Tommy Mac Discussions › Forums › Fix-it Forum: Home Improvement & Do It Yourself Repair Forum › 3 way electrical switch

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    • August 13, 2004 at 2:15 am #46529
      TomR1972
      Participant

      I just replaced two 3 way switches, however now one acts as a main and the other as a sub. Let me explain the upstairs switch…..if its switched on then the downstairs switch will turn the light on and off. However if the upstairs switch is off then the downstairs switch will not work at all. I obviously have one wire incorrect …can anyone help?

      Thanks in advance,

      Tom R

    • August 13, 2004 at 9:44 am #249918
      doug seibert
      Participant

      The wrong wire is attached to the DARK
      screw……..

      You can try swapping wires and testing…..

      “Usually”….The same colored wires should both attach to the brass screws….

      And here’s a LINK to use a Meter/helper to test/fix…..

      http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/misc/switches/confused3way.html

    • August 14, 2004 at 5:34 pm #249956
      homebild
      Participant

      http://www.geocities.com/harpshomeimprovements/3waylightswitch.html

    • August 15, 2004 at 1:28 am #249975
      haclift
      Participant

      http://www.msnusers.com/clift
      Two 3 way switch schematic available from haclift@yahoo.com Two two way switches can be connected like you have the 3 way connected.
      In English language connect two three way switches as follows:
      Connect the center post of one switch to the hot and the center post of the other switch to the light.
      Connect the other (outer) two post of both switches together.
      Feed the common and the ground straight through.

      haclift

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