FIRE WIRE V.S. ZERO LINE (Xiaomi Aqara Light Switches)

[@garrystorm4530]

Thank you in successfully convincing me not to bother with a smart light switch.

[@fortun777]

Thank you! Great video, very useful!

[@VibesOfChange]

Does the any of them remember the ON state after power loss or does it reset to OFF?

[@anton9038]

Does it work with 110v? Thanks

[@olgaarshanskaya1891]

Good afternoon. I want to buy an Aqara D1 circuit breaker (QBKG21LM without neutral, one key, wall mounted). I want to connect 5 MJTS01YL bulbs to it. But in the off state, the bulbs consume very little (less than 3 watts) and the switch will not work correctly. Its working range is 800W-3W Can you please tell me what you can buy for a load of 3W?

[@digbar]

Wondering here, with the double rocker zero line. I have three blue neutral wires coming from my wall. I guess all of them will into N, correct?

[@jayyeo3798]

Thank you for video made, I have question, that is not include video, if turn on(push button) fire wire, then app also update on ? actually I use Rf switch that problem if touch switch not update app.. so if turn on use touch then cant see status from app, I want solve for update app, want to use fire wire one, it is ok?

[@reinethedgentozala3911]

Hi, there. Question if you don’t mind, I checked our wiring setup and I see two wires connected to the switch, one green and one yellow and a blue wire that were joined together. Would the blue wire be the zero and do I need to connect that to the Aqara switch? And how would I know which of the yellow or green would go to L or L1. Thanks.

[@honestview]

sorry my friend, but I do not know of such wiring... which country are you from? Green is most commonly "Ground"... so that's already super strange. Blue indeed would go into the aqara's "zero-line". My best Guess will be: N = Blue L = Yellow L1 = Green but as I said, I've never heard of green being used as a wire to conduct electricity. this might help: www.electronicshub.org/electrical-wiring-color-codes/

[@reinethedgentozala3911]

Angry Reviews thanks! I live in China. Electrician told me to test the wire using a pen. I know next to nothing about these things, so this question will be idiotic, but should I have the main power off when I test the wires with a pen tester? Thanks again.

[@honestview]

​@@reinethedgentozala3911 Main power OFF when you have exposed wires or when you work with wires. if you are using a pen/voltmeter, then the power must be ON so you can check the current/electricity. (I presume pen tester is an electric screwdriver which has a lightbulb in it.) have a look: textbooks.elsevier.com/manualsprotectedtextbooks/9780240809953/Static/color_codes.jpg it looks like N=Blue L=Yellow L1 Green

[@reinethedgentozala3911]

Angry Reviews yep, it’s that kind of pen. Got it. My current switch only has two wires connected. Does that mean that our setup doesn’t have neutral? The electrician I’m chatting with said that our setup most likely has neutral. If that’s the case, do I need to connect the “extra” blue wire that’s not connected to our current switch? Sorry for all the questions.

[@honestview]

@@reinethedgentozala3911 That would be hard to answer as switches come in different types, they are not all the same. Example if you have 1 lightbulb and 1 switch (that's a common on/off type), but if you have 1 lightbulb and 2 switches, then those are different types of switches. Anyway: are you installing the AQARA Switch? if so then the answer is simple... if you have a "FIREWIRE" leave the blue line and dont touch it. if you have a "ZERO LINE" then take both blue wires and put them inside the "N" Your house has the option for ZeroLine (because of the blue wires) and that is great! use them with the AQARA ZERO LINE Switch :)

[@ChunkySteveo]

Really good explanation between the two! Didn't they fix that flashing issue with a capacitor?

[@honestview]

Good question, I have the 2016 version so haven't had a chance to check out the 2018 updated one... That's also something to note then, the sellers mention "Updated Version" but never explain what is different from the old. Thanks for your comment will check it out!

[@ChunkySteveo]

@@honestview I've only heard of a capacitor fix, not what it was, if it was DIY and then in an updated version maybe too? Heard a lot recently saying about no issues at all with LED lights, so hopefully the new versions have improved stability....?!!

[@TheTiger20000]

Hello, i'm new with Mi Home and have orderd my first thinks yesterday. I've some questions. Can i add more than one action to the switch like the wireless switch? short click, double click and long press? Can i add diferenz functions by time? On 8am the full light goes on and on 10pm only some little lights goes on?

[@velikimedved]

You can add multiple actions per switch (single, double, long, press, release, triple...)

[@kikiandi7841]

Which one more durable??

[@honestview]

Kazuki Titi i don’t think there is a difference... But as I said the line zero is more reliable

[@VibesOfChange]

If I would replace the led lightbulb with a water pump, would it work controlled by a zigbee temperature sensor (without physically touching the buttons)? Of course everything would be connected to the same hub. Thanks for the video - VERY informative!

[@christianswanson7571]

What about the flashing?

[@GBMark90]

Do they work with hone kit if there connected to the Aqara hub?

[@honestview]

yes, but get the correct Hub. then you can import any item connected to the hub to HomeKit.

[@Ferezsan]

Both are zigbee right?

[@honestview]

yes, all AQARA hu devices are ZIGBEE (other than their Bluetooth devices)

[@miklosszel3164]

I can simply go with the Zero line version even if I have a singe fire and don't plug anything to the Null, right? I mean the switch/relay will still close the Live In/Live Out upon action (local or remote)

[@just4therecord]

no you cant, doesnt work that way

[@nickalika]

Can the Zero Line be used as a Pulsating Button?

[@just4therecord]

No it cannot be use as a momentary switch. It’s either on or off state.

[@DhavalBrahmbhatt2627]

Do u know which one to get for UK? That could be wrong question as I don’t know much. I am in UK and want to try this smart switch. Also do u know if these products are certified for use in UK?

[@just4therecord]

you will most likely need the non-neutral type or Single Fire Wire. Confirm it by looking at one of your existing switches

[@DhavalBrahmbhatt2627]

@@just4therecord thanks for replying. what should I be looking at and what should it look like?

[@_Bogdan_]

Hello and thanks for the clarification. If I go with the zero line version can it still be used without the neutral line?

[@honestview]

BogdanV I tried it... and the answer is NO. They make it sound as “both Zero Line AND FireWire” work, but what they mean by that is that the switch has all the ports of FireWire but will NOT work without the Neutral wire.

[@_Bogdan_]

Angry Reviews thanks for quick response 👍 now I know what I need to buy 👍😁

[@RadikalRage]

I have a google ecosystem at home but I’ve not seen any good wall switches that support google home with voice automation. If I get this aqara switches then I’d have to summon Siri and google which can be confusing. Any recommendations?

[@nickalika]

AQARA uses the MI "Xiaomi Home" app which integrates with google home, just search for it in google home app.

[@RadikalRage]

Nikita Gaidouk thanks! Didn’t cross my mind

[@tudorace]

Can you please tell me if this still work in case of Internet / gateway malfunction?

[@honestview]

the switch will work always, just like a normal switch... however if you use it to controll a wifi lightbulb, then the answer is NO, it will not, in case of a broken gateway, you wont be able to access the switch from your phone, but you can still manually switch on/off the normal non wifi lightbulb

[@jandramen]

You can add a capacitor to the circuit in parallel to avoid that effect that usually happens with LED or low power lights.

[@honestview]

Agree, but wehn one buys things from Xiaomi, it is kind of expected it should work out of the box... although with my experience almost nothing from their brand works "out the box"

[@hoqp]

What is the power source? 110 or 220?

[@honestview]

These are not the US version, so they were designed for 220V. But as far as I remember it said up to 250V so anything below that should work too.

[@makamancha2333]

Does the no neutral switch consume more electricity?

[@honestview]

yes, 0.00000000000000000000000000000000000000001% more

[@MartinBoduroff]

Hi! I think I've got an interesting question, and I also think you're one of the few people that might be able to answer it. Here it is - I'd like to order a single Aqara light switch. On the online ads I see that you can program the different interactions to have different effects - e.g. single short click - lights on/off. My question is - can you add an IFTTT action for, let's say, long press to turn on/off a sonoff switch? :D What I'm thinking about is installing a single switch for the bathroom lights, that when you short-click - turns the lights on/off and when you long press - it turns the fan on/off, which is connected using a Sonoff switch :D Thank you for your time :)

[@honestview]

Well, it's possible but maybe not the way you envision it. AQARA is an ecosystem and a very limiting one at that... no IFTTT, no Alexa... However I recently read that Xiaomi are starting to allow you to allow 3r party integration with "eWeLink" of sonoff and "Smart Life" of Tuya in Xiaomi app go to: Profile / Other platform devices / Tap to Add / eWeLink / Account Binding / enter username & pass ... if this works then Yes you could do what you described Alternatively You can buy an "Aqara relay" or a simple "Aqara wifi plug" for the longpress instead of the SONOFF switch.

[@TheJastay]

Hi, can the lights be turned on via app if manually switch of the button?

[@honestview]

TheJastay the switch is a button, so there is no physical “on or off” state. In other words, yes it will work from phone or from any other attached device or from set up rules on the app (eg: turn off at 6:00am every morning)

[@TheJastay]

@@honestview thanks for your reply. Yes although it doesn't have physical on/off button, but you can still off it manually which we can't tell the state, that's why I am wondering. So it doesn't quite matters if I should wire my house on neutral mode? Not sure what's the benefit of neutral wires

[@honestview]

@@TheJastay yeah you can turn it off manually using the switch, and turn it on using your app :) the state of the switch is reflected in the app. the Neutral wire version has more reliability and power consumption meter. They should have just made the "FireWire" version with the same benefits as the "Zero Line" then everyone would be happy. in general I am disappointed with Xiaomi smart home, its less than what I expected it to be... quite slow, quite buggy, lack of features and god forbid you try their cameras...

[@TheJastay]

@@honestview thanks for the confirmation. Strange that many aqara' s supplier commented that once switch is manually turned off, there will be no power to the switch hence, cannot operate from the app. Am I missing something here? Or they are referring to FireWire version while neutral version is possible

[@Tomate.]

Is there way if i have neutral switch to make it work with fire wire system ?

[@honestview]

Tomate no

[@Tomate.]

Angry Reviews thanks

[@marcushii9461]

Can the fire wire version switch connect to philip hue hub?

[@honestview]

I don't think you can connect aqara products (like this switch) to any hub other than Aqara Hubs. you can buy YEELIGHT lamps for about $15 each which are better than phillips hue in my opinion.

[@saimatkongtianleong2709]

Can the Zero line model works without neutral wire or must have a neutral wire?

[@honestview]

Saimatkong Tian Leong must have

[@saimatkongtianleong2709]

@@honestview oh no, okay I was thinking just leave the slot open without neutral wire. so must get the fire wire

[@honestview]

Saimatkong Tian Leong I know the title is misleading it says Zero Line AND FireWire, but it the zero line in COMPULSORY:/

[@saimatkongtianleong2709]

@@honestview one more question, Can put light and fan under one switch?

[@grogiful]

The ability to measure power consumption has nothing to do with N wire, but it's a design decision. It is possible to measure the current intensity (and derive the power figure assuming given voltage) in both cases. I can only speculate, the lack of the functionality in "Fire Wire" version is that there simple wasn't enough room to include the meter inside the body (I'm guessing there is a reasonably big capacitor inside).

[@honestview]

Thanks for the clarification. I only fiddle around with electronics, If what you say is true, then it is a pity that these design choices were made. In general I thought of Xiaomi Products to be really well designed and Well coded, pack a lot of features but having some time to play around with their software I see that it is very limiting and obvious features are missing. it's not at all flexible and crashes and not compatible with Alexa and no IFTTT support, Only works with the Chinese server... etc etc.

[@just4therecord]

It’s nothing to do with enough room or capacitor. If you use a multimeter to measure voltage at a switch point with no neutral - you can’t because there is no neutral for you to put the other lead. You can’t measure voltage with just Live wire alone.

[@grogiful]

@@just4therecord The voltage is pretty standard, either 110 or 230v... You could set it up in the app and voila.

[@danielsebastianschne8794]

Are these safe? As in CE certified?

[@honestview]

Daniel Sebastian Schøne Safe? yes! Certified? No! (At least not for EU) Had an electrician tell me that they won’t install these in Italy, but added that I can install anything I want legally in my own house.

[@tommyboy9190]

Daniel Sebastian Schøne they are ce certified

[@israelimaor131]

If I have 1 light with two switches and I want to replace one with a Xiaomi one? which one do I need to choose? also, did I need the Xiaomi gateway just for the switch?

[@honestview]

Israeli Maor It is a little bit difficult to say like that. You would need to take off one switch, and see what wires there are, how many, and what colors, most likely, you will need the fire wire switch, but, if you turn off one switch, the Aqara switch will not work. You need to change both... You don’t need a gateway if you just use it as a switch... but if you want to use your phone, you need the gateway

[@just4therecord]

Do you mean you have a two way switch where either switch can turn on/off the lights? If yes and you want to use Aqara switch to replicate this, you will need one of them to be a wired one (as shown in this video) and the other must be a wireless switch. The wireless switch does not need to connect to any wiring and uses a battery. Yes you need the gateway. Without the gateway, there’s no point in changing to this Aqara switch.

[@thealikadesign]

@@just4therecord you are wrong.. the wired switch can be used in the same way as a wireless switch. You can use two wired switches to achieve the same result. You are right that you can achieve it with the help of a wireless switch though.

[@eucosta]

Hi, is it possible to program the switch so that one output turns off if the other is turned on?

[@honestview]

Your question is not clear. there are too many variables in your scenario. you can have an ON/OFF function on 2 switches, so if one switch is off, the other switch will turn it on and vice versa. if you are using old 2 way switches you would need to re-wire everything.

[@eucosta]

Angry Reviews I want to apply this to control motorized window blinds. The switch must never send both signals at the same time (up and down). I was wondering if it is possible to program the switch to turn off one output if the other is active or do I have install a relay system.

[@honestview]

The switch works like a normal light switch ON/OFF it cuts power to the wire when off and sends power to the wire when on. (it just has WiFi to do this task remotely). there is no conditional logic which I am aware of, that can do: (if Witch A is ON, then Switch B is OFF).

[@honestview]

I presume you want to press/hold the switch and the blind goes down, then you release and the blind stops going. This switch only works in clicks, so you press once and the blind continues to go down until you press once again to stop. it also has a long press function which could trigger a command of your choice.

[@eucosta]

It could be with clicks, a click to start to movement and another to stop it. thanks for the help

[@ManuGitref]

Don´t know if someone answerd already to the flickering as far as i know it has do do with the wireing of Neutal N and The hot wire L. When you connect the N wire in the Port which disconnects for switching of you will have still power on the L wire which also can be dagerous whan you think it is of but you are touching the L wire and it still has power and will find another way ot ( N wire aka You) was the same with sonoff basics if you connect it the wrong way around in the power socket cause you dont break both lines hope you understand what i mean

[@nikosfants4514]

Hello great video. Is anyone switch like the aqara rocker to connect it to aqara hub? Thank you

[@honestview]

Sorry, I don’t quite understand... are you asking if there are other zigbee switches which can be controlled by the AQARA gateway/hub? If so I think the answer is no. But... you can add WiFi switches which are used by eWeLink or TUYA or SMARTHOME app... you can find the integration in the Xiaomi Home App / profile / other platform devices.

Hi. Link for buy Fire Wire, please

[@honestview]

AliExpress

[@Hugo-k6x]

Where to buy?

[@honestview]

No Need to buy, you can just bake one, you just need a couple plastic bottles and some scrap wires, stick in the oven at 250c and wait for 15-20 min and tadaaaa

[@Hugo-k6x]

Angry Reviews aah yes, of course dumb question 😅

[@honestview]

AliExpress or GearBest or eBay.... I shop in those 3 places

[@macman29]

I find the name zero line very misleading .. i would think zero line is without the N line. and firewire is with the N line.

[@honestview]

specially that firewire is a type of cable (old cable used for video transfer, but still...) But "Fire wire" means the switch uses only the wire that fires/switches - while zero line is is that extra line which is the zero/Neutral contact. I guess they just used google translate to get their naming convention.

[@macman29]

@@honestview Lol .. Thanks for the reply. google translates rocks lol

[@skaniarbata]

Can anyone tell me, which o e would I need for Ireland???

[@jitcochin]

invest in a better mic please..

[@honestview]

Jitco Chin this is not a monetized video, so you are complaining about free information... invest in some manners please ;)

[@skaniarbata]

Can anyone tell me, which o e would I need for Ireland???

[@honestview]

Tomas Visockis yes... country does not matter

[@skaniarbata]

@@honestview I have unscrewed the switch. looks like it is only two wires in my switch. photos.app.goo.gl/nbnjB2Dj2PMgiF689

[@skaniarbata]

Could you have a look a t my picture, and tell me which one I would need, I have uploaded a link

[@honestview]

Tomas Visockis fire wire

[@honestview]

Tomas Visockis if your switch has 2 inputs you buy a switch which has 2 inputs...