3 way switch in the hallway

I have a 3 way switch in the hallway. It was working fine until I changed the switch from a flip switch to a rocker/rocking decorative switch. I changed the first one near the end of the hallway and everything worked fine. When I changed the one near the bedroom, it started only working when this switch near the bedroom was in a particular position for the other switch to work. If you changed it to the other position, then switch 1 would not work.

switch 1 (near the end of the hall)







switch 2 (near bedroom)

 

Double check your connections to be sure that the wire that was connected to the common terminal (usually stained a darker color) of the old switch is connected to the common terminal of the new switch.

It is better to use the screw terminals to hold the wires on. Exception: if the screws hold the wire in the hole to the extent that loosening the screw lets the wire pull out easily.

Did you remove enough of the insulation from the end of the wire? Usually at least half an inch. More to curl around if the wire slips out sideways as you are trying to tighten the screw.

 

You didn't mark or pay attention to which wire was on which terminal did you?first off please remove the wires from those back stab connections and put them under the screw terminals,do you have only 3 conductors at one switch?if so with the power off put the white conductor on the dark colored screw and the black on the other terminal,and report back.

 

I figured it out, the black and white wires on both switches were backwards. Switching them on both fixed the issue.

I checked the length of how much copper was exposed as well.

 

Just as aside for others reading....

When replacing three way switches it's imperative that the same wire go back on the dark/odd colored common screw. The other two wires are travelers and can go on either screw.