3-way switch

kevin french

my problem is not in the switch itself but up in the electrical box in the ceiling.there are 4 different set of wires coming into the box ,each with a black,white,and bare wire. Do i hook the blacks together and the whites together? Because when doing so the lights come on but the wall switch will not work or will trip the panel breaker. thks

joed

Then I guess that is not correct. You need to determine where each set of wires goes and post back. Then we can tell you how to connect them.

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hammerlane

You most likely have one of 4 situations for your 3-way switch/light configuration:
1. power into switch location----light----other switch location

2. power into switch location----other switch location----then light

3. power into light location-----traveler cable to switch----- traveler cable to other switch

4. a variation of #3 but here the traveler cables for the switches are run to/from the light location


do not get to hung up on the color of the wire insulation in as much as the function of the wire. like joed suggested You need to determine where each set of wires goes and post back

I do not show any ground wires just for ease of drawing. Also guess my drawings did not post in numerical order.

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k_buz

Why did you take them apart?

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frenchelectrican

Did you take a look at the switch itself to see what colour the conductor and the numbers as well ??

To sort this out you will need a basic DVM ( digital volt meter )

First of all seperated all the conductors do not let any of them touch each other and turn the power on and find which one is incomming source then turn the breaker or remove the fuse and mark that one then switch the DVM to the ohm scale and find the switch pair you will have to play with this a little to find which one is the switch loop.

And post it back we will go from there.

The three way switch loop will have black et red et white conductors and be aware not all the white is used for netural conductor at all. < that have to be remarked >

Merci,
Marc

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The answer will be based on NEC ( National Electrical code ) or CEC ( Cananda Electrical code ) or ECF ( Electrique Code France )