Help with 3-way light switch

Posted by Techhead on June 26, 2008, 11:10 pm

I had asked my father to re-sheetrock my kitchen ceiling. I had a
light fixture in the middle run by 3-way switches. He failed to re-
wire it correctly and now there is constant power to the light and
both switches don't work. The other problem is there are 4 wires
running into the light box and I have no clue how to re-wire this. Not
sure why there are 4 wires running into the ligh box on a 3-way
switch.

Posted by hr(bob) hofmann@att.net on June 26, 2008, 11:45 pm

> I had asked my father to re-sheetrock my kitchen ceiling. I had a
> light fixture in the middle run by 3-way switches. He failed to re-
> wire it correctly and now there is constant power to the light and
> both switches don't work. The other problem is there are 4 wires
> running into the light box and I have no clue how to re-wire this. Not
> sure why there are 4 wires running into the ligh box on a 3-way
> switch.

Didn't you suggest tagging the wires before removing them. Have you
asked him exactly what he did so you can reconstruct the original? Do
you know how 3-way swictches are supposed to be wired|? If you do,
just disconnect all the wires and start over.

Posted by metspitzer on June 27, 2008, 12:44 am

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:10:27 -0700 (PDT), Techhead

>I had asked my father to re-sheetrock my kitchen ceiling. I had a
>light fixture in the middle run by 3-way switches. He failed to re-
>wire it correctly and now there is constant power to the light and
>both switches don't work. The other problem is there are 4 wires
>running into the light box and I have no clue how to re-wire this. Not
>sure why there are 4 wires running into the ligh box on a 3-way
>switch.

Tell us how many cables each box has and how many wires each cable
has.

Posted by metspitzer on June 27, 2008, 12:48 am

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:10:27 -0700 (PDT), Techhead

>I had asked my father to re-sheetrock my kitchen ceiling. I had a
>light fixture in the middle run by 3-way switches. He failed to re-
>wire it correctly and now there is constant power to the light and
>both switches don't work. The other problem is there are 4 wires
>running into the light box and I have no clue how to re-wire this. Not
>sure why there are 4 wires running into the ligh box on a 3-way
>switch.

Actually, if you never messed with the switches just tell us how many
cables are in the light box and how many wires are in each cable.

Posted by metspitzer on June 27, 2008, 12:52 am

On Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:10:27 -0700 (PDT), Techhead

>I had asked my father to re-sheetrock my kitchen ceiling. I had a
>light fixture in the middle run by 3-way switches. He failed to re-
>wire it correctly and now there is constant power to the light and
>both switches don't work. The other problem is there are 4 wires
>running into the light box and I have no clue how to re-wire this. Not
>sure why there are 4 wires running into the ligh box on a 3-way
>switch.

He most likely just put the black wire from the light back under the
wrong wirenut.

IF you have a wire that is not attached to anything, it probably
should go to the black wire for the light.

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