Wiring 3-way switch with 2 button keypad

[Jeffrey]

Hello,

Newb trying to wire a C4 switch on one end and a 2 button keypad on the other end of a 3 way switched light. I think I am ok on the switch side, but I am confused a bit with the 2 button keypad side. I have a black, red, white, and ground on both sides. So which side do I need to add the keypad and what do I do with the red since the keypad only has white and black wire. Don't I need to use the red to complete the loop?

Thanks for your help,

Jeff

[henniae]

Is the mains and the load in the same box with the dimmer? If it is just use the white and black to provide hot and neutral to the keypad. And of course the ground. Cap the red.

[Jeffrey]

Thanks for your reply Alan! By load do you mean the hot wire coming from the panel? I need to get a voltage meter to find out which box has this wire. I believe the dimmer has to go into the box that has the hot wire coming from the panel, right? Can you explain to me what you mean by 'mains'? Sorry for my naivity.

Jeff

[henniae]

no problem

Mains is the power coming from the breaker

Load is the light.

[nikon]

Thanks for your reply Alan! By load do you mean the hot wire coming from the panel? I need to get a voltage meter to find out which box has this wire. I believe the dimmer has to go into the box that has the hot wire coming from the panel, right? Can you explain to me what you mean by 'mains'? Sorry for my naivity.

Jeff

Don't bother with a volt meter just get one of the AC voltage detectors from home depot.

[henniae]

It would be helpful for us to know what wires were in each box? Is it setup like this?

Box 1

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (mains i.e. the power from the breaker)

Box 2

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (load i.e. the light)

or is it like this

Box 1

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (mains i.e. the power from the breaker)

wire 3 - white and black (load i.e. the light)

Box 2

wire 1 - white, black and red

these are the most common was to wire a 3-way.

[indigomd777]

Ok, I'm trying to wire a 3-way Control4 dimmer. I have installed many 3-way dimmers in the past without blinking, but this one has me (and my contractor, I might add) vexed.

So, I have a dimmer and a 2-button keypad wired according to the sample configuration for a two-location scenario-power source at wall box. My wiring situation is the first scernario listed above by henniae. I put the dimmer in the box with the load and jumped the hot wire over to it. That is the only difference from the sample. The dimmer works great, but the 2-button keypad doesn't do a thing. The LED lights are on for the keypad, but nobody's home (i.e., cannot turn on or off lights and certainly cannot dim).

I have the black keypad wire attached to the "red" traveler wire. Of course, the ground and neutral are attached appropriately. And I have the "red" traveler attached to the blue wire of the dimmer in the other box. The load is attached to the red wire of the dimmer and the neutral and ground are fine. I checked that the "red" wire was definitely the traveler wire before I started. Still, I doubted myself and switched them and still had the same result. So, should I attach a hot wire to the black keypad wire instead and cap off the "red" traveler as recently suggested? I don't want to blow out my new keypad. Thanks.

[thecodeman]

The two button keypad has to be bound in programming to that dimmer by your dealer. Since the two-button doesn't control a load, and can be programmed to do different things - if you want it to control a switch/dimmer in a three way you have to tell it which one to turn on/off in composer.

[indigomd777]

Thanks! I was told by my installer that the switches would function normally prior to being programmed. Guess they left that little bit of info out. :/ I'll never get those 2 hours of my life back, but I have renewed faith in my wiring skills.

Though, seems like the installation guides should be better. They are not terribly clear and had to rely on my own knowledge to wire even the single pole switch.

Love this forum so far!

[thecodeman]

Thanks! I was told by my installer that the switches would function normally prior to being programmed.

The switches and dimmers do. The keypads do not.

[ILoveC4]

Though, seems like the installation guides should be better. They are not terribly clear and had to rely on my own knowledge to wire even the single pole switch.

I've had that thought too, but realize that it's a "dealer installed" system, which means these guys are installing them day in and day out. I'd imagine most of those diagrams go straight in the garbage bin.

Love this forum so far!

I'm glad...I like it too.

[Jeffrey]

Hello,

I thought I did my homework when trying to install a 3 way switch utilizing a dimmer and a 6 button, but I am running into problems. I used a multimeter to identify my hot, but my multimeter doesn't do continuity testing (cheapo model). When I connected everything, the dimmer lit up both top and bottom a solid green and it would not control the light. The 6 button had nothing lit. I tried this once prior and got the same result with no power going to the keypad. With the power on, the multimeter shows I have power at the keypad, just nothing is happening. I must have something wrong. Any help would be great. I need to learn this! The box is, I believe, wired as follows:

Box 1

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (mains i.e. the power from the breaker)

wire 3 - white and black (load i.e. the light)

Box 2

wire 1 - white, black and red

See Pictures attached.

Thanks,

Jeff

[paulstevens]

Unfortunately the wire colors in a junction box are often not helpful, especially in 3-way circuits. You really have to find out what wire is which - which is hot, which is neutral, which is the traveller, and which is the load, by whatever means you have at your disposal.

One example in my case, hot was in one box (Box A) and the load was in the other (Box . I used the traveller to get hot to Box B with the load. (meaning, I tied the traveller to the hot wire in Box A.) I put the dimmer in Box B - wired dimmer hot to box hot (which is the traveller since it is tied to hot in Box A), dimmer neutral to box neutral, dimmer load to box load. This works right away without programming.

Then I put the kepyad in BoxA and bound it to the the dimmer through composer. The keypad needs programming to work. It will control nothing until it is properly bound and programmed through composer.

I hope this helps a little. Search around - there is good stuff on the forum already covering this in excellent detail.

The absolute key, though, is properly identifying the wires in your boxes. You have to do that carefully. You cannot rely on wire colors alone. You have to figure out exactly which wire is which. Only then can you begin to install dimmers and switches and expect them to function correctly.

[thecodeman]

I would really recommend you get an electrician on-site to help you.

[CFUG]

^I second that. Critical as it may sound, anybody asking the kind of questions you see here should not be flirting with the potential dangers.

[Jeffrey]

That's no fun. I just need to understand it, and I will be able to do it. This is the most complicated thing I'm going to do with C4, doing a 3 way switch.

[thecodeman]

That's no fun. I just need to understand it, and I will be able to do it. This is the most complicated thing I'm going to do with C4, doing a 3 way switch.

I'm not trying to be a fun killer, or saying that you can't do it, but you must understand that it is the safety of you, your family, and your home that can be put at risk by improperly installing electrical equipment. Just my .02

[CFUG]

That's no fun. I just need to understand it, and I will be able to do it. This is the most complicated thing I'm going to do with C4, doing a 3 way switch.

And you see, this is why we say what we do. It is not complicated to those formally trained to work with electricity. It's not about learning something on the internet and turning around and "getting a job done". Pro sparkys instinctly work with a degree of safety and a ton of practical experience behind them with every wire they strip.

[ILoveC4]

That's no fun. I just need to understand it, and I will be able to do it. This is the most complicated thing I'm going to do with C4, doing a 3 way switch.

Read the post from paulstevens. He's dead on here. It sounds like your power source is in one box, and the switched leg is in the other. You will need to get the power and switched leg into the same box. It's easy to do because you've got plenty of wires there, but it does require you knowing what you're doing.

There are a lot of posts on here about people killing dimmers/switches/keypads by wiring them up wrong.

If you insist on figuring it out on your own, give the post from paulstevens another read. If you really want to know how to do this, call an electrician and ask him lots of questions while he's there.

[xc420]

Hello,

I thought I did my homework when trying to install a 3 way switch utilizing a dimmer and a 6 button, but I am running into problems. I used a multimeter to identify my hot, but my multimeter doesn't do continuity testing (cheapo model). When I connected everything, the dimmer lit up both top and bottom a solid green and it would not control the light. The 6 button had nothing lit. I tried this once prior and got the same result with no power going to the keypad. With the power on, the multimeter shows I have power at the keypad, just nothing is happening. I must have something wrong. Any help would be great. I need to learn this! The box is, I believe, wired as follows:

Box 1

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (mains i.e. the power from the breaker)

wire 3 - white and black (load i.e. the light)

Box 2

wire 1 - white, black and red

See Pictures attached.

Thanks,

Jeff

Are you saying that when you took the switch out of box 2 that red, white and black was connected to the switch?

[Jeffrey]

Hello' date='

I thought I did my homework when trying to install a 3 way switch utilizing a dimmer and a 6 button, but I am running into problems. I used a multimeter to identify my hot, but my multimeter doesn't do continuity testing (cheapo model). When I connected everything, the dimmer lit up both top and bottom a solid green and it would not control the light. The 6 button had nothing lit. I tried this once prior and got the same result with no power going to the keypad. With the power on, the multimeter shows I have power at the keypad, just nothing is happening. I must have something wrong. Any help would be great. I need to learn this! The box is, I believe, wired as follows:

Box 1

wire 1 - white, black and red

wire 2 - white and black (mains i.e. the power from the breaker)

wire 3 - white and black (load i.e. the light)

Box 2

wire 1 - white, black and red

See Pictures attached.

Thanks,

Jeff[/quote']

Are you saying that when you took the switch out of box 2 that red, white and black was connected to the switch?

Yes that is how it was connected in box 2.

Thanks,

Jeff

[xc420]

Do you know which wire was hooked up to common (usually black screw) from the switch that you took out in box 2 ? It is probably tied together with the load wire in box 1. All they did was send switch legs to box 2 so you can control the lights from that location and the common is tied to the load in box 1.

[Jeffrey]

Do you know which wire was hooked up to common (usually black screw) from the switch that you took out in box 2 ? It is probably tied together with the load wire in box 1. All they did was send switch legs to box 2 so you can control the lights from that location and the common is tied to the load in box 1.

Red is connected to the common in box 2.

Thanks,

Jeff

[xc420]

what was the red wire connected to in box 1 ?

[Jeffrey]

what was the red wire connected to in box 1 ?

Red was not connected to the common in box 1.

They have all the blacks combined (hot wire is one of these) then pig tail it to the common wire.

The 3rd wire in box 1 is the black wire coming from the traveler wire. All the whites were bundled together.

I think I see the circuit in my head as it is currently wired, I just don't know how to translate that into a control 4 wiring set up.

Thanks for your help!

Jeff