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Recently I decided to replace a light switch in my garage with a RRW600U motion sensor switch.

The previous switch had three wires; black, red and white. There's another switch on this circuit that controls the lights as well. When I toggle the other switch, voltage moves from the black & red wires to the black & white wires.

When reading through the linked instructions for an existing 3-way switch it advises me to connection hot to the provided black wire, one of the runners to yellow and the power to the lights (load) to the red wire.

After some research I'm a bit confused as I would assume both the red & white wires are "runners" in this scenario and I'm not sure which one should be used as load. And to take it to a bit more practical level, wiring the switch up with black->black, red->red, yellow->white AND black->black, red->white, yellow->red prevents both switches on the circuit from functioning.

Any thoughts as to what I might be doing wrong? I'm happy to provide more details as need but not sure where to start.

Update - Here are some photos of the setup.

This is the outlet where I'd like to install the new switch. It shares a wall with the interior of my house.

Main-Switch

This is the outlet with the secondary light switch. That's the far left switch. The middle and right control exterior lights.

Alt-Switch

Here's the run of electrical between the 3-gang box (right) and the wall that contains the switch I'd like to update (left).

Run

The run of cables I mentioned above all run into the wall with the switch I'd like to update.

IntoWall

I can get more information if necessary.

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  • Where does the power come into your setup? Is it coming in from a switch or the box for the fixture?
    – Machavity
    Apr 10, 2017 at 0:17
  • @Machavity The switch I'm working on shares a wall with an interior switch and they're both on the same breaker. So my best guess is it's coming through the interior wall. I do see a group of wires that run out of the wall in question, through the rafters and to the fixtures and other switches.
    – Staros
    Apr 10, 2017 at 0:25
  • Ok, so the other 3-way switch location. Can you post a photo or drawing of all the wires and cables (how wires are grouped) that are in that junction box and how they attach to that switch? Or describe it if simple? Also, do you need that location to continue working? Apr 10, 2017 at 0:49
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    @Staros Let me put this a different way: do you have a switch that has both the RBW wires AND a black and white pair?
    – Machavity
    Apr 10, 2017 at 1:18
  • @Harper - Done. And honestly, I do not need the second switch (the one in the three gang box) to continue to work. It's in a weird location.
    – Staros
    Apr 10, 2017 at 1:50

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