Leviton DZS15 Switch

11 years ago

I bought a Leviton DZS15 switch today on a whim as I wanted to be able to set my front lights to go on and off at certain times and control them through my Vera Lite controller. The instructions called for a four wire install for a single pole application which I found strange. The switch I replaced only had two wires (no ground, but the box appears grounded). So, I put these wires on the two top spots and did not attach a wire to the red terminal. The switch comes to life and I was able to pair it with my Vera Lite hub, but the front lights will not go on or off. Does anyone have any ideas? I have tried rewiring it several ways including putting one of the wires to the red terminal, but when I do that it will not come to life. I would think it is wired correctly since it has power and was able to pair with my hub. Perhaps I am using this wrong? Does it have to speak to a Z-Wave lamp and thus does not really have the ability to turn a regular light on and off? If that is the case, I just blew $50, but that was definitely not clear on the packaging.

Thanks,

Austin

PS- if there is an "automation" discussion where I should post this, please just let me know.

Featured Answer

weedmeister

11 years ago

Your new switch requires a neutral. If the old light switch is just a switch loop (switches the hot), you are out of luck.

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Comments (7)

User
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
A picture of what is in your switch box would help.

"I put these wires on the two top spots...The switch comes to life" - That is because you have the return path for the electricity in series with the light bulbs. You need a neutral wire hooked up to the switch where it is marked "WH". what you have there is enough electricity going through to run the control, but not enough to turn on the light bulb. If it was enough electricity to light the bulb in that configuration, it would stay on all the time.

The hot/line wire must be hooked up to the terminal marked "BK". A neutral (white) wire must be hooked up to the terminal marked "WH" to provide a return path for the control circuit. And the load wire going to the light must be hooked up to the terminal marked "RD" which will provide full power for the lights.
Austin B
Original Author
11 years ago
Ah, interesting. So this switch only had two wires and a ground, which is often the case in my experience. Does this mean that I have to have a 3 wire plus ground setup for this to work? I am not sure how I would do that without pulling a new wire into the box (and at that point I need an electrician and the cost is too high to warrant adding the switch)? Thanks for your help!
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Austin B
Original Author
11 years ago
Here is a link to the instructions since I don't seem be able to post a picture of themhttp://www.leviton.com/OA_HTML/ProductDetail.jsp?partnumber=VRS15-1LZ§ion=44141
Austin B
Original Author
11 years ago
I had another helpful response from another forum that I wanted to share back to complete this thread:

You have to wire everything correctly or it will not work.
the two wire from your old switch are the line and load. Now you need to look for a neutral, it should be a bundle of white wires folded up in box, you need to add the neutral to that bundle.
If there is not a bundle of white wires in you box you are out of luck and will likely not be able to put a z-wave switch there. (Or you need to find an old model zwave switch that does not require a neutral or get an electrician to run the neutral to the box).

Their should also be a bundle of bare copper wire in the box, that is your ground. If there is not ground and the box is metal you should run the ground wire to the box, you can sandwich it in the screw you use to attach the switch to the box so the ground is touching the box.
Austin B
Original Author
11 years ago
I got it working and it is great. I know it took me almost 2 months to get back to it, but I dedicated a couple of hours and worked through it today. I have now programmed the light to come on in the evening and go off in the morning. And I can turn it one from my phone if I want/need to. I like my lights to be on all night long but we tend to leave it on all day, so this will be much better.
Adam
11 years ago
Austin, how did you solve the problem of the missing neutral wire?