at ryan flex!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
str1der Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 Ryan, I'm looking at the install instructions for the C4 wireless dimmer and on page two there is a diagram of a Two-location scenario- Power Source at wall box. This diagram doesn't seem to make sence to me considering the diagram I linked to above that shows how my switch boxes are. Th C4 diagram doesn't show a red wire coming into the box from one switch to the other. It also has the power source coming into the same switch that's connected to the light fixture. This is what's confusing me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 That should be fine. You just have the source(feed) and load (light) wires in the same box, we'll call this box B1. You should also have a 12/3 or 14/3 in that same box (B1) that goes to your other box location, B2. B2 is where you will put the keypad. You should only have to wire the hot and neutral in B2, respectively.Hope this helps...I'm in a hurry to leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanE Posted February 29, 2008 Share Posted February 29, 2008 It likely doesn't show the red wire because it's not used in a Control4 setup.RyanE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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