Sonoff Magic Switch mode: a new alternative to 'single live wire' or 'no neutral wire'

If you have an old light switch and no neutral wire, this Magic Switch Mode is a new way to turn your old light switch smart. So far it is available for the new Sonoff Basic R4. It is an alternative to the single live wire type smart switches.

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Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:51 Why use this new mode?
2:46 How it works?
5:02 Visual impact
6:25 Wiring
8:20 Other thoughts
10:14 Outro

[hassanskouri]

شكراااااااا لك صديقي على الشرح المبسط، فكرة ممتازة جدا، لأنني كنت محتاجا إليها بالفعل.
Thanks you so much.

[JonathanTurner-pjgo]

Thank you for a simple comprehensive guide to this feature. I just installed one for a bathroom towel rail which I had previously added a local switch to - I wanted even more control over it for when visitors use the room. A few observations which others may find useful:
1. If the Sonoff box is to be on display (i.e. not hidden behind plasterboard) then it would be really useful if the box had an earth/ground pass-through to make wiring neater.
2. The towel rail is 500W and the magic switch feature works fine.
3. Software and App is good and integration to Alexa, Google etc is good.
4. Oddly, the instructions that came with the box did not contain the wiring guidance for or any mention of the magic switch function!
5. The connectors are very small - they only allow about 5mm of bare wire to be inserted.
6. I've got some BasicR2 versions and they have a red led that indicates the state (on/off). The BasicR4 does not seem to have that which is especially annoying.
7. However, the R4 is clearly an upgrade in terms of hardware and software. It seemed to do 5g wifi no problem. Longer screws supplied for covers.
Happy New Year.

[williamterry]

Thank you for explaining this new feature.

[ziomalZparafii]

That's actually quite smart approach with a few downsides: 1) requires stair switch, with L1 and L2. Most of light switches only have just one output; 2) mixing physical switch with electronic one has the same issue that stair switches - "on" sometimes is up and sometimes is down - far less intuitive than just having classic "up for on, down for off" across the whole house; 3) as with most "one wire" solution, requires leak current to operate but that's obvious - electronic devices needs current to work :) but that means that some LED bulbs will glow when off -> one solution for that is to have a few parallel bulbs or one incandescent lamp so current goes through it (less resistance) and do not power LED ones. But this is exactly the same issue with switches with a backlight. I have 5 bulbs lamp and if one of them burns, the rest 4 starts to glow when off. With 5 the current is low enough not to power them up.

[CoisasSmart]

With this magic mode, the smartbulb is always on or turn off when basic r4 turn of the bulb?

[thebatu]

Hi, if i use the r4 on a 2 way switch, would i need to bridge the 2nd switch the same way?

[frederichardy]

The thing is I don't like is that the "ON" position of the switch change each time you use the app to change the lamp state (like a 2 ways switch) like @ziomalZparafii. I wonder if you can use a push button (closed at idle, open when activated) because the open time may be too long (making it acting as a 2 stable states relay)?

[thineshrao]

will the normal switch work if the wifi connection got lost??

[arniepieinthesky]

so can you turn it on at the switch and turn it off on the app and vice versa?

[mirino]

How about compatibility ? Tasmota -> "Magic Switch mode"

[arniepieinthesky]

Also will the same device work with both android and apple?
Thanks

[williamterry]

Yes, you would what is called a three way switch in the USA.

[videolan]

The reason that your led light did not work is that the magic switch needs a voltage potential "leak" that can only be provided by a device that use 2 to 3 watts or more. The power to operate the Sonoiff comes from the "leak" - it is not "magic"!