4 way switch problem

Greetings,

I am wiring a pair of lights to be controlled from three locations. I used a program to help me with the connections but something is not right. I have a 3 way switch followed by a 4 way and then another 3 way just before the lights. The problem I have is that the 4 way switch is acting like a master switch. When the light it turned on by it, the other two switches can turn the lights off and back on but when the light is turned off by the 4 way switch, the other two don't do anything. I have looked at the sites suggested in other posts but I couldn't figure out from them what my problem was.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Craig M.

 

id say u have your wires mixxed up on the 4 way switch

 

Try "removing" your 4-way from the mix to see that everything else works OK.
In the 4-way box, wire nut each set of wires (by color) and see what happens. If all is well, check the back of the 4-way.

I believe the screws are marked something like, Line In and Line Out. Make sure the wires from the first 3-way (the one with the source of power) are on the Line In screws and the ones to the last 3-way on the Line Out screws.

 

Yes, it seems pretty clear that you wired the travelers from the first 3-way to one "in" and one "out" rather than to the two "in" screws. Should be a trivial change. I believe that you wired the pair of travelers from one cable to the LEFT screws on the 4-way and one pair to the RIGHT screws. Normally, you wire one pair to the TOP screws and the other pair to the BOTTOM screws.

Post back and let us know how it comes out.