I want to install my NSpanel in the location where there was a single switch (i am in Netherlands). The switch that I removed, only has 2 wires, black and brown. I connected the black to the neutral of NSpanel and brown to line in. The panel works fine.
But how do I still use the relays in the NSpanel to switch the actual light?
I included pictures of the NSPanel that is currently connected and also the original switch. In the original switch, the wires were connected to the top left and bottom left.
Brown (L) - Live 220v
Blue (N) - Neutral
Black - Switch wire
So if you did not remove the lightbulb, the nspanel will be in series with the original lightbulb, and powered through.
Since the NSPanel doesn’t take a lot of power, the lightbulb doesn’t get enough power to actually give light
You should:
Pull a new cable (advise to use the old black cable to pull a new black and blue)
You could also go for the ‘dirty’ solution (not recommended as you will deviate from the default NL color coding, but possible):
Replace the lightbulb with a zigbee lightbulb, connect it to brown(L)/blue(N), which, in the Netherlands, are normally available in the connection box of the light in the ceiling.
at the lightbulb, connect the black wire to the blue (N) wire, and use that to power the NSPanel
use the NSpanel switch as a detached switch, toggling the zigbee lightbulb.
hmm, the lights that i used to switch with it are already zigbee lights. So having constant power to it would also solve it for me.
I am just trying to understand your instructions. Why do i need to connect the black wire to the blue at the lightbulb? The NSpanel already works as is.
Am I right in understanding that I can probably connect the light straight to 220V at the light itself?
And 220v is provided by brown (Live) and blue (Neutral)
Black is just the switch wire, and passes (L) to the light when turned on.
The other side of the light is connected to blue (N).
So in a normal situation, this is how a light switch is wired:
brown (L) - switch - Black - light - blue (N)
Since you haven’t changed anything I suspect this is how yours is connected now:
Brown (L) - NSPanel - Black - Light - Blue (N)
In other words, they are connected in series,
I’ll draw it out tomorrow if i have time (difficult to draw properly on mobile)
Assumed current situation (zigbee light and NSPanel in series = bad):
Wanted situation (normal switched light):
Dirty solution using a zigbee lightbulb and NSPanel (as detached switch), (re-)using the black wire as neutral:
(note that this is deviating from default color coding and might confuse future electrical work)