4-way light switch
#1
06-14-00, 11:57 AM
I am attempting to replace 3 light switches that all control the same set of lights along my stairwell. I did not know that this required a 4-way switch. Please help me with any type of wiring diagram or info you may have. The only thing that I am sure of is that I screwed up when I originally tried to make this work with a 3-way switch. (I now have the wiring all messed up and I only know at this point which cable is my power source. Everything else is a mystery.) Just so you understand what I am looking at: kinda like a split level with one set of stairs going down (1 switch at bottom), a landing (a dimmer switch), and one set of stairs going up (1 switch at top). Please Help ........
#2
06-14-00, 06:02 PM
hello Chas,
here r 2 links to good sites that explain how a 3 way works. a 4 way switch just switches the travelers and i believe the sites explain this as well.http://www.howstuffworks.com/three-way.htm http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/courses/p230/switches.html
here r 2 links to good sites that explain how a 3 way works. a 4 way switch just switches the travelers and i believe the sites explain this as well.http://www.howstuffworks.com/three-way.htm http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/courses/p230/switches.html
#3
07-23-00, 11:01 AM
3-way switches makes possible controlling a lamp from 2 different places. 4-way switches makes possible controlling a lamp from 3 or more different places. the circuit will look like this: place a 3-way switch nearest the lamp and another one nearest the source of electricity. place 4-way switch in between to control it from 3 different places. place 2 4-way switches in between to control it from 4 different places.
#5
07-24-00, 12:32 PM
When power travels from one three-way switch to another, it does so on either the black or the red wire, depending on the position of the first switch. The second three-way switch sends either the black or the red to the light.
A four-way switch merely allows you to switch the power from the black to the red, or vice versa. In effect, this reverses the effect of the second three-way switch. You can have as many four-way switches between the two three-way switches as you want.
A four-way switch merely allows you to switch the power from the black to the red, or vice versa. In effect, this reverses the effect of the second three-way switch. You can have as many four-way switches between the two three-way switches as you want.
