Leviton Decora Light Dimmer Switch - Page 2 - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

This is not something that can be easily diagnosed over forums like this, because you've got a lot of possibilities for how this is wired in your home and you didn't provide that much detail. Specifically, why a 3-way device, is there another 3-pole switch in the circuit? Also, did this replace a standard light swtich, and did that light switch also control the receptacles? Another warning, if this is a standard dimmer used for lighting - please don't use on a fan load - standard dimmers don't always account for the possibility of saturating magnetic motor loads or taking out the dimmer if the fan gets locked up - that can legitimately be a safety issue.

All that said, I'll give it a shot...

I suspect that in the box (or in the other 3-way location if there is one) that there are three connections - one that gets power from the breaker, one that delivers power to the fan, and one that delivers power to the receptacles. The power coming from the breaker and going to the receptacles should be tied together and both connected to one screw of the dimmer - the remaining connection for the fan should be connected to another screw of the dimmer. It sounds like what you did was you tied the receptacle wire and the fan wire together. Again, I'm having a hard time describing in more detail than this, mainly because you mentioned the 3-way. So if you need more help, I suggest claifiying:
- What type of circuit is it (how many light switches)
- How many sets of wire are coming through the electrical box at each location?

Good luck.

I might suspect a loose connection on your wiring but also you have to consider a faulty dimmer switch.Try to tighten the bulb on its receptacle and the lock screw of your dimmer if it has (Your breaker must turned off avoid you from an electric shock). If the problem still there I've advice you to buy a new dimmer switch to swap for a suspected one. If the problem still there then you need an electrician to isolate the trouble.

Thanks for using fixya...

Decora 3-way and 4-way switches do not wire differently than toggle-type switches.
Instructions below are tedious but will accurately guide you to solution.

Let's break down the problem starting with 3-ways.

1) Start with 3-way switches:
Old 3-way switch has 2 brass screws and 1 dark screw
New decora has same color screws.
Wire that went to dark screw on old device must attach to dark screw on decora device.
Other two wires can attach to either brass screw.
Wires that attach to brass screws are travelers ... these wires travel to the 4-way switch.
So there are 2 traveler wires at each 3-way switch.

2) Let's test if 3-way switches are wired correctly by taking 4-way switch out of equation.
We will resolve problem with 4-way switch after 3-ways are correct.

There are 4 wires at the 4-way switch.
These are the 2 traveler wires that arrive from each 3-way switch.

At the 4-way switch, 2 wires arrive in one cable, and 2 wires arrive from another cable.
To say it differently, there are 2 wires from cable1 and 2 wires from cable2.
Connect 1 wire from cable1 to 1 wire from cable2 with a wire nut
Now connect the 2nd wire from cable1 to 2nd wire from cable2 with another wire nut.
So now the traveler wires are connected, and the 4 way switch is out of equation.
Turn on power, and click 3-way switches to see if both switches turn lights on-off in all positions.

Do your 3-way switches work correctly?

3) If 3-ways are not correct, then you have wrong wire connected to dark screw.
First thing to check is if you can identify traveler wire colors by looking at wires at 4-way switch.
Remember, traveler wires at 4-way switch go back to 3-way switch and connect to brass screws on 3-way switch.

4) If you cannot tell traveler wires by looking at 4-way switch, then you can try different combinations until both 3-way switches work.
Or you can test: disconnect wires from one of the 3-way switches. Separate 3 wires for testing. Move other 3-way switch to down position. Turn on power. Test each wire to bare ground wire. Mark wire that lights up. Now move other 3-way to up position. Test each wire to bare ground wire. If same wire lights up each test, then that wire goes to dark screw. If different wire lights up, then mark that wire. The two marked wires are travelers, and they connect to brass screws. Other wire connects to dark screw. Repeat identical test for other 3-way switch.

At this point your 3-way switches will work, if light bubs are not burned out.

5) Last step, the 4 way switch.
Remember from step above, that 2 wires arrive in cable1: These 2 wires connect on one side of 4-way switch. The other 2 wires that arrive in cable2 connect of other side of 4-way switch.

Add a comment if you need more help.

The Leviton IP106 Illumatech dimmer switch must be installed at the switch location where the hot feed exists. From your description your hot feed is at the regular 3-way switch location. Swap locations.

If I understand correctly new dimmer is in different box than outdoor switch.
And outdoor switch controls different light than new dimmer.
Both new dimmer and outdoor light are on same circuit breaker, and that breaker is not tripped.

Outdoor problem could be related if loose wire inside dimmer box also feeds over to outdoor switch. More below.
Here's how I would troubleshoot problem.
1) Check outdoor bulb(s). This step can be big time saver.

2) Pull outdoor switch out of box a bit so you can see and test wires.

3) If wires are pushed into quick connects located on back of switch, these connects get loose. Moving switch usually causes loose wire to connect again, so turn switch ON-OFF and see if outdoor lights work. Sometimes switch works fine after quick connects reconnect. If quick connects are bad, use tiny screwdriver in slot next to connect-hole to release wire. And then connect wire to screw terminals on switch. Or replace switch.

4) Turn switch to OFF, use tester and test both screws on switch to bare ground wire. Tester should light up on one screw. If tester does not light up, then switch is not getting power, and that wire has to be tracked back to see where short is.

a) Look if one of the black switch wires is connected to other switch, or connected to other black wires inside same box. This wire might have come loose.
b) Look at white wire inside same box and make sure they are twisted together and covered with wire nut.

c) Now here is where dimmer could be related ... if white wires are joined together in dimmer box, they could have come loose if they were not properly twisted together and covered with wire nut.
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-twist-electric-wire.html

5) Turn switch to ON and test again. Tester should light up on both screws. If switch does not light up on both screws, then switch is bad. Replace switch.

Add a comment if you need more help.

If I understand correctly, you have a single dimmer or timer that controls several lights.

And this dimmer or timer is programmable.

When the lights are supposed to come on, all the lights come on except one. However when you use the manual override, the light comes on for some reason.

This information points away from the dimmer or timer and points at a loose wire at the light fixture, or a loose filament in bulb.

Change the bulb and see if same symptom reoccur
Put the suspect bulb in another socket and check that angle
If the socket seems like the suspect, you may need to test and replace that socket.

If you need wiring information for that socket, please re-post another question and we'll guide you through the wiring with a minimum of harm and damage.

As a general rule for timers and dimmers:

The Black dimmer wire connects to black hot wire coming from breaker (122V line)
The red dimmer wire connects to Load (wire going to chandelier)

The wall red wire that is capped could be a couple different things. a) It could go to a second switch that was used to control the chandelier. b) it could be another wire that goes to same ceiling box as chandelier to be used to control a fan, except you don't have a fan. In the second case, if you install a fan with a light, you could control fan and light separately.

The green is a ground wire that connects to bare copper wire in box. The bare copper connect back to main breaker box on the Neutral busbar.
White wires that are twisted together inside your light switch box also connect back to to main breaker box on the Neutral busbar.
The ground wire and neutral are a redundant safety system to protect you from electrical devices and appliances that have 'shorted'
The black hot wire connects back to the circuit breaker.

For example, each circuit breaker controls one area of household lighting. The black white and copper wires leave breaker box in a single romex cable. The romex travels to a junction box in the area where the lights are located. The junction box is usually a switch box or a ceiling box. From the junction box, the romex travels to each other switch, light and receptacle box in the area. So each box has 1 hot and 1 neutral and 1 ground that is connected in a line that leads back to breaker box.

Here's a couple pages that make home wiring easier to understand:
http://waterheatertimer.org/See-inside-main-breaker-box.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/240-v-water-heater-circuit.html
http://waterheatertimer.org/Install-owb.html

If I understand correctly, you have Leviton florescent dimmer

And you want to connect dimmer to Lutron ECO-series ballast

This is the ballast with 3 wires: Hot dimmed, Neutral and Hot


Is this your dimmer???? Has Black, White, Red, Yellow-red, & Orange




Here's how to do it:
Dimmer yellow-red is not used except for 3-way switch >> cap it off with wire nut
Dimmer orange wire connects to ballast Dimmed Hot
Dimmer red wire connects to ballast Hot
Dimmer white wire connects to ballast Neutral

Those are your wires going to ballast. As you can see, you need 3 wires going to florescent fixture

Next, let's focus on Dimmer:
Dimmer green wire goes to bare ground wire
Dimmer black wire connects to Hot from breaker box (we'll test for that next)
Finally the Dimmer white wire connects to ballast Neutral as discussed above BUT is also has to connect to Neutral from breaker box

This means the Dimmer white wire is connected to 2 wires >> one wire goes to florescent fixture and the other wire comes from breaker box


So which wires come from breaker box??
It should be a black and white wire.
Let's test to find Hot and Neutral that come from breaker box.

Mark your wires.
Disconnect all the wires and separate from each other
Turn on power
Use ordinary tester
Tape tester leads to wood sticks so hands stay away from electricity
Power is on
Test each wire to bare copper wire
When tester lights up, that is Hot from breaker box ... this wire connects to Dimmer black wire
Now, test the hot wire to each of the other wires
When tester lights up, that is Neutral wire ... this wire connects to Dimmer white wire, and also connects to Ballast neutral.

Connect one wire at a time, and it will work.

If you are showing power at the switches, have you checked at the light fixture itself? You will need to read from the black to the white make sure that you have 120 volts if you do then hook up wires to light fixture and read again. If you no longer read 120 volts then you have what I would think is a lost neutral. That is the white wire. You will then have to do a little back tracking to find where your hot feed is coming from. Check this for now and reply back if you need further help. Good luck!

One black is will hook up to one of the black wires inside the switch box in the wall and the other will hook to the other black wire in the box, The green will connect to the bare copper wire which is the ground wire.

I have never heard of master and slave 3 way switches. Both switches have to be 3 way or it will do just what you describe. The white traveler wire has to go from switch to switch, It is a nightmare to figure out sometimes, depending on what is being switched. I have seen electricians walk away from their jobs over 3 way switches. If you get a new switch, the instructions are in the box. Hope this helps.

one of the white wires has power on it constantly....that wire connects to the black wire of the leviton.......the other white wire which has no power to it is going to whatever needs power so that wire connects to the red wire of the leviton....the green wire connects to the metal box where your mounting the leviton.

In addition to your answer that was given to you. Look at the amp rating on the switch you just removed. It's probably a 20 amp switch (if you already had 12 guage wire in there, and it worked fine), and you're replacing it with a 15 amp. Happens all the time. As far as the answer given you, its fine. The only time you would use a 4-way switch is when it's being operated by two 3-way switches from opposite ends like the gentleman mentioned. I would suggest getting the correct 3-way switch. It just makes things easier. And again, turn OFF the circuit when working on this switch - or anytime you're working on anything electrical. This is a huge Rule-of-Thumb! I've been doing electrical work for over 27 yrs., and I always turn OFF the electricity.  Best of Luck to you, and I hope this is a little added solution to the one you already have. Take care...Jim 

I recently purchased a Leviton Dimmer switch which has a brown lead. This switch is to replace 1 of 2, 3 way switches that control the ceiling light in my kitchen. My problem is the new dimmer switch has 4 leads including a brown one which has me confused. I have installed and replaced numerous dimmer switches without difficulty. Please help.

Sounds like the connections are marginal. Turn off the power, and examine the connections. They should be nice and tight with plenty of clean copper in contact. If this dimmer has stranded wire leads which are connected to solid wires with wire nuts, remove the wire nuts and take a look. If they are messy, cut off the exposed ends of all of the wires and re-strip them. Stranded wires are difficult to strip well without a wire stripping tool. The solid wires should be stripped to a length of about 1/2 inch, the stranded wires should be about 5/8 to 3/4. Now take your stranded wires and twist them like with your fingers so they resemble twisted rope. Then twist the stranded wires around the solid wires with your fingers, just once or twice around. The ends of the stranded wires should be nearly even with the ends of the solid wires. Now add the wire nuts. Twist them nice and tight by hand while holding the pair of wires together at the base of the wire nut. If you have weak fingers or the wire nuts have a fairly small outside diameter, you can use pliers to twist the nuts a little tighter. No bare wire should be visible beyond the base of the wire nut. Make sure that everything is tight by trying to pull off the wire nut and by trying to pull out each wire individually. It's also a good idea to wrap up the wire nuts and a bit of the wire with electrical tape. Good luck. Thanks for using FixYa, Al Kupchella

you need to take a small screwdriverand push it in the slot under the hole for the wire.

then the wire should pull out

the switches that controll one light are the ones that belong together. if you change them make sure you put the common wire on the common terminal of the switch

quite possible measure the input and the secondary output - you'll get your answer.

It could be a loose connection, and it could be a loose connection on the OTHER 3-way switch across the room. Also, verify that the dimmer is rated for the fixture(s): add together the wattage of each individual light bulb that the dimmer controls and make sure that the dimmer has a higher wattage rating. If it isn't, you might have burned up your dimmer (and risked an electrical fire). Hope this helps!

sounds like a loose connection to me, check to make sure all connections are tight. sometimes the bulbs themselves don't make a good connection in there socket.

u will have to take the switches out of the wall box and make sure the wires are tight, whether they are on screws or wires connected to wires. if it is wires to wires u may have to take that apart to make sure u don't have a bad connection there.

if it is none of that, then it is time to replace the switches