Help with 3 way switch or wiring!!

ok guys I’m at my wits end here. In the attic I have a junction box with 4 wires going into it. The reds with the reds, black with black, etc. Now, in the living room I have 4 wires coming out of a junction box, black red white and ground, the red and black are hot. 120v on each. I try to connect a 3 way switch and it flips the breaker. Black wire to the black nut and red wire to the one above that one and the white wire on the opposite side of the black nut. On the opposite wall there is already a 3 way switch and that’s how it’s wired. Now if I completely remove the switch in question then the light works correctly because of the other 3 way switch but if I flick that other switch off then it flips the breaker. Can anyone tell me what’s going on? Thanks.

 

When you say you have 4 wires going to the junction box, do you mean separate wires or cables? (A cable is an assembly of wires in an overall jacket.) Are you sure the white wires are part of the 3-way system and not a neutral? That would explain why the breaker is tripping.

The best thing to do is to take pictures (or draw diagrams) of each box you are working with and post them so we can see what you see.

 

yes I meant 4 cables. 3 of the cables have the extra red wire in them. One cable only has the 3 wires, black white ground. And the white wires are neutral

 

Do you know where each cable goes? tell us?
Where is the light connected in this setup?
Where is the power feed?
Tell us about all the wires in the switch boxes.

 

so I disconnected the white wires from both switches and now the switches don’t do anything. And the breaker doesn’t go off anymore. I have a remote that controls the fan and light so I can turn them off and on that way. The light fan and the light have power going to them but not through the switch apparently... man I’m confused right now. But the wires going to the switch, the red n black are hot.

 

the ground wires are all connected to themselves with a wire nut in the jboxes, maybe the switch needs a ground wire going to it as well?

 

guys I think I’ve figured it out. Thanks a lot for all yalls help.

 

A switch never needs a ground wire to function.