My house is about 30 yrs old and the switches/outlets in questions have never been worked on and have worked perfectly until yesterday. There's about 6 duplex wall outlets that are controlled by 3 switches with the top outlet switched and the bottom is hot. The switch outlets show 34vac and the hot = 123.
I checked voltage at each switch in the top/up (on) and bottom/down (off) position and here's the voltage readings. I didn't check voltage between the hot & neutrals yet.
Here's what I found:


If anyone has any ideas on what to do next I'd be eternally greatful.

 

Your description does not make sense as neutrals are not connected to switches. You may have white wires but they are not neutrals they can be hots, switch legs, or travelers. I will assume you do not have any dimmers or smart switches. If this is incorrect let us know.

It appears you have two 3 ways ( 3 wires connected) and one 4 way (4 wires connected). If you look at the 3 ways you will have two brass screws and one odd colored screw. The odd screw is your common and the other two are your travelers. Make note of the common wire by marking it. The 4 way will have two sets of two wires. Each set are the travelers from each 3 way.

The first step is to pull out the 3 ways but leave the wires connected. Using a meter you need to find the incoming power. Measure between each common screw on the two 3 ways to ground or neutral if there is a neutral in the box. It will be a group of white wires in the back of the box not connected to the switch. You should get 120 volts on one of the common screws. If you do not, stop. The issue is someplace else.

Please report what you find.

 

Thanks so much for the explanation and suggestions. Much appreciated.
All 3 screws on both 3 way switches are silver. Each also has a green screw to the bare ground wire.
Box # 1 has a white wire on the left side and two red wires on the right.
Box #3 has a white on the left side, a black on the top right and red on the bottom right. The walls were sprayed white and virtually covered the black wire causing my misidentification.
Both switches measure 123vac from the white to ground terminals.

 

Look at the back of the switches. One of the screws should be marked "common" or "C".

If you are getting 120 volts on the common on both switches, flip one switch and then take a reading again. Only one common should read 120 volts. That is the hot coming in. The one that no longer has 120 volts would be the switch leg going to the lights/outlets.

Since you do have 120 volts at the switches the issue is likely something else. What is the issue you are having? Are the switched outlets not working?

 

Thanks for your help & patience. I should have mentioned that the switch I refer to as #3 only has a single 14-3 romex in the box. The top right terminal on both switches is labeled common.
Switch #3 has 123vac when measured from common to ground no matter which way the switch is flipped. Switch #1 measures 123vac but after flipping the switch on #3, switch #1 shows 34vac.
This all came to light (pun unintended) when the living room lamps wouldn't switch on.

 

On switch #1 can you get 120 volts from one of the travelers regardless of which position switch #3 is?

FYI: Switch #3 appears to be the source and switch #1 is the switch leg. I suspect the 34 volts is phantom voltage. Are you using an inexpensive digital meter?

In the switch #2 box do you just have two 14/3 wire cables and are there two white wires in the back of the box not connected to the switch? If so, do you get 120 volts to ground on those white wires regardless of any switch position?

At one of the switched outlets, do you get 120 volts on the top (switched) outlet measured from black to ground, when the switches have 120 volts on both common screws?

 

On Sw #1 I get 123 on the top traveler and 34 on the bottom. Flipping Sw #3 gives bottom traveler 123 and top 40. My meter is newish but cheap ($40).
Sw #2 has a pair of 14-3 with both red travelers on the right side and both whites on the left. The 2 blacks are twisted together under a wire nut.
I'm still getting that weird 34vac reading from black to ground on the switched outlet.

 

Because the 120 volts is moving from one traveler to the other when the switches are flipped it sounds like everything is working correctly. I suspect the 34 volts is phantom voltage which is when a minor voltage is induced to another wire that is near a wire with "real" voltage.

If you are getting 120 volts off the #1 switch common it would appear to me that the switches are working correctly. Next, you need to look wires in switch box #1 please describe or post a picture of what you have for wires in that box. You can also open the switched outlet closest to switch #1, which is likely where the switch leg would go first if I had wired it. Post what you have in that box as well.

 

I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help.
I've attached a few photos of the switch & outlet boxes. The 2 cables on the top & bottom left side of the switch box go to a ceiling fan (no lights, on/off only. It's working fine).
The outlet box is about a foot to the left of the switch.
Let me know if you need better angles or clarification of the switch or outlet connections.

 

Based on what I am seeing, the red of the 3 wire cable on the lower right of the switch #1 box is the switch leg on the common screw, correct?
You get 120 volts between that common screw and neutral in that box, correct?
At the outlet box, do you get 120 volts between the red wire and the neutral wire when you have 120 volts on the common screw? What about between the red and ground? (Just double checking )

Since the switch box and the outlet are so close, can you measure continuity or Ohms between the red in the right bottom 3 wire cable in the switch box and the red in the outlet box?

 

Based on what I am seeing, the red of the 3 wire cable on the lower right of the switch #1 box is the switch leg on the common screw, correct? Correct
You get 120 volts between that common screw and neutral in that box, correct? Weird. I get 105 between common & neutral and 14.1 between common & ground with the switch flipped up.
At the outlet box, do you get 120 volts between the red wire and the neutral wire when you have 120 volts on the common screw? What about between the red and ground? (Just double checking I get .8vac between red & neutral AND between red & ground.

 

So at no time, no matter what the position of any of the switches is at, you do not get 120 volts on the red common wire in switch box #1? Do you get 120 volts between either traveler and neutral or ground at switch #1?

 

I've tried multiple times with Safari and Chrome but every time I try to reply to my earlier post I get the error " TypeError: array_map(): Argument #2 ($array) must be of type array, bool given in ..../products/travel-spam-tools/lib/class_travel_spam_tools.php on line 291"

Any ideas?

Moderator note: The IT techs have been working to update and make changes. However the changes are taking longer than promised and are causing intermittent posting problems. Posts moved.

 

Here's my post that kept crashing:

I just didn't trust my meter so I went out and bought a new one. While I was at the store I bought another 3 way switch just for giggles. I replaced Sw #1 with the new switch and was about to check the requested readings on SW. # 1 again. I flipped SW #2 and VOILA !!! All the lights came on. All 3 switches are working properly.
The chart with my "old switch" readings was lost when my original reply crashed but I do know there were NOT any kohm readings but there was with the new switch.
I'm going to leave everything hanging from the box for a bit just in case.

 

That is kind of where I was going with post #12. I suspected a switch was bad from the readings you were getting but I wanted to confirm before I had you start opening more boxes. Glad you got it fixed.

Meters will give odd readings if the batteries get low. You might want to try some fresh batteries.

 

Interesting that you mention meter batteries. When I first started getting some questionable readings I pulled the meter batteries. All were 1.45 - 1.52vdc but I put in fresh ones anyway.
One last question and I'll quit bugging you - what's a good brand multimeter that's less expensive than a Fluke and better than the cheap Chinese stuff and is suitable for the average homeowner?
Thanks again for all your help. I REALLY appreciate it !

 

Sadly, I am partial to Fluke meters, but as you mentioned, they can be expensive. The one I use the most has been discontinued which is the Fluke 7-600. If I ever have to replace it I will likely get the Fluke 113.

Many of the name-brand meters will work fine, (Klein, Ideal, Greenlee, Fluke) but they may still show phantom voltage on a wire unless you spend over $100 If you want a cheap meter that does not show phantom/ghost voltage buy an analog one which can be had for under $20. They have the built-in impedance that should cancel out phantom voltage. You can do some checking with a digital meter and when you get some odd readings switch to the analog meter.

I have often looked at the Klein ET250 as it appears to be a simple meter but I have not tested it out so I can't recommend it one way or another. I did also do some looking around and I found the Ideal 61-557 is not too expensive and has an LoZ setting that will cancel ghost voltages. Again, I have not used this meter so I can't recommend it other than I have used Ideal meters and like them as well.

I hope that helps.

 

Great info - that helps a bunch. Thanks again for all your help !