Finally figured out that weird low-voltage switch in my 1970s living room

I ran into this exact setup in my 1968 ranch when I tried to swap out the ivory toggles for some modern rockers. I saw those tiny 18-gauge wires and realized I was dealing with an old GE RR7 relay system. In my house, all those wires run back to a massive transformer box hidden behind a panel in the garage. If you hear a loud mechanical "clack" coming from the walls when you hit a switch, that's the relay doing the heavy lifting.

The biggest headache I found was that you can't just put a standard dimmer on these. I ended up having to source some specific low-voltage momentary switches from a specialty supplier online to keep the system working without frying the circuit. It's a trip seeing how they used to over-engineer things back then just to save a bit of copper. definately keep your tester handy becuase the voltage at those switches is ussually only around 24V, wich won't do much for your new recessed cans.

My experiance with those GE and Remcon setups ussually involves the switches themselves failing rather than the wiring. In my 1972 split-level, the switches are momentary contact—they click up for on and down for off, but always return to the center position. When I tried to update the look of the room, I found out the hard way that you can't just slap a standard toggle or rocker switch on there. If you hold a regular switch in the 'on' position, you'll burn out the solenoid in the relay within minutes becasue it is not designed for continuous current.

I ended up sourcing some specialized Touch-Plate replacements that fit the old low-voltage footprint. It is a bit of a niche market now, and they aren't cheap compared to a basic switch from the hardware store. If you're planning on keeping the system, check your relay cabinet first to see if it is a 3-wire or 2-wire setup. Mixing those up or trying to bridge them with modern smart dimmers without an interface module is a recipe for a blown transformer.

I’m still trying to wrap my head around how these systems even work. I don't know much about circuits yet, but if I don't hear that loud "clack" noise when I flip my switches, does that mean I definitly have regular high-voltage wiring? I’m terrified of accidentally hooking up 120v to somthing that’s only meant for 24v.

Also, if I do have a transformer, are they always in a panel like you mentioned, or coud it be hidden behind the drywall somewhere? I’d have no idea where to even start looking for it if it's not in the garage.

To the guy asking about the 'clack'—if it's silent, you might be looking at a Touch-Plate system instead of GE. Their 5000-series relays are way quieter than those chunky RR7s. As for the transformer, don't just look in the garage. I've found 'em buried in the attic under a foot of blown-in insulation or tucked inside the actual j-box of the master bedroom closet light. If you’re realy unlucky, someone plastered over the access panel in a '90s remodel. Grab a Klein NCVT-2P and start tracing the lines from the switch back. Just don't expect to find a standard 4x4 box every time.