4 way wiring problem


  #1  
Old 10-20-19, 02:04 PM
C
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4 way wiring problem

Bought my home and the upstairs lights are controlled by 3 switches... two 3-way and 1 4-way.

one 3-way is at the bottom of the stairs (3A) the other is at the top of the stairs (3B) and the 4-way is at the end of the hall-way (4A). sometimes when 4A is switched the light either does not go off or does not go on depending on the setup of the other switches.

3A has a one WRB wire with B hooked up to black screw
3B has 1 WRB wire and 2 WB with 2 W and 2 B marrated together, other B hooked up to black screw
4A has 2 WRB wire W are marreted, B & R hooked up to In and Out

see pictures, they are in order 3A first, 3B next 2, 4A next 2.

3A...3B...4A...Status
D.....D.....D.....ON
D.....D.....U.....OFF
D.....U.....D.....OFF
D.....U.....U.....ON
U.....D.....D.....OFF
U.....D.....U.....OFF
U.....U.....D.....ON
U.....U.....U.....ON

as you can see above there seems to be a problem when 3A is up the 4A stops working,seems to be a problem when both upstairs are up (3A doesn't work) and when 3B is up and 4A is down.

Thanks in advance hopefully i can get some help here as I am very much out of my element

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Last edited by PJmax; 10-20-19 at 08:50 PM. Reason: cropped/resized pictures
  #2  
Old 10-20-19, 03:09 PM
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Check your wiring at the 4w. It looks like the black and red are not paired correctly.
 
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Old 10-20-19, 05:27 PM
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Agree. The black and red from the same cable should be hooked to the IN. Black and red from the other cable should be hooked to the OUT.

Swap the two black wires and all should be fine. And use the screw terminals. Those push in connections are a very common source of poor connections.
 
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Old 10-20-19, 06:14 PM
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thanks for the quick reply! tried to switch the blacks still not working? does it matter which wire(s) is connected to OUT and IN?
 
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Old 10-20-19, 07:10 PM
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As long as the wires are paired on the In and Out the same as the cable they emerge from it should not matter.
 
  #6  
Old 10-20-19, 07:26 PM
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Looking at the three ways it appears the red white are being used as the travellers. Without knowing exactly how the wires run I suspect the blacks should be tied together and the red and white should be on the four way.
 
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Old 10-20-19, 08:39 PM
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I agree..... I see red and white as travelers on one of the three way switches.
 
  #8  
Old 10-27-19, 02:52 PM
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Thanks all, changed out the black and white and made sure each wire for "IN" and "OUT" came in from same wire.

works perfectly now. Thanks!
 
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Old 10-27-19, 03:09 PM
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Good job. Name:  thumb.jpg
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Size:  1.6 KB Thanks for letting us know how you made out.
 
 

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