Wiring a 3 gang box but breaker keeps tripping


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Old 07-21-13, 03:23 PM
K
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Wiring a 3 gang box but breaker keeps tripping

Hi all,

I'm wiring a 3-gang plastic box, but the breaker keeps tripping immediately when I try to turn the circuit on. The box has two 3-way switches (hall light, kitchen recessed lights), and one 1-way switch (dining room light). There are 4 cables that enter the box, a 12/2 incoming power, 12/3 out to hall light, 12/3 out to kitchen lights, 12/2 out to dining room light.

I have all 4 whites together in a wire nut. I have the power black pig tailed to 3 small black wires that feed the black screw on the 3 way switches, and the bottom screw on the 1 way switch. The black/red for the kitchen/hall 3 way switches are attached to the 2 top screws, and the dining room black for the 1 way switch goes to the top screw. I have all 4 ground wires plus 1 green wire in a copper crimp. The green wire is attached to the green screws on all 3 switches.

Any insight into what I might be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated!

Kevin
 
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Old 07-21-13, 03:43 PM
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Welcome to the forums! Yeah, taking pictures of the switches before you unwired them would have been nice. OK. If you have 2-3way switches, two of the whites could be travelers and are not neutrals, and shouldn't be in the bundle under the cap. You need to determine if power comes in at the switch box, or at the lights. Most likely you don't need the power from the incoming cable to power the three way switches, but you have to investigate that. Locate the other three way switches associated with this pair and pull them from their box.
 
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Old 07-21-13, 04:44 PM
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Woo hoo! Thanks so much, Chandler! It turns out the hall light white was a traveler, so once I pulled it out and finagled things a little bit, I got everything working! Really appreciate the help!
 
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Old 07-22-13, 03:15 AM
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Glad you got 'er goin'. Welcome back any time.
 
 

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