INSTEON 3-Way Tip
What good is it to be called SH Tipster if I don’t give you any tips? I mean really that makes my name self defeating. SO I asked my good friends over in Product support, what is a call you get so often that I can solve it here, for them, for you (that makes sense right?) So here is my description of an INSTEON 3 way, and how to link them.
First you have 2 locations that need to turn on and off the light in two locations. In one location there should be power and in the other the load wire. Use a volt meter to make the determination of which wires are which.
If you do not have power in both locations, use one of the traveler wires to “float” the power to the other location. The first switch needs to be connected to Hot, Neutral, load, and ground. Get that switch to turn on and off, if that works moved to the second switch.
The second switch needs to be connected to Hot, Neutral, and Ground. CAP THE LOAD WIRE on the switch. It isn’t needed. Cap the unused traveler wire. Turn power back on and make sure the LED(s) on the switch are going up ad down (or on ICON modules LED goes on and off.)
We have to l ink these two switches together. It’s a piece of cake, and should take about a minute. Go to the first switch (I don’t care which one is first, label them as A and B, and I will refer to them as such.)
Go to Switch A and press and hold the paddle into the on position for 10 seconds. The LED(s) will begin to blink. Next go to switch B and press and hold the paddle in the on position for 10 seconds, the LED should flash but not blink. Verify that switch A LED in not blinking, this will tell us that the link took.
Take a breath; we are going to the second half
Go to Switch B and press and hold the paddle into the on position for 10 seconds. The LED(s) will begin to blink. Next go to switch A and press and hold the paddle in the on position for 10 seconds, the LED should flash but not blink. Verify that switch A LED in not blinking, this will tell us that the link took.
And that’s it.
Questions? Class Dismissed
And that’s the way I see it.
Great tip! Many thanks. Understandable. Comprehensive. Accurate.
Smarthome would do well to invest some of its product technical development effort and money in a course on technical writing for the people who document and/or use such documents to effectively use their products. I have little patience to read 30+ pages of arcane material that requires 3-4 readings to even get a sense of what’s being presented.
Frankly, I regret ever getting involved with Smarthome, especially after they discontinued their X-10 product line without making adequate provisions for backward compatibility. At $50+ for a single switch unit, I feel manipulated and ripped off. Especially when the manufactured price leaving China is probably $5.00 or so.