Question

Help.  Did I buy the wrong Add-on switch?Help. Did I buy the wrong Add-on switch? I have a few three-way switches I am looking to replace and so I purchased the GE Zwave switches, and the (what I thought was compatible) Add on switch. when I open the box I noticed that the ad on switch only has wiring inputs for the traveler, but not a line and load. My existing switch has three wires that go into it. Help! What should I have purchased?  

Answer 1

Great. Unfortunately the wiring my house is not “standard”. here’s a picture of the existing set up. The yellow one is going into a “COM “input, the one On the same side as the yellow one is the hot one. Any white you see is just paint over orange wires

Comments

Im not going to give advice on that b/c I’m not a licensed electrician.  

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I had this issue with different colored wires. Basically, I killed the breaker, pulled everything out of the old switch (did photos and labels on old setup) then flipped the breaker on. Tested for line voltage. Labeled it. Cut power. Reattached it and the wire that was the load (process of elimination by looking at the colors in each box). Tested that. Then I knew for certain. Killed power. Wired up the new master in the 3-way. Took off the wires on the slave. Switched power on. Turned on new master. Tested again, so I knew what was what. Cut power. Tied the line/load circuit into the slave box and attached neutral and traveler to the switch. Power on. Made sure it all worked, cut power, screwed them in. Beyond basic safety, once you fry a smart switch because you got careless or guessed, you don’t make that expensive mistake again.  

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Rule of thumb for 3way setups. The black screw on the switch will be common, so either line or load. If the black on switch 1 is line, then the black on switch 2 should be load. The other 2 wires are both traveler wires. Get yourself a meter and you'll quickly know what needs to go where

Answer 2

The add on switch should just have traveller and neutral. No line or load

Answer 3

That’s correct. You need to tie the black wires together on the 3way. And only connect the traveler and neutral

Comments

@birdsall thanks. See what I posted below, can you confirm what two to tie together? I don’t want to start a fire when I turn on the breaker!  

Answer 4

You have the right combo

Answer 5

See above

Answer 6

The add-on is pretty slick. Essentially, the neutral powers the switch and the traveler tells the master what to do when you press the add-on. Because it isn’t actually breaking or connecting a circuit like your old mechanical switch, you tie the line and load together in this box. Just make sure the add-on box has a neutral wire. Some don’t, and if you don’t, you will need one run to that box if you use the GE solution.  

Comments

@oliva thanks. See what I posted below, can you confirm what two to tie together? I don’t want to start a fire when I turn on the breaker!  

Answer 7

It’s “standard” to have the line on one switch with the load on the other switch in 3-way set up. That’s what appears to be what you have. I can’t be sure unless I see all pics showing all wiring in the switches.  

Comments

I just added a pic above to the other switch

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@lemma It’s standard the way i states above. Doesn’t mean it’s done that way.  I am a licensed electrician. Also. Standard can change from different areas

Answer 8

I would open all three boxes and figure out which one has the line in it, use this for the Master then test, mark the other boxes and wire as necessary. All you really need is line, Load, Neutral traveler in one box, then load neutral in Fixture. And neutral traveler in slave. All this likely exists and may need a combination of tracing and splicing.  

Answer 9

Thanks everyone for your help. I plan to order a multimeter (thanks Amazon Prime! ) and will make sure everything is installed correctly. I also found this video which walks me through the process:  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fx1...9llSQ

Comments

Multimeter might be the most useful tool I never thought I needed.  

Answer 10

Circling back since I’m sure you are on the edge of your seats for the conclusion. using my multimeter, yesterday I was able to identify the main switch and the add-on, as well as which wires go where. Everything is up and running. I even marked which wires belong where in case I ever need to change the switches in the future… I just hope I can make sense at that time. Thanks for everyone’s help!  

Answer 11

It's a lot easier if you use a Zooz dimmer next time, no add-on switch required.