@@nivaeliakim I see what you are saying😉👍, but a impulse relay needs a separate input form a momentary push switch. The magic switch uses normal light switches, and the Live feed is by the first switch, and the circuit completes with the neutral at the Sonoff, up by the light fixture. So it makes it easy to wire up with existing traditional lighting.
Thank so much for this! Your explanation is very clear. These things are cheap as hell where I am and my house has basically no neutrals so trying to find something to manage a 3-way circuit has been a nightmare.
Great review, the previous version required the physical switch to be on all the time and would often be turned off and offline. The current version avoids this problem, and you can use the switch you like
They definitely to roll out this feature to the next sonoff mini and lights. That would definitely solve the old issue of using dumb switch with smart lights
I don't think what you said about the in between state is true, the connection is shorted so there is power constantly. What I think is happening, is that it notices the difference in resistance that suddenly occurs when you close or open the switch. That also explains why you can add more switches. Quite ingenious.
I understand what you are saying, but your logic is incorrect🤔. Inside the switch, there is a moving contact, that makes a connection with two stationery contacts. We linked out the two contacts, this is now the combined output terminal. The moving contact can flip between the two contacts, but can't make a connection with both at the same time. So as you flip the switch, there will be a brief moment, when the moving contact is not making a connection with either of the stationery contacts. So let's say your input is the moving contact, and the output is the combined link. Now when the switch is flipped, you have a brief period when you don't have a continuous connection.
Great content - Thanks! Do you think this would work with a single throw switch, with the bridge between the incoming and outgoing? The contacts should lose connection when the switch is flipped. Not sure if it will be long enough though. All our light switches are single pole, single throw.
so glad I found your channel. Very clear videos. I watched this and your other video Sonoff extreme MINIr4 on 3way switch light UK NO-NEUTRAL required at light switch #Sonoff #extreme. What happens in both of these installs if the Zegbee coordinator or Home Assistant installation is down. Do the physical switches still work the lights?
@@MyProjectBoxChannel thanks for that. As a UK person living in an old house I imagine that I will think it is unlikely that I will have neutral available (electrician calling soon to confirm this) So starting out with Home Assistant I have initially fitted window and door sensors in the house and installed two or three Ikea Tradfri repeaters. All going well so far. Next I was thinking that I'd have to start replacing light switches to give control via Home Asst and to act as Zigbee repeaters. Having watched some of your videos it seems as if you are more of a fanboy of Sonoff Mini units. Am I right in saying that these are easier to install and you may need fewer as with 2way switching you have to replace 2 switches - with the Sonoff you only install one bit of kit. Plus your family will not notice as the old wall switches are all there as before. Plus you have these Sonoff units working as Zigbee repeaters as well? Overall - you are voting Sonoff mini units over say Aqara wall smart switches (esp the no-neutral one which some pundits say have a poorer track record on reliability?
@@fergusanderson5307 I did start with Sonoff years ago, but I don't have any special loyalty to them. Sonoff have sent me lots of free stuff to test and make videos. There is loads of other good brands on the market. But I like to come up with custom solutions for problems. So I have come up with some circuit hacks over the years, to help solve some of the issues people come across. Sonoff "magic switch mode" might solve some problems for some people, but be aware that some people have reported that it won't always work with certain types of switches. I'm hoping that sonoff will be all Matter-enabled soon. That way you don't have to rely on the ewelink cloud services, and have direct local control, without the need for custom firmware flashing.
The link will carry the main lighting circuit current, so the wiring needs to be rated accordingly. But in general most LED lights are low current, so down to 1mm2(or even 0.75) should be fine.
Hi’ why do the tile of the video is Magic Switch …. « NO-NEUTRAL » … smart lighting when all your examples show neutral wire. I live in Canada in an old house and there is no neutral wire in the house. And I thought this could help me a lot. But I am confuse now. It is simply that we use different terminology ? Thanks in advance
NO-NEUTRAL refers to not needing a neutral wire behind the light switch box. Many smart switches and smart relays, require a neutral at the light switch to function. Some of my videos provide a workaround if you don't have this neutral connection behind the switch. My circuits works by utilising the neutral at the light fixture itself. I believe In North American you call it Hot and Neutral for 120v , and Line to Line (Hot to Hot) for 240V. So if you have two "Hot" wires, one of them can be considered as "neutral" for the purpose of completing the circuit.
Do you think it’s ok if I don’t send N to the bulb and control just the L with the R4? I’m thinking to place it behind the wall because it will control multiple spot lights. Thanks!
@@Modern_Sokratis you still need a neutral "return" connection up by the ceiling lights to complete the circuit, so the light bulbs can operate. But it does not need to come from the N-out terminal on the Sonoff. So you should already have the neutral/return, by the ceiling lights, from original installation. So you don't need to take the neutral from N-out to the lights.
Interesting! But I have some questions: So if there is a glitch in the power grid, all the lights in the country using this thing will switch on/off simultaniously? If scaled up big enough, this could cause some serious sudden load or drop of load on the grid. Also, if this happens when no one is home it might turn on the ligth in the house due to a glitch in the power grid, could it?
You have a good point. The timing of this glitch would need to be very specific. I tried replicating it with a loose connection, without any luck. It is theoretically possible🤔. I will have to do some probing with a oscilloscope, to see the effect of the flipping of the switch has. I know the default power on mode is with the relay off. It's probably a good Idea to have a automatic off time delay, just incase you get a false trigger.
Sonoff mini4 is quite small and fits well. Would you think it could work like a magic switch as well, if the switch powers both the mini4 L1 input (and has got a capasitor like Basic4) and the mini4 switch input - or would/ could an external capasitor/resistor L1 powerfeed be needed?
Unfortunately I don't think it can work like that with the mini-4. The new Basic-R4 has a special detection circuit inside. Hopefully Sonoff will implement this feature across it's range 🙏 in the future. I think a smart bulb with "magic switch" would be brilliant. I made my own circuit that did something similar but with a diode instead of a wire Link. ua-cam.com/video/YItMu6VJGBI/v-deo.html And with 2-way lighting ua-cam.com/video/9hQFFsBkxaU/v-deo.html
@@MyProjectBoxChannel .. got the Basic R4 and compared it to mini4. Seems lile mini4 needs a switch from on to off or off to on to activate. R4 just needs a small pause to activate - thud working fine with a 2 way switch.
@@larsw.larsen4173 the magic switch function makes the Basic-R4 ideal for 2-way lighting. It's just unfortunately a bit bigger, and won't easily fit behind a light switch. It's better suited to go up by the light fixture.
Anyway - I dont have neutral at switch level, so up at the lamp would be easiest to instal anyway. Mini4 or bulp with magic would be more easy to hide away😅
4 intermediate switches WoW!😜 Where in the world do you live? Because the wiring in the UK, can be very different for multi-way lighting. If its wired the "normal" way, you just have to link out L1 and L2, on the first or last switch. If it's wired in "UK 3-plate", with twin & earth, you will need to reconfigure some of the wiring.
I have not tried to make a "dry contract" with the newer sonoff basic, but the magic switch detection circuit is probably connected the relay contacts, so I don't know if the contacts can be insulated🤔
Sadly 😥 No👎. But sonoff should really think about extending magic switch to the rest of their range. A smart bulb with "magic switch" would be very. useful.
No, is the short answer🤔😥. But it might be possible if you have a normally closed version of the door bell switch. And even then the doorbell switch cannot be pressed for a long time, it has to be pressed very briefly. Otherwise the sonoff will lose power and start to shut down. You could try and modify a light switch and put a spring inside.
@@hunakaka I'm not sure🤔. I would have to measure it with a oscilloscope. But I think there will be some discrepancy between different light switches. I guess the time delay would have to be with in a small range.
@@rj-ck6fu the most important thing it that, it is a switch that has a contact that can changeover from L1 to L2. Some switches only switch between L1 and off. I guess the pilot lamp is a neon indicator lamp🤔. I'm not sure if this will interfere with "magic switch". Give it a test? I don't think it will be a problem.
This is genious. The set up works like an impulse relay, I think
@@nivaeliakim I see what you are saying😉👍, but a impulse relay needs a separate input form a momentary push switch. The magic switch uses normal light switches, and the Live feed is by the first switch, and the circuit completes with the neutral at the Sonoff, up by the light fixture. So it makes it easy to wire up with existing traditional lighting.
Thank so much for this! Your explanation is very clear. These things are cheap as hell where I am and my house has basically no neutrals so trying to find something to manage a 3-way circuit has been a nightmare.
Great review, the previous version required the physical switch to be on all the time and would often be turned off and offline.
The current version avoids this problem, and you can use the switch you like
They definitely to roll out this feature to the next sonoff mini and lights.
That would definitely solve the old issue of using dumb switch with smart lights
Great video!
Finally a solution to my issue where I have a 4 way light circuit, where only the 4 terminal switch has neutral!
Yes! "Magic switch mode" is very flexible. Lots of new options available for people😉👍.
AWESOME ! Now I can install that insted of Sonof ZBMINI2L who solve me some problems like this, this is mutch better for some place ! THANKS
amazing video, this is what i need !!!
I don't think what you said about the in between state is true, the connection is shorted so there is power constantly.
What I think is happening, is that it notices the difference in resistance that suddenly occurs when you close or open the switch. That also explains why you can add more switches. Quite ingenious.
I understand what you are saying, but your logic is incorrect🤔. Inside the switch, there is a moving contact, that makes a connection with two stationery contacts. We linked out the two contacts, this is now the combined output terminal. The moving contact can flip between the two contacts, but can't make a connection with both at the same time. So as you flip the switch, there will be a brief moment, when the moving contact is not making a connection with either of the stationery contacts. So let's say your input is the moving contact, and the output is the combined link. Now when the switch is flipped, you have a brief period when you don't have a continuous connection.
Great thing! Wonder if it would be still possible to flesh with ESPHome or Tasmota....
Now watched your last comment :D
Yes I believe people are currently working on custom firmware, that can support "magic switch" mode 🎩. But for now you can just use ewelink.
Great video, thank you.
Glad you liked it!
Hey, great video !! do you know if this trick works in Mini R4 ?? Thanks !!
Unfortunately no😥😮💨. Maybe if we all make some noise, then sonoff might implement "magic switch mode" across the range of smart switches soon😉.
Thanks for your video. Saves my 3 way project 🎉. Would you know if this works for Basic R2 and/ or R3?
No unfortunately this is a new feature only for the Basic-R4
Great content - Thanks!
Do you think this would work with a single throw switch, with the bridge between the incoming and outgoing? The contacts should lose connection when the switch is flipped. Not sure if it will be long enough though. All our light switches are single pole, single throw.
can you bild diy switch NO-NEUTRAL using zigbee
so glad I found your channel. Very clear videos. I watched this and your other video Sonoff extreme MINIr4 on 3way switch light UK NO-NEUTRAL required at light switch #Sonoff #extreme. What happens in both of these installs if the Zegbee coordinator or Home Assistant installation is down. Do the physical switches still work the lights?
Yes! the manual switch still works, and will control the smart relay even when wifi and zigbee is down.😉👍
@@MyProjectBoxChannel thanks for that. As a UK person living in an old house I imagine that I will think it is unlikely that I will have neutral available (electrician calling soon to confirm this) So starting out with Home Assistant I have initially fitted window and door sensors in the house and installed two or three Ikea Tradfri repeaters. All going well so far. Next I was thinking that I'd have to start replacing light switches to give control via Home Asst and to act as Zigbee repeaters. Having watched some of your videos it seems as if you are more of a fanboy of Sonoff Mini units. Am I right in saying that these are easier to install and you may need fewer as with 2way switching you have to replace 2 switches - with the Sonoff you only install one bit of kit. Plus your family will not notice as the old wall switches are all there as before.
Plus you have these Sonoff units working as Zigbee repeaters as well?
Overall - you are voting Sonoff mini units over say Aqara wall smart switches (esp the no-neutral one which some pundits say have a poorer track record on reliability?
@@fergusanderson5307 I did start with Sonoff years ago, but I don't have any special loyalty to them. Sonoff have sent me lots of free stuff to test and make videos. There is loads of other good brands on the market. But I like to come up with custom solutions for problems. So I have come up with some circuit hacks over the years, to help solve some of the issues people come across. Sonoff "magic switch mode" might solve some problems for some people, but be aware that some people have reported that it won't always work with certain types of switches. I'm hoping that sonoff will be all Matter-enabled soon. That way you don't have to rely on the ewelink cloud services, and have direct local control, without the need for custom firmware flashing.
Very smart
Will the L1 and L2 lines carry a large current?
Can I use thinner wire?
The link will carry the main lighting circuit current, so the wiring needs to be rated accordingly. But in general most LED lights are low current, so down to 1mm2(or even 0.75) should be fine.
Hi’ why do the tile of the video is Magic Switch …. « NO-NEUTRAL » … smart lighting when all your examples show neutral wire. I live in Canada in an old house and there is no neutral wire in the house. And I thought this could help me a lot. But I am confuse now. It is simply that we use different terminology ? Thanks in advance
NO-NEUTRAL refers to not needing a neutral wire behind the light switch box. Many smart switches and smart relays, require a neutral at the light switch to function. Some of my videos provide a workaround if you don't have this neutral connection behind the switch. My circuits works by utilising the neutral at the light fixture itself. I believe In North American you call it Hot and Neutral for 120v , and Line to Line (Hot to Hot) for 240V. So if you have two "Hot" wires, one of them can be considered as "neutral" for the purpose of completing the circuit.
Do you think it’s ok if I don’t send N to the bulb and control just the L with the R4? I’m thinking to place it behind the wall because it will control multiple spot lights. Thanks!
@@Modern_Sokratis you still need a neutral "return" connection up by the ceiling lights to complete the circuit, so the light bulbs can operate. But it does not need to come from the N-out terminal on the Sonoff. So you should already have the neutral/return, by the ceiling lights, from original installation. So you don't need to take the neutral from N-out to the lights.
@@MyProjectBoxChannel yes, exactly what I was thinking to do, thanks a lot you are a life saver 🛟
Any chance to WiFi enable a Centurion D5 Gate Motor with a SONOFF 1Channel Inching Self-Locking WiFi Switch 5V 12V
Amazing!!!
Interesting! But I have some questions:
So if there is a glitch in the power grid, all the lights in the country using this thing will switch on/off simultaniously?
If scaled up big enough, this could cause some serious sudden load or drop of load on the grid.
Also, if this happens when no one is home it might turn on the ligth in the house due to a glitch in the power grid, could it?
You have a good point. The timing of this glitch would need to be very specific. I tried replicating it with a loose connection, without any luck. It is theoretically possible🤔. I will have to do some probing with a oscilloscope, to see the effect of the flipping of the switch has. I know the default power on mode is with the relay off. It's probably a good Idea to have a automatic off time delay, just incase you get a false trigger.
Thanks for the explanation
Very interesting solution,
those anybody knows for smaller products that can do the same?
Sonoff mini4 is quite small and fits well. Would you think it could work like a magic switch as well, if the switch powers both the mini4 L1 input (and has got a capasitor like Basic4) and the mini4 switch input - or would/ could an external capasitor/resistor L1 powerfeed be needed?
Unfortunately I don't think it can work like that with the mini-4. The new Basic-R4 has a special detection circuit inside. Hopefully Sonoff will implement this feature across it's range 🙏 in the future. I think a smart bulb with "magic switch" would be brilliant. I made my own circuit that did something similar but with a diode instead of a wire Link. ua-cam.com/video/YItMu6VJGBI/v-deo.html
And with 2-way lighting
ua-cam.com/video/9hQFFsBkxaU/v-deo.html
@@MyProjectBoxChannel .. got the Basic R4 and compared it to mini4. Seems lile mini4 needs a switch from on to off or off to on to activate. R4 just needs a small pause to activate - thud working fine with a 2 way switch.
@@larsw.larsen4173 the magic switch function makes the Basic-R4 ideal for 2-way lighting. It's just unfortunately a bit bigger, and won't easily fit behind a light switch. It's better suited to go up by the light fixture.
Anyway - I dont have neutral at switch level, so up at the lamp would be easiest to instal anyway. Mini4 or bulp with magic would be more easy to hide away😅
I have two of these installed in separate lights and I find they do not always notice the manual switch being pressed which is a bit annoying.
How do I bridge my light switches if I have a 4 way setup with 4 intermediate switches?
4 intermediate switches WoW!😜 Where in the world do you live? Because the wiring in the UK, can be very different for multi-way lighting. If its wired the "normal" way, you just have to link out L1 and L2, on the first or last switch. If it's wired in "UK 3-plate", with twin & earth, you will need to reconfigure some of the wiring.
Cool hack, I will try that. But what about power outages? Then the light goes on right by its self right? Any idea how to deal with it?
I'm not sure about this device but I know light switches I can choose on or off state when power returns.
How to make dry contact on R4, I succeeded on the R3, but I don't know how on this one.
I have not tried to make a "dry contract" with the newer sonoff basic, but the magic switch detection circuit is probably connected the relay contacts, so I don't know if the contacts can be insulated🤔
does this work with the R4 mini?
Sadly 😥 No👎. But sonoff should really think about extending magic switch to the rest of their range. A smart bulb with "magic switch" would be very. useful.
will it work with a doorbell switch?
No, is the short answer🤔😥. But it might be possible if you have a normally closed version of the door bell switch. And even then the doorbell switch cannot be pressed for a long time, it has to be pressed very briefly. Otherwise the sonoff will lose power and start to shut down. You could try and modify a light switch and put a spring inside.
How long is that "glitch"exactly in milliseconds?
@@hunakaka I'm not sure🤔. I would have to measure it with a oscilloscope. But I think there will be some discrepancy between different light switches. I guess the time delay would have to be with in a small range.
Hi, can this works with sonoff TH16R2?
No. As far as I know it's only the Basic-R4 that has magic switch mode😥
Does this magic switch mode only work on BASIC-R4 or all sonoff relays after that?
Only the Basic-R4 at the moment I'm afraid 😢
Too bad R4 has yet to be found where I live. Guess I will have to wait 🥲
Hi will this also work with line to line circuit?
Yes
@@MyProjectBoxChannel i have an existing 2 way switch with pilot lamp, is it ok to still put a wirelink between l1 and l2? Thank you for your reply.
@@rj-ck6fu the most important thing it that, it is a switch that has a contact that can changeover from L1 to L2. Some switches only switch between L1 and off. I guess the pilot lamp is a neon indicator lamp🤔. I'm not sure if this will interfere with "magic switch". Give it a test? I don't think it will be a problem.
@@MyProjectBoxChannel Thank you so much!
6:04 I'm not sure it can be both, I think it will need to one or the other.
I tested it and it does work with both links in place😉
@@MyProjectBoxChannel even with both wires between the switches? In that case .... mind blown!
Thanks for the correction.
Also works with push button??
I think so, it must be working like an impulse relay, Every power state changes the switch's on off state