I’m updating the switches throughout my house. I have an old rotary style single-pole dimmer controlling the just-as-old chandelier in my dining room. This dimmer shares a double-gang box with a 3-way switch that controls half-hot receptacles in a connecting room. (For context: both switches are on the same circuit but unrelated, as the 3-way switch is the dead end of the 3-way.)
So...back to the dimmer wires. There are two black wire pigtails pre-attached and coming out of the back of the old dimmer. There are no screw terminals. Each black wire is attached to a separate single black wire coming out of the box. The new dimmer I’m replacing it with is a rocker switch with a small slider next to it. The new dimmer can be used in a single-pole/1-way or a 3-way application. (More specifically, Legrand Radiant RHCL453PTC.)
The old rotary dimmer is a no-name brand from 1986 (even though this house was built in ‘96), so any identifyable markings are nonexistent. I know for an ordinary single pole single throw switch, wire placement is typically interchangeable (with the exception to the grounding conductor, obviously). Is this the same for a dimmer switch? How about if the dimmer switch can be used in both a single pole and 3-way application, separately?