4-way switch system troubleshooting


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Old 07-13-15, 07:07 PM
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4-way switch system troubleshooting

I am trying to troubleshoot my first 4-way switch system. It will eventually have the two 3-ways and three 4-way swtiches in-between. I have been doing my troubleshooting with only one 4-way in the system; the others are currently just "pass-through" with the wires tied together (so it's basically just one 4-way in the middle). It was not working correctly (the two 3-ways would work correctly with the 4-way in one position but not the other) so I removed the 4-way in the middle and then the two 3-ways work just fine. Are there different 4-ways that work differently or is this diagram possibly incorrect? I'm thinking it has to be something with how the 4-way was wired up since with just the two 3-ways work fine.

The diagram I'm using should show up below. Thanks for any help.
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Old 07-13-15, 08:30 PM
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Ahhhhhh..... the four way switch dilemma.

When wiring a four way switch..... use the diagram on the package for that four way switch connection. There are several different wiring methods available and each switch uses a different one.

The diagram above shows the two reds on the left side. Sometimes the reds go to the top two terminals.
 
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Old 07-13-15, 08:48 PM
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Okay, thanks. I had a haunch that might be the issue since I checked the connections on the switch and neither of them made the contacts go "white to white and red to red" which I would have thought would be required in at least ONE of the positions.

Thanks so much!
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