Pulsing voltage from load line on 3-way w/ Caseta wireless dimmer

I’m trying to get my new dimmer switch to function but I’m having an odd issue:

Two switches: A & B


Switch A (Pico remote side): With all wires disconnected I get 120VAC on the HOT and 0VAC on each of the Travelers separately. Then I tie the Hot wire to the other two Travelers.


Switch B (Caseta Dimmer side): With Switch A tied together, I get 120VAC on each of the Travelers and 0VAC on the LOAD. I then tie the two Travelers to one wire on the dimmer and the Load to the other.


With the circuit energized I get 120VAC from the HOT/TRAVELER bundle to ground on Switch A.


However, on Switch B, I get 120VAC from the travelers to ground but the LOAD TO GROUND PULSES ON AND OFF, the switch does not turn the load on or off, and none of the green LED’s on the switch function!

FYI: bulb installed is a non-smart dimmable LED.

I'm assuming this is the PD-6CL dimmer. It is the most common, having two black wires and a ground. If you have something with a black and a red wire (PD-10NXD,-5NE), they could be switched.

Just to review, the switch is bypassed in location 1 (all wires tied together) and in location 2, power is connected and load is connected securely. Load is installed and is a forward-phase dimmable device.

I'd love to hear others chime in here, but this sounds kind of like a defective device. I've never measured a Caseta dimmer with a multimeter (never needed to) but that doesn't really seem right. Plus you have no control of the load. I'd call Customer Support and see if they'll send you a replacement.

Thanks for the detailed description, and I hope this helps!

Yes, you are correct in your description.

I did try it with an incandescent and got the same results.

Also, it’s an analog multimeter and the voltage pulse goes from 0VAC to 120VAC and then back to 0VAC and then repeats.
I would say an average of 2-3 pulses per second.

I double and triple checked the wiring as I was a bit flummoxed - that’s when the multimeter came out and I manually ID’d each wire.

I’d maybe try testing the dimmer in a single pole application, but it’s unlikely to have an effect. It will at least verify the dimmer is the culprit and not the wiring.

Measure voltage from hot to neutral. It sounds like you dropped the neutral somewhere. Make sure the neutral connections are tight. Sometimes pulling the wire out of the box can cause them to loosen.

If you have 120v on the travelers at switch B, every thing at switch A is correct.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by randyc

Measure voltage from hot to neutral. It sounds like you dropped the neutral somewhere. Make sure the neutral connections are tight. Sometimes pulling the wire out of the box can cause them to loosen.

If you have 120v on the travelers at switch B, every thing at switch A is correct.

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No neutral line.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by evankirkhart

I’d maybe try testing the dimmer in a single pole application, but it’s unlikely to have an effect. It will at least verify the dimmer is the culprit and not the wiring.

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That’s my next test.