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Three way configuration in laundry room. Have MS-OPS5M and it works in another part of the home but not in the laundry room. Tech support suggest it is a poor ground and that I should tap into the neutral bundle and hook this wire up to ground. Problem is that the neutral wire has current. Won't this destroy the Maestro?
Neutral and ground are tied together at the service entrance so it won't damage the sensor. However, I find it hard to believe there is a "poor ground" in the laundry room. You can connect the ground from the sensor to the neutral as a test. If it works then there is a problem with the ground. If you have arc-fault breaker, it will probably trip.
I would not leave the sensor wired like this. If it works you need to find out why there is no ground.
Randyc - There are two things that may have a bearing on this; The laundry room light was florescent and I swapped out the tubes for LED but they still use the ballast.
The second issue is that the laundry room has a GFCI as one of the outlets.
Personally, I think the florescent ballast is the issue. I can replace the tubes with the type that do not require it but that will cost.
It will depend on the type of ballast. Older ballast are not going to drive LED replacements. They are heavy (feel like a brick) because they are filled with varnish. You will need newer electronic ballast/drivers for the LEDs.
As a test, put the fluorescent tubes back in.
OK, replaced the florescent and ballast with led lights -- no difference. I am frustrated to say the least. There is one thing that caught my attention, the power in is only 117 volts US. Every other outlet in the house is 122 volts. Might that be a problem and why would that be -- bat switch at the fuse box? I mean, its a three year old home.
Finally got it to work. I did not use the ground wire, instead used a tap into common.
Hello makitso,
Thank you for your post. The MS-OPS5M requires a true earth ground connection to be made to the bare silver ground wire and green sensor wire off the back of the control in order to function properly. From your posts, it sounds like the ground wire available is not sufficient enough for this sensor/switch to operate the lights. Based on your last post, it sounds like you have attached the green sensor wire from the back of the control to your neutral connection in the wallbox. While this would certainly make the control function, it is important to note that it is against the national electrical code to have any other color wire but white terminate to a neutral connection inside of an electrical wallbox and we would therefore not recommend wiring the MS-OPS5M up in this manor.
The best solution would be to have the grounding issue addressed, or use our Maestro sensor/dimmer, model number MSCL-OP153M that does not require a ground or neutral connection to function.
-JustinF.