Hello.
I apologise if this has been asked before, but unfortunately no two situations are ever exactly alike.
In the first picture, we have three wires coming from the wall, black white and red. (The black and white wires have power, the red doesn't).
I intend on "capping" all wires here, and putting in front a wireless switch to control the light via Hubitat. Can I do that and have the light controlled only via the dimmer switch (next picture)?
In the next picture, we have white black and red wires going into the switch. In the back of the box, we have a black wire and a white wire capped together. (The white wire has power, as well as the black/white combo at the back. The black wire and red wire don't have power.)
I intend on putting a dimmer smart switch here, with the red wire in the traveler slot, and the black wire in the load slot, and the white wire in Neutral. But where is the line/power?
Thanks in advance for all your assistance.
That white currently hooked up to the dumb switch is absolutely NOT a neutral -- dumb
switches never need a neutral and will never be connected to one.
The three wires connected to the dumb sw/ now are line, load and traveller, but without additional information, no one can say which is which.
Don't ever wire things up based on sheath color alone - you never know what was going on in the previous bubba's head or what crazy things they did with the associated wiring that you can't see.
You really need a multimeter here to confirm for certain what each wire is doing.
ETA - I don't think you have a neutral available in that box, but I can't say for sure based on those pics.
Thanks for your response.
As mentioned in the open, can I control the light only from the second box?
In the second box, (as described), the white wire has power, while the black and red do not. The black wire at the back of the box also has power. Does that mean that I should use the black wire at the back as my "line"?
The 3 wires currently connected to the dumb switch are line, load, and traveler - verifying which is which should be your first priority. Without better pictures, I can't tell what's going on with that wire nut at the back of the box.
in your first switch (second pic), it looks like the white wire is your mains feed, and the red goes to the light. the black is the traveler between the 3-way switch. you would have to investigate these wires a bit more though as it also looks like the red goes into the wire nut, which is weird to do for the light (unless the way they wired it is the traveler from the other side and the switch pigtail into the light so one or the other turn it on).
definitely use a multimeter to identify your wires, then you can use the traveler wires to properly wire it as needed. if this sounds above your skills, definitely hire a professional to do it for you instead. safety first
Please take my comment with the gentleness I intend.
That you are saying things like "the black and white wires have power" means you need to back up and learn some things before proceeding. It is virtually certain that every wire in your pictures "have power" under some circumstance, like the position of the switches.
Here's a good place to start. If you can identify which of the options described here matches your wiring, you'll be off to a better start.
You can do that. I have replaced a couple of three ways switches using that setup. You would basically hardwire all the wires in the first box and then you can put something like a Zooz Zen34 over it, just a button controller. Then you just setup the other box to control the light. If it is a dimmable light then you don't need a neutral if you buy a no neutral dimmer switch. Zooz, Inovelli and GE make them.
You do need to understand what you doing, however.
I'm very cognizant of being careful around electricity!
It causes me to run down to the basement (where the breaker box is) many times (at least I get some exercise out of the deal!).
My #1 rule - never work on a live circuit - and, test, test, test (3 times) to ensure that ALL wires in the box I'm working on have no power. (Strangely enough, I have 3 pen testers - one klein, one kobalt, and one no name).
The amazing thing is that I've seen a professional electrician work on live circuits in front of my eyes. I just couldn't believe it. Personally, I said to myself - I'm never doing that. Maybe he knows something that I don't know.
P.S. Since I have put into this client's house only zigbee, I'm going to use the Eria 4 button switch. It's not a Pico, but it does the trick.
Are you saying you are doing this to someone else's home?????? Definitely against the law unless you are certified. It's OK to burn down your own home, but not someone else's.
This means there is no neutral wire in the main electrical wall box (second picture.) Thus, you will need a non-neutral dimmer switch in that box, connected to the two conductor romex cable. The 3 conductor romex cable is just for the auxiliary switch. All three conductors on that cable should be capped off on both ends of the cable (i.e. do not connect those wires to anything.)
@HAL9000 is correct. If it was not immediately obvious to you that all the wires in your first picture "have power" (depending on the position of the toggle switches determines which wires "have power" at any given time) then you should really not be attempting to perform this electrical work. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it is what it is.
Complete agreement with @ogiewon here. Line power from the breaker appears to go to your light fixture first and you have no neutral to either of these switches.
