electric trouble on job site

larry merlau

Member
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18,741
Location
Delton, Michigan
a 3 way and then a 4 way and then another 3 way well i got two pieces of romex 3 wire coming to the 4 way but i had to splice those and make the 4 switch in a different location,, they had two reds on the switch and two whites on the switch then the blacks were tied together.. this system also make the outlets on the up stairs work on the top but the botttom are on always.. well i cnt sen to get it to work the way it did and i was carefull to put red to red and white to whit and black to black but i cant get the switches to all work together right???? will try to draw pic if needed to help you sparkys out.
 
Larry it sounds like you have your travelers crossed. The two reds and the two whites have to be on the same poles on both of the switches if this makes any sense to you . when they are crossed they wont work together properly
 
i understand travelers charles, as i tried to show in the sketch i just connected the reds and the whites and the blacks together in the junction box and then wired the 4 way with reds on top and whites on bottom like it was before. but i am missing something i tried several combos and cant get it to work the way they say its used to work.
 
bill the second pic is what i have but they used white instead of the blacks--- what i need to do was move the switch to a new location and add wire to each leg to do so.
 
Charles may have nailed the problem. In your drawing, the colors of the wires are matched at the top and the bottom rather than on each of the sides of the 4-way switch.
 
Larry what you have is most likely, swapped the white wires or the black wires (Crossed them) when you attached them to the switch This will allow one switch to turn the light on but won't let the other turn it off. Notice on Bills picture that the wires are in the same location ( corresponding terminals) on each switch, this is how they have to be in order for them to work properly,
 
Larry,

With the 4-way out of the circuit, use an ohmmeter to do the following.

Lead 1 on any terminal and keep it there. Use lead 2 to find the one terminal showing continuity. Flip switch. Find second terminal showing continuity. These two terminals should have the travelers from one 3-way hooked to them. The travelers from the second 3-way hook to the remaining terminals. With luck it will work.:)

Ike
 
Charles has it right I believe. It has to be a problem with the travelers IF the circuit worked before you started messin with it. Check your 4 way switch, some brands pair the travelers on one side, some pair the travelers top and bottom. Having two different brands does not make a difference but you still have to "pair" the travelers. The traveler wires should connect to the same color of screw. Usually dark bronze and bright bronze. Connect the red to red in the junction box, black to black in the junction box, white to white in the junction box, and it looks like you have done that. The white is a CURRENT carrying wire in this situation and should not be confused with a neutral. Pair the red wires on the four way switch to either the dark or bright screws, pair the white wires to the switch on the other pair of traveler screws. Tie the blacks together. The black is probably your common wire feeding backwards from the last 3 way in the system to the lights and the receptacles. Good luck, hope this helps
 
thanks guys it was just a switch of wires that we had wrong, but its right now.. cant believe i switched all the combinations i did and never hit that one...????
 
It is like looking for your glasses only to find them on your head! You would swear you did all combinations. At the gas station some of the starter bolts and out of the way bolts dad or unc would just walk away after trying many times to start a bolt. The other guy would walk up and get it started on the first try.
 
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