Light switches

Posted by gcotterl on November 6, 2009, 10:35 am

I have an L-shaped hallway with:

a ceiling light in the middle of each leg
a light switch at the end of each leg
a light switch at the intersection.

Several years ago, I used to be able to turn the lights on and off
from any switch. But now the lights can be turned on and off by only
one switch (at the end of one leg).

In previous attempts to resolve this problem, I replaced all of the
switches but I didn't record what wires went to each terminal.

Question: What kind of new switches do I need (single-pole, 3-way, 4-
way) and how many of each?

How do I determine what wire connects to each terminal of each switch?

Posted by N8N on November 6, 2009, 10:52 am

> I have an L-shaped hallway with:
> =A0 =A0 =A0a ceiling light in the middle of each leg
> =A0 =A0 =A0a light switch at the end of each leg
> =A0 =A0 =A0a light switch at the intersection.
> Several years ago, I used to be able to turn the lights on and off
> from any switch. =A0But now the lights can be turned on and off by only
> one switch (at the end of one leg).
> In previous attempts to resolve this problem, I replaced all of the
> switches but I didn't record what wires went to each terminal.
> Question: =A0What kind of new switches do I need (single-pole, 3-way, 4-
> way) and how many of each?
> How do I determine what wire connects to each terminal of each switch?

You need two three way switches and one four way (or you can use three
four way switches and just disregard one terminal on each.)

To determine how to hook them up, you'd have to open up all the boxes
and puzzle out the wiring. There's many different ways they could be
hooked up and it is difficult to determine from here which you have :)

nate

Posted by Joe on November 6, 2009, 12:19 pm

> I have an L-shaped hallway with:
> a ceiling light in the middle of each leg
> a light switch at the end of each leg
> a light switch at the intersection.
> Several years ago, I used to be able to turn the lights on and off
> from any switch. But now the lights can be turned on and off by only
> one switch (at the end of one leg).
> In previous attempts to resolve this problem, I replaced all of the
> switches but I didn't record what wires went to each terminal.
> Question: What kind of new switches do I need (single-pole, 3-way, 4-
> way) and how many of each?
> How do I determine what wire connects to each terminal of each switch?

Posted by Josh on November 6, 2009, 12:34 pm

>> I have an L-shaped hallway with:
>> a ceiling light in the middle of each leg
>> a light switch at the end of each leg
>> a light switch at the intersection.
>> Several years ago, I used to be able to turn the lights on and off
>> from any switch. But now the lights can be turned on and off by only
>> one switch (at the end of one leg).
>> In previous attempts to resolve this problem, I replaced all of the
>> switches but I didn't record what wires went to each terminal.
>> Question: What kind of new switches do I need (single-pole, 3-way, 4-
>> way) and how many of each?
>> How do I determine what wire connects to each terminal of each switch?

>You need two three way switches and one four way (or you can use three
>four way switches and just disregard one terminal on each.)
>To determine how to hook them up, you'd have to open up all the boxes
>and puzzle out the wiring. There's many different ways they could be
>hooked up and it is difficult to determine from here which you have :)
>nate
>You can't use a four way as a substitute for a 3-way. There's no common
>terminal on a four way switch.

Sure you can; any of the 4 terminals can be the common, with the
travelers connected to the opposite 2 (and the one directly across
unused).

To the OP, you need to continuity-check the wires to figure out which
ones are the "travelers" -- these go between the switches only. The
original 3-way switch locations will have 2 travelers, the 4-way
location will have 4 travelers (2 each connected to the 2 at each
3-way location).

Google "4 way switch diagram" and you'll find more information --
there are many ways to run the physical wires, but they all degenerate
to the same switching flow.

Josh

Posted by Joe on November 6, 2009, 1:12 pm

>>> I have an L-shaped hallway with:
>>> a ceiling light in the middle of each leg
>>> a light switch at the end of each leg
>>> a light switch at the intersection.
>>> Several years ago, I used to be able to turn the lights on and off
>>> from any switch. But now the lights can be turned on and off by only
>>> one switch (at the end of one leg).
>>> In previous attempts to resolve this problem, I replaced all of the
>>> switches but I didn't record what wires went to each terminal.
>>> Question: What kind of new switches do I need (single-pole, 3-way, 4-
>>> way) and how many of each?
>>> How do I determine what wire connects to each terminal of each switch?

>>You need two three way switches and one four way (or you can use three
>>four way switches and just disregard one terminal on each.)
>>To determine how to hook them up, you'd have to open up all the boxes
>>and puzzle out the wiring. There's many different ways they could be
>>hooked up and it is difficult to determine from here which you have :)
>>nate
>>You can't use a four way as a substitute for a 3-way. There's no common
>>terminal on a four way switch.

> Sure you can; any of the 4 terminals can be the common, with the
> travelers connected to the opposite 2 (and the one directly across
> unused).
> To the OP, you need to continuity-check the wires to figure out which
> ones are the "travelers" -- these go between the switches only. The
> original 3-way switch locations will have 2 travelers, the 4-way
> location will have 4 travelers (2 each connected to the 2 at each
> 3-way location).
> Google "4 way switch diagram" and you'll find more information --
> there are many ways to run the physical wires, but they all degenerate
> to the same switching flow.
> Josh

Josh,

How? if you number the terminals on a 4 way as 1 through 4, the hot ones
are 1 and 3 when the switch is in one position and the hots are 2 and 4 when
the switch is in the other position. There is not one terminal that is
'common'. If there's no common, then you don't have a terminal that goes
from the switch to the fixture (or, for that matter, there's no common for
the originating hot). If I'm misunderstanding this, please help me out.

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