17
Note - these remarks are from a North American perspective, but I believe switching is done the same way in Europe.
Switch terminology can be confusing but once you understand it, it is pretty simple.
When there's just one switch controlling the lights, it's simple, just a plain switch, labelled ON in the up position, OFF in the down position. ...
15
Notice how the two terminals are brass? Those are travelers. You'll save yourself a world of confusion if you get a 5-color pack of electrical tape and mark the traveler wires yellow. Every 3-way switch circuit is different. Colors are totally inconsistent in 3-way switches, the next one you see might have red and white travelers.
It's not unusual to ...
answered Feb 17 '20 at 1:03
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
12
In residential interior wiring, voltage irregularities generally are only a concern when over-voltages are seen and not under-voltages. Incidentally however, when there is an under-voltage, there is usually an over-voltage on the opposite phase somewhere else to balance it out.
113V is fine. Light bulbs, except for the LEDs, are pure resistive loads and ...
11
You can transition wiring methods at a junction box. Use the EMT wiring method up to the junction box (whole nine yards with fittings and clamps). Then use the NM wiring method beyond it. The junction box must remain accessible without screws, nails or demolition (other than the ones on the junction box lid, of course). If you don't like the aesthetics ...
answered Oct 17 '19 at 18:47
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
10
It's a floating neutral.
But it's only the one circuit.
Find, re-strip, re-splice, and tighten down all of that circuit's neutral connections. If it goes directly through an outlet, pigtail it.
10
Yes, you can do that and it will swap the power to the light and fan. Just remember to turn off the power at the breaker before doing any work.
9
DON'T try random stuff when you get stuck
Trying to replace actual knowledge with "throw things at the wall and see what sticks" is a fatal error when dealing with electrical equipment. Why? The entire strategy is based on stopping when you find "the" combination that works. Actually, many combinations will work and also kill you. The only way to avoid ...
answered May 31 '19 at 16:29
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
9
In your photo the the round holes you've circled at the top are the backstabs for the travelers for the switch. They're quick connection terminals that are known to be unreliable. You want to shepherd hook the wire and hook it around the brass screw terminals and tighten the screws. It's a good idea to tape the travelers with some yellow tape for future ...
8
Congratulations! You just found a Carter 3-way!
This configuration switches each "side" of the lamp between hot and neutral, as depicted in the illustration below:
(source: Wtshymanski/Wikipedia)
However, due to the switch in the neutral wire, it was possible for the shell of the lampholder to be hot even if it was switched off, leading to a shock hazard!...
8
My understanding from the description (very good by the way) is that you have two duplex receptacles that have the two upper outlets both simultaneously controlled by the three way switches. The lower outlets should be on all the time.
If that assumption is correct, then the solution is very simple. Turn off the power, unmount the receptacles, but leave ...
7
Everything you are saying depends on where the electrician checked the voltages. Dimmers will affect the voltages on the load side. So did the electrician check for voltage drop across the dimmers themselves? If there is a drop it would be there. The other thing that causes abnormal voltage drop are joints not making a solid electrical connection. So look ...
6
Short answer, most dimmers do get warm when in use. If the dimmer does not have a mechanical method of turning completely off. Then there is a good chance that you are still getting some electrical flow through the switch and that would mean the dimmer could stay warm. In other words what @Harper said.
The biggest question I would have would be if it was ...
6
You'll lose your mind dealing with all the red black white business. Get a 5-pack of colored electrical tape and start marking wires for their actual function. Always mark wires the same at both ends. Here is what's really happening in a 3-way.
First, the two traveler wires get marked yellow. There is no need to tell them from each other. So in the /...
answered Nov 27 '18 at 2:24
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
6
This is how multiway switching works.
These are US friendly colors (regardless, colors tend to be a big mess in multiway circuits). Note the funny switch in the middle; it is different from the switches on the ends. The diagram may be a little unclear, the switch in the middle has 2 positions, either straight-thru or effectively switching the wires.
There ...
answered Feb 16 '19 at 15:51
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
6
TLDR: Find the ballast. Cut its #18 white and black power lead halfway down its length, and fit a ballast disconnect there. (don't bother connecting the ballast side). Connect your LEDs on the ballast side of that.
Since the fixure did not tap into those wires before, you leave them the heck alone.
The irrational need to play with wire groups that are ...
answered Dec 13 '19 at 13:02
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
6
Assuming the rocker on this switch doesn't say ON and OFF, this is most likely the middle switch in a "4-way" arrangement. This is when three or more switches control a light. The switches on the "end" of this setup will be the three-way switches you are used to. The one(s) in the middle will be 4 way switches with 4 screws. Rather than connecting ...
6
That should be fine. The only question is how many neutral (white) wires are connected and if two, are they connected to separate wires to the fan. If there are two and they connect separately, you should swap them too.
As @Jack noted, make sure to turn off the breaker before working; don’t depend on the switches being off.
5
Power off.
Pick any 2 of the capped wires formerly attached to the 3-way.
Nut those two together.
Leave the third wire nutted independently.
Power on.
Throw any other switch in the 3/4 way group. Does the light turn on or off?
all other 3/4-ways work correctly -- fail*. Pick a different pair and go to 1.
lights do not work in either position -- ...
answered Dec 4 '17 at 0:20
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
5
Here's the headache. Cables are color-coded to distinguish wires from each other. They're not color-coded by function, which makes 3-ways super confusing. We're gonna fix that. Get a common 5-pack of colored electrical tape.
There is only one /3 cable. On both ends of that cable, tape both the red and black wires yellow. Yes, really; both wires get ...
answered Oct 2 '18 at 17:46
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
5
You now have them correct, the one good thing with 3 wires connecting the 3 way switches you don't have to worry about burning things down they just don't work as you found out if they are wrong. Good job of figuring it out, you would not believe how many times I have been called to do what you just figured out.
5
Yes, it's fairly easy to confuse the common terminal with the traveler terminals, becuase they are in a different position on every model of switch.
The rule of thumb is that the 2 travelers always go into the same cable, whereas the common will not, at least not at one end.
So for instance if one end all 3 wires (red white black) go into the same ...
answered Dec 5 '18 at 1:50
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
5
Almost certainly the hot is one of the 3, and the single wire goes to the light this dimmer controls, while the other 2 wires feed unswitched hot to other devices. Given that your assumption is opposite, you MIGHT want to consider an electrician, or further self-education.
See Light Switch Terminals which is a very similar question (one less wire in the ...
5
Better idea: use a part listed for the job to bypass the errant current around the lights
Fortunately, there's a way to bypass the errant "phantom" current (from capacitive coupling through the parallel traveler wires) back to neutral without doing anything that'd void your insurance. Simply nut a Lutron LUT-MLC in between switched-hot and neutral ...
5
This is two three-way switches from the looks of things, but wired in a nonstandard fashion
From the wires you have, this does appear to be a fairly basic three-way switch circuit with both switches on loops from the light fixture, but with the way the second switch is wired, and the way you were able to get it working, it's not a standard three-way switch. ...
5
Based on your details on what you did with the replacement outlet, I'd say you didn't remove the metal tab on the outlet connecting the two brass, power, screws. Doing this allows the two outlets to be split between always hot and switched hot.
The one wire you "punched" into the backstab should be pigtailed so you don't use the backstab. they are ...
5
OK, I notice that in the "junction" box, you have matched up all black wires and all white wires. As if you expected that all wires just come naturally color-coded like that. No, that does not happen, unless you do it yourself.
Designing a 3-way+lamp complex is not that hard. Certain wires have to go certain places, and they have conventional ...
answered Feb 16 at 1:41
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
5
Don't waste your time. Have a /3 cable bypass the lamps.
This is a rather straightforward problem if you aren't trying to snake the travelers through the bulb sockets. I know you imagine some great cost savings in wire by doing that... forget it.
Besides... running travelers through the bulb sockets is pointless, and takes up a LOT of splice space inside ...
answered Feb 23 at 22:02
Harper - Reinstate Monica
182k15 gold badges162 silver badges414 bronze badges
5
No, you're actually fine on that front here
The C-D conduit meets 300.3(B) despite not having a neutral in it for the same reason old-style switch loops were compliant with that rule: all the power is coming back via the same wiring path it went to the switch on. In other words, current in on the hot = current out on one of the two travelers, which are both ...
4
Further information is obviously needed here. Maybe this can help you at least find out what the crap is going on how it is currently wired. Don't unhook anything yet because it needs to still be working for this. Here's how I would approach this "discovery phase" of your project.
First the stuff needed:
A tester or meter capable of showing whether a ...
4
Nice drawing. Very clear and looks correct. It would be a mistake to tie the two neutral wires in box A. This would create a circuit loop and a fire risk from heating when one circuit is on and the other is off. There may also be hum if you use switches or lights that include electronic circuits such as fluorescent ballasts. It's OK to wire this up as drawn.
...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
