Wiring Samotech SM308-S in Light Fitting

[Freemanator]

Howdy DIY Not.

I have used a Sonos inline WiFi switch to make one of my light fittings smart, but it requires a hard reset for WiFi changes, plus it isn't zigbee compatible, which means I can't use the Hue app to control it with the rest of the lights.

To that end I bought a Samotech SM308-S as it is recommended as better than the Sonos equivalent.

I am however not exactly sure how to wire it in.

The manual is available here

Can anyone help me by clarifying which ports I need to use, and whether I should be using the live or switched live line for live etc. I want to be outing it in the light fitting, not behind the switch.

I will be keeping using standard switches for a while, although hope to upgrade to tap dials once I have all the fittings upgraded.

Thanks

 

[ericmark]

Note the wires to switch are likely not 230 volt so simple on/off switch with no electronics. I have not show earth connections that would seem straight forward. Need to get three wires into the neutral.

 

[Freemanator]

View attachment 383249 Note the wires to switch are likely not 230 volt so simple on/off switch with no electronics. I have not show earth connections that would seem straight forward. Need to get three wires into the neutral.

Thanks Eric,

And sorry for the delay.

Just want to check I understand here. Your drawing is showing what the wiring for the fitting should look like now, with the black lines being where I should move the wires to in the new installation.

So I will plug the wires from the wall switch into the comb (live) and S1 (neutral) port.

Then I'll run the live and neutral pass in and pass out into the live and neutral connectors, with the live wire to the fitting going into the out, and the neutral fitting wire needing a connector to be joined to the neutral, or get two cables into the one socket.

And I'll need a block to connect all the earths together separately.

Is that the right understanding?

 

[ericmark]

Yes

 

[Freemanator]

Yes

Thanks Eric, just wanted to make sure I'd understood correctly.

 

[Freemanator]

Yes

Having taken the fitting off, I can see how I wired it previously.

There are bunch connectors for the live, neutral, switched live and earth, with the switched live and neutral going to the sonoff inline switch.

I have an extra cable as this fitting is connected to three others operated by the same switch.

So my question is. Do I need to get two wires into both the live and neutral terminals on the samotech, or can I just take one to each from a connector block joining the rest up?

Then I wire in the fitting to output and the remaining neutral socket, and detach the switch cable to wire it into com and s1?

Does that work? I'm assuming the two live and neutral blocks are there to make it easier to get your wires in, and only one is needed so the samotech can act as a switch replacement.

 

[ericmark]

Pictures help, there was no reference to a sonoff inline switch before, so now have no idea what you are doing.

 

[Freemanator]

Pictures help, there was no reference to a sonoff inline switch before, so now have no idea what you are doing.

Makes sense, and thanks for all the help.

The sonoff is the smart switch I'm replacing, so I've taken it out. I didn't mention the extra cable though.

That runs to three standard fittings with Hue bulbs, so I will wire the live into live not switched live, so I can control them separately.

Attached the wip photo. As the wires were all grouped by category, I figured I could make less changes.

I released the two switch cables and plugged them in as you said.

I removed the sonoff switch and used the cables to wire in neutral to the samotech.

I'll wire the loose live into live which is the cable that goes to the other lights currently operated by the switch.

I then need to add a cable to wire the live connector to the other live socket.

The final piece will be wiring the live and neutral from the light fitting as per your instructions, live to output and neutral to neutral.

Does that make sense? And did I make a mistake?

 

[ericmark]

Inside my lamp there is enough room to mount the smart relay. In hind sight may have been better to have put a box like this in the loft, but touch wood, as yet not gone wrong. The switch wires vary relay to relay some are extra low voltage and must not connect to any low voltage (230 VAC) wires, others can. It seems to show with yours it can connect to low voltage although I would not connect to low voltage in case want to change in the future. With standard ceiling roses, we can identify which wires are which, and even these

we stand a chance with, but what you show is just a mess, and I am not happy trying to identify what you have, it is two easy to make an error when one can't test, sorry.

 

[Freemanator]

Inside my lamp View attachment 383426 there is enough room to mount the smart relay. In hind sight may have been better to have put a box like this View attachment 383427 in the loft, but touch wood, as yet not gone wrong. The switch wires vary relay to relay View attachment 383428 some are extra low voltage and must not connect to any low voltage (230 VAC) wires, others can. It seems to show with yours it can connect to low voltage View attachment 383429 although I would not connect to low voltage in case want to change in the future. With standard ceiling roses, we can identify which wires are which, and even these View attachment 383431 we stand a chance with, but what you show is just a mess, and I am not happy trying to identify what you have, it is two easy to make an error when one can't test, sorry.

Hi Eric.

Totally understood, and thanks for all the help.

Your first a diagram really helped me understand what the switch is doing.

My old sonoff was just an extra inline switch, so was added between the connections to the light, whereas this samotech is effectively a soft switch and needs the switch input to be able to both trigger it when pressed, and allow smart control via zigbee whatever the status of the switch.

So I'm pretty sure my adaptations will work, but I'll test it and update on here.

 

[Freemanator]

Sorry realise I never updated.

It works exactly as I thought. My Hue bulbs are now unswitched, so I can always turn them on or off by voice or phone, and the fitting is now controlled by the switch but in a soft manner, so it is also permanently accessible by voice or phone.

Thanks again Eric for the help.