no clue Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I was going to add an insteon dimmer switch to a light sconce and ran into this situation. It appears the hot wire coming from the panel comes into the sconce box (shown in pic) instead of the switch box. In the attached photo, the bare black wire is hot. The bare neutral wire was attached to the hot wire and brought the power to the switch. I believe the black capped wire is the load wire coming from the switch. There are only 3 wires coming into the switch box; the white (hot) wire, the black (load), and the ground. The round box for the sconce is very shallow and I'm not sure I could fit an inline linc switch without some modification. Link to comment
bmiller Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 The other capped white is then the light neutral. Is it run directly from the panel? That would mean that is the only device on the whole circuit. Quite an unconventional method of wiring, and wasting a whole circuit for one light is not the best use of circuits. I suspect the hot black and capped neutral are coming from another light or outlet. If you can shut off the breaker for that light and see if there is something else that goes out also, that will prove it doesn't come directly from the panel, but from another device. It's hard to trace this stuff in any house. Sometimes the shortest route is not always the best. Good luck Link to comment
oberkc Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I agree with bmiller...this likely does not come directly from a panel, but another fixture or outlet. The wiring you describe is pretty common based on my limited experience. It is known as a switch loop. Yes, an inlinelinc is likely your only option without running additional conductors. Link to comment
Xathros Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 no clue- Hehe. Love this. I have a bunch of fixtures that were wired this way buy the plumber that built my house. One solution is to remove the switch and replace with an insteon switch (assuming you were doing that anyway), wire black to black, white to white in this box (including the light fixture), same in the switch box. Put an insteon LED bulb (Bulblinc) in the fixture and link it to the switch with your ISY. Load wire on the switch gets capped. -Xathros Link to comment
oberkc Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Put an insteon LED bulb (Bulblinc) in the fixture Good catch. I forgot about the bulblinc option. Link to comment
no clue Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 Thanks all I don't know for sure that the hot wire comes directly from the panel and probably misspoke. There are definitely other lights/receptacles on the circuit. I may try to take out the box for the sconce and replace it with a deeper one so I can fit an inline linc. The LED bulb wouldn't be an option for the new sconces I have on order. They take a decorative small profile bulb. Xanthros - I feel your pain. I have learned a lot replacing all of the switches and receptacles in the house with Insteon stuff but each switch seems to throw me a new issue. I haven't run across any 2 way, 3 way, 4 way, and yes, even a 5 way switch that was wired correctly. They all require their own secret combination to operate . Link to comment
LeeG Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 no clue Your conclusions about the wiring matches the standard wiring technique where the power feed goes to the fixture. The uncapped Black wire is Line (120v power - verify with a meter) The White capped wire in the same pair is Neutral (verify with a meter) The capped Black wire is the switched load as indicated by the white marking on the Black wire (standard way of marking the Black switched load coming from the mechanical switch). The White wire from the switch is normally connected to the Black Line. The Black wire with the White marking indicates it is switching the Load. The simple solution is to use a SwitchLinc 2474D 2-wire dimmer. It steals power through the Load so the light has to be incandescent or dimmable LED. The SwitchLinc requirements are spelled out on the sales page for the 2474D. Link to comment
no clue Posted October 30, 2012 Author Share Posted October 30, 2012 no clue Your conclusions about the wiring matches the standard wiring technique where the power feed goes to the fixture. The uncapped Black wire is Line (120v power - verify with a meter) The White capped wire in the same pair is Neutral (verify with a meter) The capped Black wire is the switched load as indicated by the white marking on the Black wire (standard way of marking the Black switched load coming from the mechanical switch). The White wire from the switch is normally connected to the Black Line. The Black wire with the White marking indicates it is switching the Load. The simple solution is to use a SwitchLinc 2474D 2-wire dimmer. It steals power through the Load so the light has to be incandescent or dimmable LED. The SwitchLinc requirements are spelled out on the sales page for the 2474D. Thanks Lee I didn't know the 2474D switch existed. I'll give it a try. Link to comment
LeeG Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 That switch is designed to handle the very situation you have. Remember that the 2-wire SwitchLinc is an RF only device. It must be in range of a Dual Band device for two way communication with the 2-wire SwitchLinc. Link to comment
bmiller Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 I've never run across this method of wiring, but this switch is just what you need. The new bulblinc is another cool option. Link to comment
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