Swapping wires for Dimmer

I have a box in my kitchen that I want to swap the wires off the lower left switch and install them on a replacement dimmer. Then take the wires that were on the first switch and put them on the lower left switch. The switch on the right is a two-way controlling one ceiling light there with the other box several feet away. There are six recessed ceiling LED lights that are much too bright.
Any help appreciated.

 

Oldtreker - What you're wanting to do is somewhat confusing to me.

You essentially have three devices in a 2-gang box. If I understand what you want to do - to control the light(s) that are now on the lower double switch with a new dimmer, where will you put that dimmer? If you put the new dimmer where the 3-way switch is located now you'll be missing a place to put a 3-way switch which is needed for the other 3-way switch to work.

I think what you'd like to do leaves you with a problem of having just half of the double switch remaining and no space for the 3-way switch to go that you pulled out to make room for the single pole dimmer.

You can swap out one of your two 3-way switches for a 3-way dimmer if that helps matters in any way, but at the location of your 2-gang box you only have room for two full size devices - - or a double switch (as you have now) plus one switch (as you have now), or replace one of them with a dimmer. The bottom line is - you're lacking one space for a device you need due to the fact you're using a double switch...

Or maybe I'm just not understanding what you want to do...

 

Labeled the switches for clarity.

We can see only one wire on switch A.
We can see two wires on switch B.
There may be a common tie between A and B on the switch.
Otherwise it looks like A does nothing and B controls lights.

The right switch (C) is a three way switch.
Before you do anything.... mark the wire connected to the C terminal.
Use something like a piece of white tape or even nail polish. It MUST stay id'ed.
The other two marked T are not location particular.

 

Possibly to satisfy the needs for Oldtreker a solution might be to:

Eliminate one of the two 3-way switches and make the light(s) controlled now by those two 3-way switches controlled anew from just one location (instead of the previous two locations) using the lone 3-way as a makeshift single pole switch - or by just replacing it with a new single pole switch.

Then, the empty space in the 2-gang box - provided by the abandoned 3-way switch - can be used to put a single pole dimmer to control the light(s) that is now controlled by the bottom of the double switch.

Maybe this provisional plan will work for Oldtreker. That's all I got!

 

I am thinking of tapping up the wires on the three-way switch. Replace that with dimmer and putting the wires from the lower left switch that control the ceiling lights on it. The other 3 way switch is only a few feet away.
thanks for all the suggestions

 

You can easily put a dimmer on the two wires on the lower left (B) switch.
You can rewire the 3w switch (C) to eliminate it but then what ?
Now you'll have an empty device location.
Why not remove the left switch..... install a dimmer on the left and leave the 3w switch as it is.

If you intend to remove the right switch anyway.... be sure to mark the C wire so that in the future it can easily be located. Take that wire and connect it with the other black wire on the 3w switch. Cap off the red wire. Now just the one 3w switch will work. No need to change it for a single pole switch.

If the remaining 3w switch works backwards.... connect the C wire to red and cap the extra T black wire off.

 

What is the top part of the left double switch controlling, if anything?

 

The top left switch is for two hanging lights above the kitchen eating area

 

Ok.. in that case you will need to remove the three way switch (C). See post 6.

That also means the single wire on the left side of B is the hot supply to that double switch.
You will need to remove that wire and add on two short wires (tails) to go to dbl switch and the dimmer.
The wire on right side of A gets moved to the dimmer.

 

The easy solution is to replace the existing double switch with a double 3-way switch.
Wire the bottom as a 3-way and wire the top as a single pole.
Replace the existing 3-way switch with a dimmer.

 

If the OP doesn't mind retaining the combination type switches on a duplex frame then a Leviton 5241 (One 3-way & One Single Pole (as a duplex combination) would provide what is needed to keep the switching (c/o: 1 3-way & 1 SP switch) arrangement - then use a regular single pole dimmer for the other space.

►https://www.leviton.com/en/products/5241-w