load and neutral wiring question for KS200M
Based on the app description/directions, I think I have a neutral wire, based on there being wires connected to a nut behind the switch that I'm replacing. But it also seems that one of the line/load wires goes into that same nut. There are 4 total wires in that nut, which I don't really understand. Note that there's another switch in the same plate (a 3 way) that seems to have it's own neutral(?) nut tucked behind the switches too.
I disconnected wires from old on/off toggle switch and connected them to KS200M as instructed with new nuts. I added the neutral Kasa wire in with the old 4 wire nut. When I power the circuit, we just get constant on/off toggling, with porch light and kasa indicator light switching on and off too, and clicking from the smart switch.
Any advice?
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I suggest a number of things:
Become more familiar with the correct terms and what your wires are. Examples:
- There is no such thing as a "line/load" wire. Kasa does you no favors in their labeling. It's either a line side or a load side. Not both. Ever.
- A neutral, while intended for a different function, goes to ground just as a ground does. There is no way one is connected to a line or a load.
Do not focus on wire color. EG: While often white is neutral and black is line, this is FAR from universal. This is particularly true of 3-way and 4-way switches. We can say that usually when a bundle is connected it tends to be correct vis a vis the "typical" color meaning. Meaning most likely your white bundle in back is neutral.
Buy a voltmeter and learn how to use it.
Do all those things before you hurt yourself or start burning stuff up.
The odds, although you need to check all this with a voltmeter, are that your two blacks are line and load. Drop a V-meter on and see which one is hot when the circuit is live. That's "line". Connect it to line-in on the Kasa. The other one is "load". Connect it to Kasa.
Stub in a new white wire to the correct neutral bundle. Check w/meter, but likely that white bundle in back has no voltage when checked to ground, and when ohm's checked to ground should be basically zero. If so, yea, that's neutral.
Connect the ground. Test.
I suggest you not attempt any 3 way switches.
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I suggest a number of things:
Become more familiar with the correct terms and what your wires are. Examples:
- There is no such thing as a "line/load" wire. Kasa does you no favors in their labeling. It's either a line side or a load side. Not both. Ever.
- A neutral, while intended for a different function, goes to ground just as a ground does. There is no way one is connected to a line or a load.
Do not focus on wire color. EG: While often white is neutral and black is line, this is FAR from universal. This is particularly true of 3-way and 4-way switches. We can say that usually when a bundle is connected it tends to be correct vis a vis the "typical" color meaning. Meaning most likely your white bundle in back is neutral.
Buy a voltmeter and learn how to use it.
Do all those things before you hurt yourself or start burning stuff up.
The odds, although you need to check all this with a voltmeter, are that your two blacks are line and load. Drop a V-meter on and see which one is hot when the circuit is live. That's "line". Connect it to line-in on the Kasa. The other one is "load". Connect it to Kasa.
Stub in a new white wire to the correct neutral bundle. Check w/meter, but likely that white bundle in back has no voltage when checked to ground, and when ohm's checked to ground should be basically zero. If so, yea, that's neutral.
Connect the ground. Test.
I suggest you not attempt any 3 way switches.
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@dafish the hot line wire goes to the bundle in the back, so the conclusion is I have no neutral wire and can't use the switch. Thanks for your help.
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Maybe.....
For testing purposes ONLY ground acts like neutral electrically. One could literally connect ground to ground and then also to neutral. They serve different purposes from a safety/fault purpose so I cannot suggest you do so permanently, but it will allow you to finish the layout, make sure you know what's what, and test. Of course you should make sure you don't put it away like that for the thing would probably work perfectly, you'd forget you'd cheated on electrical code, and it might never get corrected.
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