You are right about 1 hot in and 3 separate hots out.
You said 1.circuit feeds all 3 items being switched. The 1 hot in screw feeds all 3 switches, so what is the problem?

 

Thanks for the answer back! It's true one breaker feeds all of these circuits (and a couple more), but they are not all the same circuit. I have power from the junction box going independently to each of these fixtures, and then have switch legs coming from each fixture down into the single gang where I had thought to install a three paddle switch. I had thought those had independent hots for each, and this was a common thing, to use the neutral as a return for the switch leg.

It seems that if I were to bundle all of the neutrals (which are now the hot lines coming from all of the fixtures and first part of the switch legs) I would be inadvertently powering other things outside of the single circuit array I had originally planned on. Does that make sense? It does to me, but this seems overly complicated at this point. All I was trying to do originally was to make room in the box, and since I had seen bunches of two paddle switches with independent hot and neutrals I just assumed the three paddle was the same.

 

Thanks for the answer back! It's true one breaker feeds all of these circuits (and a couple more), but they are not all the same circuit.

They are either on the same circuit, or they aren't.

If they are the same circuit, then it doesn't matter, and just get a normal triple decora switch.

 

Look for a triple single pole switch.

 

Thank you Super Moderator Jim Port! I knew they existed, I appreciate you taking the time to give a name to this hard-to-find item, for me, anyway. A cursory look on the internet still brings up a ton of similar objects to the single black/hot I have, but at least I have a positive direction. Thank you again!

 

Try a Broan P3RW

 

Hey Jim
That particular switch is like the others, unfortunately. At least according to their spec sheet and installation instructions, only a single hot line in. It’s funny just how difficult it is to find one of these things. Maybe they really, actually do not exist... it has so far proven very elusive.

 

Can you change your wiring? You only need to bring a Constant hot to the switch box. You would take the 3 switched hots out.

 

Hey Jim
Define “can”...

I have the ability to do so, but at great expense and delay. Level five drywall and finish paint already done, I’d maybe even have to remove some tile...you can see the quandary I’m in.

I’ve known that was one of the solves from the get go, but I really, R E A L L Y, don’t want to go that route.

On a positive note, I’ve discovered a wiring diagram for something called a triple despard that indicates it has the three hot terminals. Stopping at a place that is all electrical supply tomorrow, maybe they have heard of it?

 

Hey Shadow99, thanks for chiming in! This might be on me, as my training is old and I have not had to explain to another person in a long time exactly what I'm talking about. I looked back on my first post and think I can explain it better.

I have a breaker that feeds exclusively to a junction box above two bathrooms. From that junction box I am feeding separate branch circuits (six) to three places in each bathroom-a set of can lights, a set of sconce lights, and a vent fan. Each branch circuit goes directly to the fixture. From the fixture I sent a switchleg line down to a single gang lightswitch box. I wired it this way in order to conserve space in the box. All that gets in the lightswitch box are three switchlegs in each bathroom.

It seems to me that if I were to tie all of the hots in a pigtail and feed directly into the single hot terminal of a three paddle switch, I might be backfeeding one or possibly more of the separate branches. Is this not correct? Is it in fact that since I have all on the same circuit breaker, that branch power is indistinguishable from the other, including in this switchleg scenario? Makes sense, actually. Is it true and legal, tho?

The most simple solution is an interrupter between each part of the switch leg but really, it's my bad not realizing before hand that just because I'd seen two paddle switches with independent hot/neutrals meant that there would absolutely be a three toggle version for me.

 

I have a breaker that feeds exclusively to a junction box above two bathrooms. From that junction box I am feeding separate branch circuits (six) to three places in each bathroom-a set of can lights, a set of sconce lights, and a vent fan. Each branch circuit goes directly to the fixture. From the fixture I sent a switchleg line down to a single gang lightswitch box. I wired it this way in order to conserve space in the box. All that gets in the lightswitch box are three switchlegs in each bathroom.

I think what the others are saying is that the power does not need to be fed that way. You drop the power feeds to the fixtures at the junction box, and connect power feed from the panel to the switch box. If you don't have a direct connection from the junction box to the switch, you can connect it through one of the fixtures; bypass the fixture and connect the black in from the junction box to the black out to the switch. That becomes your feed for all three switches. Then the switch legs run from the switches to the hot side of the fixtures. The white in the cable with black that has is now the power feed, becomes the switched hot to the fixture where you did the bypass. The ground from that same cable connects to the ground screw of the switch, and connects to the ground at the fixture that goes back to the junction box (the fixture ground gets tied in there ,too) The other 2 fixtures have switched hots from the switch box (standard practice would use the black wire to carry the switched power back to the fixtures) to the hot side at the fixtures. So, the whites and grounds from the switch box to the other 2 fixtures are not connected at either end. The neutrals and grounds from the fixtures connect with the neutral and ground from the panel at the junction box.

So at the 'other 2' fixtures, they will each have an unused black to the junction box and unused white and ground to the switch box.

If any of this is unclear, please ask someone to clarify until you're sure, or get some hands-on help from someone knowledgeable.

 

Thanks Hot Rod and Shadow for taking the time to read this and understand. I think we're all on the same page. I agree, begrudgingly, that this was a poor choice of wiring but in my defense, the wall only had room for a single gang, I wanted to conserve room in the box, and I've wired bunches of two paddle switches that had their own independent hots. It's on me that I didn't have it in hand, beforehand.

To be fair, no single (or double, or I guess even triple) switchleg circuit has a neutral at the switch If wired with power to the fixture, the white becomes a traveler (marked with black tape, of course) and goes back to neutral at the fixture. In a normal scenario with power in the switch box you bond the neutrals and put the switch between blacks. My scenario doesn't seem that bizarre to me, even now, only the fact that I can't find this kind of switch or thinking it would exist but doesn't.

Looks like despards in my future.

PHILOSOPHICALLY speaking and purely as a matter of interest...What happens if you do bond all of the separate intersecting hots into a pigtail and feed the single hot of a Decora light switch? I am not doing this, please don't yell at me or think less of me for the question. But while writing my last response, it occurred to me that all of these branch circuits come from the same, single breaker in the panel, a reunited line, I guess? Though each branch is separate when it comes to the switch, it is a shared pathway to and from the panel. Looked through my NEC from 2005, not even sure where this kind of question can be answered.

Again, I am not doing this. This is for philosophy sake and a desire to better understand code and increase knowledge.

 

...the white becomes a traveler (marked with black tape, of course) and goes back to neutral at the fixture.

The wire back from the switch goes to the hot side of the fixture. The neutral side of the fixture is connected back to the neutral at the junction box. My suggestion was to mark the one white with black tape (where the black is being used as the power feed), and for the other 2, use the blacks as the switched hots to the fixtures.

PHILOSOPHICALLY speaking and purely as a matter of interest...What happens if you do bond all of the separate intersecting hots into a pigtail and feed the single hot of a Decora light switch?

Functionally, it's no different than just connecting one of them, other than you have 2 extra energized hot wires running through the walls and ceiling from the junction box, through the fixtures (bypassing the fixtures themselves) and continuing to the switch box. It can be done, but it's unnecessary. It would add complexity for you, and potential danger to others in the future, who may not realize there are 3 paths for current from the junction box to the switch.

 

Thank you both for indulging me with that. And I apologize, I did mean neutral connects back at the junction, I was just trying to illustrate that the switchleg scenario has no neutral in the switch box. I will absolutely do this different next time; in the meantime, despards.

Thank you, Shadow, for illuminating where I could find my philosophical answer, NEC 300.3 B. I wonder if EMF is actually why this peculiar switch doesn't exist?

I just want to say this has been very enlightening for me. I feel like an adult who believed in unicorns. In all reality, a unicorn would be nothing more than a horse with a horn on it's head. Much like the logic of me expecting there to be a three paddle switch with independent hots, it's just not that far of a step to take. And while logic might steer someone into accepting the reality of a world with a horned horse, especially when that world used to have giant monster sized reptiles roaming the earth, I concede my unicorn was just a leap of faith.

My best to all of you.
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