danbutter Posted November 7, 2017 Posted November 7, 2017 If you follow the link below and read the comments about direct 3way solution does this seem legitimate? There are a couple pdf's linked at the bottom of the page also. If this works as advertised I could use these in a couple places where ripping a multi gang box and all the wires out of the wall is just probably not ever going to happen. http://www.getzooz.com/zooz-zen21-on-off-switch-box.html
asbril Posted November 7, 2017 Posted November 7, 2017 If you follow the link below and read the comments about direct 3way solution does this seem legitimate? There are a couple pdf's linked at the bottom of the page also. If this works as advertised I could use these in a couple places where ripping a multi gang box and all the wires out of the wall is just probably not ever going to happen. http://www.getzooz.com/zooz-zen21-on-off-switch-box.html I don't know but what I do know (after lots of trying out) is that a regular 3-way often has 2 travelers while between main Zwave 3-way and companion you only need 1 traveler. I used the second traveler to bring neutral to the companion, if not available in that box. It also depends on where line and load are. Maybe this switch, that you are posting about, somehow routes neutral, line and load the right way.
Goose66 Posted November 7, 2017 Posted November 7, 2017 @danbutter Not exactly sure what you are asking. What is the current situation that otherwise would require that you rip out your j-box and wires? Is this a problem with no neutral at one or more of the locations?
asbril Posted November 7, 2017 Posted November 7, 2017 I am looking at the Zooz diagram and in both their scenarios, the existing 3-way switch needs 1 traveler and neutral. The difference between the two scenarios is where neutral comes from. What the diagram does not seem to show is what happens if Loan and Line are at the different boxes. I am not the world's best techie but I fail to see the advantage of this system, as Zwave companion switches are not expensive. The issue does not seem to be what switch you use (existing 3-way or Zwave companion) but where line, load, neutral and traveler wires are. If you can connect Line, Load, Neutral and 1 Traveler at main Zwave 3-way switch and 1 Traveler and Neutral at the second switch, then you should be all set. If Line is at main switch and Load at the second switch, and there are 2 traveler wires, then use one of the two traveler wires to bring Load to the main switch, as the Zwave 3-way only requires 1 traveler between the 2 switches. Where it gets complicated is if you need to add a wire between the two switches. IF possible, you loosen 1 wire (that exists between the 2 boxes), firmly !!! fix 2 wires to that existing wire and pull that wire from the other box. If you do a good job, then you have replaced the 1 wire that you pulled out with the 2 new wires. This can be problematic if the duct between the boxes is not wide enough (or otherwise obstructed), or if the light is in the middle of the two boxes, in which case you must do the wire pulling between the light and the one or both boxes. I ran into this issue and thankfully found a professional electrician to help me. zooz-z-wave-plus-on-off-wall-switch-zen21-ver2-3-way-diagrams.pdf
apostolakisl Posted November 7, 2017 Posted November 7, 2017 The difference is that you must have the load and line in the same box. And if you don't, you need a "traveler" wire to move the load from the one box to the other in addition to the actual traveler wire. It appears that this is working by running a test current through the second regular 3 way switch. Whenever the z-wave switch senses that the switch toggled from one state to the other (NO to NC or vice versa) it would then toggle the load coming off the z-wave switch cuasing the light to toggle the light.
danbutter Posted November 8, 2017 Author Posted November 8, 2017 @danbutter Not exactly sure what you are asking. What is the current situation that otherwise would require that you rip out your j-box and wires? Is this a problem with no neutral at one or more of the locations?My house was built in the 1960's and although it does have neutrals everywhere it has very small metal boxes. So if I add anything smart I have to remove the box and add an old work box that is large enough to hold these larger switches.One of these boxes has 6 or 7 pieces of romex coming into it and is a 2 gang. So it is very tight to begin with. Both of the switches in it are 3-way circuits and there is an outlet fed from this box. It would just be very difficult to remove all of this to be able to get a new box in here. So if this switch worked as advertised I could leave this box alone and change the other switches.
Goose66 Posted November 8, 2017 Posted November 8, 2017 If the circuit is a convential multi-switch circuit wired with 14-3 Romex, then this should work just fine as long as the Z-wave switch is installed at the line end or load end of the circuit (i.e not in the middle somewhere).
stusviews Posted November 8, 2017 Posted November 8, 2017 Virtually all 3-way configurations have the wiring in place to accommodate the device linked to by the OP.
lbudler Posted July 4, 2018 Posted July 4, 2018 I have an opposite situation in that I have a honeywell smart zwave switch and a honeywell zwave companion switch set up in a 3-way configuration connected to some lights. I think I have the two switches connected properly. The lights respond to the ISY 994iZW commands properly in that I can turn the lights off on and on from the ISY. The problem is I cannot operate the lights manually from either of the switches. Do you have any suggestions? Attached is my event log when I operated the switched from the ISY and also when I couldn't operate the switches manually. I don't know how to read this event but I thought you might! 3-way Switch operation 7-4-2018.txt
asbril Posted July 5, 2018 Posted July 5, 2018 A few months ago I resolved a 3-way issue that I had. One of my switch boxes is too small for a Zwave companion switch as it is in a cement wall. Originally I added a protruding switch box from Home Depot but that did not look nice. Then I replaced the 'master' 3-way switch with one from Inovelli which allowed me to replace the protruding companion switch with a plain old regular (non-Zwave) switch, which fits in the switch box. So have a look at the Inovelli switch which may resolve your issue.
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