Dimmer with neutral on 2 wire circuit

Hi, 

First post, so take it easy on me if this is posted in the wrong place and/or is simply a really dumb question!

A mate has two spare dimmers from a recent job and asked me if I wanted them, but they are dimmers intended to be connected with a neutral wire alongside the live and switched live wires, so have three terminals on the back. Is there any way I can connect these dimmers into a circuit without a neutral wire? I can't see how to attach a photo here or would do so.

Marc

Most three terminal dimmers are for doing two-way switching, nothing to do with neutrals. Do the terminals actually say 'N' on them?  Most are just a common and two switched lives.

Doc H. 

Thank you for replying. Yes, there are three terminals, L, N and the slash-squiggle thing for switched live. I can't attach a photo, but these are the dimmers - https://www.crestron.com/downloads/pdf/product_misc/ig_clwi-dimunex.pdf

...intended for Crestron custom home automation installs, but work perfectly well standalone too.

Not familiar with those to be honest but looking at your PDF  I'd say you definitely need a neutral .

Is there a remote device  for dimming ?  

I'd say they were not really suitable if you don't have a neutral at the switch box , best buy a standard dimmer switch .   If you 're dimming LEDs... the lamps need to be dimmable and compatible with the dimmer.    

Looking at that pdf, I would say they do need the neutral, so they won't work for you. They are grossly over complicated for what you want.
 

Thanks for the replies guys, I feared this was the case but thought it worth asking in case there was a clever workaround.

For full context, I have quite a lot of Crestron lighting at home and am slowly replacing some Rako stuff around the place. I have several of the Crestron dimmers without the neutral terminal (clwi-dimuex ... no "n") and they work either standalone or connected to the Crestron wireless (proprietary but basically marginally tweaked Zigbee) gateways so can be controlled via the central processor. These two were just an opportunity to snag two dimmers for almost nothing, but it seems it is not to be.

Thank you again

Marc

I thought the same as Dave  ...seems  over complicated.  

I understand why you think it's complicated, but the question of the neutral wire aside, it's no different to a Lightwave or Rako dimmer that functions out of the box as a "normal" dimmer but has a RF module so it can be controlled remotely via a touchpanel, remote control etc. Getting way off topic and for the avoidance of doubt I don't sell this stuff I am a humble user and part-time programmer, but the Crestron kit and ecosystem is pretty cool and incredibly robust, albeit eye-wateringly expensive....hence my excitement about (potentially) getting something for (almost) nothing. Maybe I need to hire an electrician to run me a neutral wire!

Don't listen to the old folks, anything slightly modern or non-standard is viewed as unnecessary and complicated round here.

Maybe start with getting a spark round to see how best to run a new cable to the switches with neutrals...... that is where the fun and additional expense will start...

Phillips Hue may be considerably cheaper.....

These dimmers were just an opportunity to replace some existing Rako ones, if they could be made to work without too much drama. The existing environment isn't broken, but I have a whole house Crestron setup, minus parts of the lighting, so I thought there may be an opportunity to save some dosh.....but it seems there isn't. Philips Hue is great, but I could cr4p on about home automation and the pro/cons of having a centrally controlled system as opposed to multiple different vendors/protocols/remotes but we would be getting well off topic!

Thanks for setting me straight on this one.....

We like "off topic"

surprised it has lasted this long :slap

I detect one of two things (neither of which may represent reality)....either me being taken the p1ss out of, which is fine and I can beat a polite retreat, or the emerging conflict between the geeks and the more traditional, generally excellent and experienced, electricians but who don't understand why someone would want 3 runs of cat6+ in the walls....

Usually it's option 3, all of the above and more.

No one is taking the p1ss Nieldm  so yes there is an element of old pharts  ( like me)   and certainly Prodave   :innocent     who tend to keep stuff simple and tend to use straight line thinking . 

I,ve done a few kitchen lighting jobs where they had fully dimmable   ,very expensive LED  & compact fluoro  down lights   and I just couldn't imagine when the time would come to dim the lights in the kitchen ....... does one shove a roast in the oven  then dim the lights and sit watching it cook ?      :C

What about a room like ours, an open plan kitchen/dining room? Sure, when someone is shoving said roast in the oven, the lights in the kitchen area need to be of sufficient brightness to enable you to ensure that you aren't sticking it in the freezer. Wouldn't you agree, though, that it is nice to be able to have a different lighting scene once it is time to eat? We actually have six lighting circuits in this open plan area; nothing expensive, simply halogen downlights, wall lights, some filament (Edison style) bulbs over the dining table and such. It doesn't seem outrageous or inappropriate to me at least! 

Make no mistake, I hold the "experienced" electricians in the highest regard but at the same time there does need to be (in my opinion..) a move away from the "one light in the middle of the ceiling" mentality. Hey, the dimmers I referred to when I started this thread are at least mains powered, at least I wasn't asking questions about a 24vDC keypad controlling the lighting circuits connected to a CLSI-C6RF.....  ]