Travelers on 3 way switch are hot
Replacing 3 way switch (horizontal switch) 2 separate 3 ways in one box, each switch has its own power going to it. Top switch two travelers are hot common is not. it seems to work fine with the old switch attached, just curious as to why?
wiring
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
|
show 2 more comments
Replacing 3 way switch (horizontal switch) 2 separate 3 ways in one box, each switch has its own power going to it. Top switch two travelers are hot common is not. it seems to work fine with the old switch attached, just curious as to why?
wiring
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
2
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51
|
show 2 more comments
Replacing 3 way switch (horizontal switch) 2 separate 3 ways in one box, each switch has its own power going to it. Top switch two travelers are hot common is not. it seems to work fine with the old switch attached, just curious as to why?
wiring
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
Replacing 3 way switch (horizontal switch) 2 separate 3 ways in one box, each switch has its own power going to it. Top switch two travelers are hot common is not. it seems to work fine with the old switch attached, just curious as to why?
wiring
wiring
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
edited Nov 13 '18 at 21:45
Daniel Griscom
4,79672238
4,79672238
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
asked Nov 13 '18 at 18:17
JohnJohn
113
113
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
2
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51
|
show 2 more comments
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
2
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
2
2
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51
|
show 2 more comments
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
The usual reason is that the installer is moving the wires to the same position on the new switch, rather than looking at the screws' function -- because every 3-way has their screws in different places and the installer did not realize the screw colors are the important part. That's the usual reason.
This is one reason I make a point to positively identify the two travelers and mark them with yellow electrical tape. Yellow wires on yellow screws, there ya go. In a cabinet with two unrelated 3-ways working in close proximity, I use blue, purple or green for the second set of travelers. They sell a 5-pack of 5 colors of electrical tape for about $5 in most stores.
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ready(function()
var channelOptions =
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "73"
;
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
createEditor();
);
else
createEditor();
);
function createEditor()
StackExchange.prepareEditor(
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: false,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: null,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader:
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
,
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
);
);
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fdiy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f150548%2ftravelers-on-3-way-switch-are-hot%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
The usual reason is that the installer is moving the wires to the same position on the new switch, rather than looking at the screws' function -- because every 3-way has their screws in different places and the installer did not realize the screw colors are the important part. That's the usual reason.
This is one reason I make a point to positively identify the two travelers and mark them with yellow electrical tape. Yellow wires on yellow screws, there ya go. In a cabinet with two unrelated 3-ways working in close proximity, I use blue, purple or green for the second set of travelers. They sell a 5-pack of 5 colors of electrical tape for about $5 in most stores.
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
add a comment |
The usual reason is that the installer is moving the wires to the same position on the new switch, rather than looking at the screws' function -- because every 3-way has their screws in different places and the installer did not realize the screw colors are the important part. That's the usual reason.
This is one reason I make a point to positively identify the two travelers and mark them with yellow electrical tape. Yellow wires on yellow screws, there ya go. In a cabinet with two unrelated 3-ways working in close proximity, I use blue, purple or green for the second set of travelers. They sell a 5-pack of 5 colors of electrical tape for about $5 in most stores.
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
add a comment |
The usual reason is that the installer is moving the wires to the same position on the new switch, rather than looking at the screws' function -- because every 3-way has their screws in different places and the installer did not realize the screw colors are the important part. That's the usual reason.
This is one reason I make a point to positively identify the two travelers and mark them with yellow electrical tape. Yellow wires on yellow screws, there ya go. In a cabinet with two unrelated 3-ways working in close proximity, I use blue, purple or green for the second set of travelers. They sell a 5-pack of 5 colors of electrical tape for about $5 in most stores.
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
The usual reason is that the installer is moving the wires to the same position on the new switch, rather than looking at the screws' function -- because every 3-way has their screws in different places and the installer did not realize the screw colors are the important part. That's the usual reason.
This is one reason I make a point to positively identify the two travelers and mark them with yellow electrical tape. Yellow wires on yellow screws, there ya go. In a cabinet with two unrelated 3-ways working in close proximity, I use blue, purple or green for the second set of travelers. They sell a 5-pack of 5 colors of electrical tape for about $5 in most stores.
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
answered Nov 13 '18 at 18:43
HarperHarper
67.7k344137
67.7k344137
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
add a comment |
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
I also mark travelers or in conduit pull the same color makes it easy to figure out.+
– Ed Beal
Nov 13 '18 at 20:06
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Home Improvement Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function ()
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fdiy.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f150548%2ftravelers-on-3-way-switch-are-hot%23new-answer', 'question_page');
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function ()
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
);
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Can you post a pic?
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:23
Can you post pictures of the old & new switch? It could be as simple as "screws for hot vs. common flipped old vs. new". Simple usual guide is that 2 screws will be one color and one a different color (brass vs. silver) - the 2 that are the same get travelers and the other one gets common.
– manassehkatz
Nov 13 '18 at 18:24
The common, white wire, shouldn't be hot unless it's being used as part of the switch leg, in which case, it should've been marked hot with black or red tape... There are 3 or 4 different ways to wire a 3 way circuit...
– BillWeckel
Nov 13 '18 at 18:41
All three wires going to that switch are blue.
– John
Nov 13 '18 at 18:50
2
@BillWeckel because OP's installation is in conduit. In that case you get to use two actual, same colors for the travelers. Although I do find conduit work where someone used red, white for the travelers and black for the third, same as if they were in Romex because they cribbed off an Internet how-to diagram... And that's illegal, can't remark white to be a hot in conduit, you're to use the right color wire in the first place. Legal hot colors are anything but white, gray (neutral) or green.
– Harper
Nov 13 '18 at 20:51