I had a hallway with a light switch on each end. The light fixture is
physically located in the middle of the hallway.

The original three way light switches worked fine, but because I am
switching all the outlets and switches to the same look I am replacing those
too. Unfortunately the old switch and the new ones (Leviton) do not have
the screws in the same places, so I think I made a mistake in putting them
back.

Originally I can turn on or off the light from either end. Does not matter
if it's toggled up or down, I flip it and it will turn on if it's off or
turn off if it's on.

Now that I have replaced the switch...not anymore. Now switch 1 is the
master. If it's turned on, then switch 2 on the other side will turn on
when in the UP position, and turn off in the DOWN position. If I turn off
(DOWN) switch 1, then it behaves as if switch 2 is disabled. So either I
wired it wrong, or the new Leviton three way switch has some built in
feature that makes it work this way? When I turn ON switch 1, switch 2's
toggle will be faintly lit.

So I took the switches out and examined them. This is the way they are
wired NOW.

Switch 1:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one blue wire. One
brown wire is connected to the black common screw (top left), the other
brown wire to the gold screw on bottom left, and the blue wire to the gold
screw on the right.

Switch 2:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one black wire. I
attached the black wire to the common screw (top left), and one brown wire
to the bottom left, the other to the right side.

I thought these wires are supposed to be black, white and red, but they are
not, so I am not sure what is what. There is also no green wire for ground.

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

Thanks in advance,

MC

miamicuse wrote:
I had a hallway with a light switch on each end. The light fixture is
physically located in the middle of the hallway.

The original three way light switches worked fine, but because I am
switching all the outlets and switches to the same look I am replacing those
too. Unfortunately the old switch and the new ones (Leviton) do not have
the screws in the same places, so I think I made a mistake in putting them
back.

Originally I can turn on or off the light from either end. Does not matter
if it's toggled up or down, I flip it and it will turn on if it's off or
turn off if it's on.

Now that I have replaced the switch...not anymore. Now switch 1 is the
master. If it's turned on, then switch 2 on the other side will turn on
when in the UP position, and turn off in the DOWN position. If I turn off
(DOWN) switch 1, then it behaves as if switch 2 is disabled. So either I
wired it wrong, or the new Leviton three way switch has some built in
feature that makes it work this way? When I turn ON switch 1, switch 2's
toggle will be faintly lit.

So I took the switches out and examined them. This is the way they are
wired NOW.

Switch 1:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one blue wire. One
brown wire is connected to the black common screw (top left), the other
brown wire to the gold screw on bottom left, and the blue wire to the gold
screw on the right.

Switch 2:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one black wire. I
attached the black wire to the common screw (top left), and one brown wire
to the bottom left, the other to the right side.

I thought these wires are supposed to be black, white and red, but they are
not, so I am not sure what is what. There is also no green wire for ground.

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

Thanks in advance,

MC


http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/courses/p230/switches.html

"miamicuse" wrote in
:

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

The problem is most likely at switch 1. I'd move the blue wire to the
common terminal and the brown wires to the brass (traveller) terminals.
One of the blue or black wires brings power to the circuit. The other
connects to the light. The 2 browns go between the switches.

They are odd colors for a house but OK assuming actual building wiring is
being used.

Doug

Remove all six wires from switches. With power on one wire at one location
will be hot. It is the common at that location. The two other wires are
travelers-connect them. Now with power on at the second location one wire
will be hot. It is a traveler, connect it to the switch. Go back to switch
one and flip switch. Go back to location two and find a different wire is
now hot. It is your second traveler, connect it to switch. The last wire is
the common for location two. Done



"miamicuse" wrote in message
...
I had a hallway with a light switch on each end. The light fixture is
physically located in the middle of the hallway.

The original three way light switches worked fine, but because I am
switching all the outlets and switches to the same look I am replacing
those
too. Unfortunately the old switch and the new ones (Leviton) do not have
the screws in the same places, so I think I made a mistake in putting them
back.

Originally I can turn on or off the light from either end. Does not
matter
if it's toggled up or down, I flip it and it will turn on if it's off or
turn off if it's on.

Now that I have replaced the switch...not anymore. Now switch 1 is the
master. If it's turned on, then switch 2 on the other side will turn on
when in the UP position, and turn off in the DOWN position. If I turn off
(DOWN) switch 1, then it behaves as if switch 2 is disabled. So either I
wired it wrong, or the new Leviton three way switch has some built in
feature that makes it work this way? When I turn ON switch 1, switch 2's
toggle will be faintly lit.

So I took the switches out and examined them. This is the way they are
wired NOW.

Switch 1:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one blue wire. One
brown wire is connected to the black common screw (top left), the other
brown wire to the gold screw on bottom left, and the blue wire to the gold
screw on the right.

Switch 2:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one black wire. I
attached the black wire to the common screw (top left), and one brown wire
to the bottom left, the other to the right side.

I thought these wires are supposed to be black, white and red, but they
are
not, so I am not sure what is what. There is also no green wire for
ground.

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

Thanks in advance,

MC

Doug:

Thanks for the help. You are right after I moved the blue wire to the
common screw and the brown to the brass it worked like it used to now.
Perfect!

The only question now I have is that one of the two toggle switches is
always dimmly lit which is nice at night at finding the switch. The only
question is why only one and not both? The other 3 way switch is not lit.
But they both function and work.

MC

"Doug" wrote in message
. ..
"miamicuse" wrote in
:

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

The problem is most likely at switch 1. I'd move the blue wire to the
common terminal and the brown wires to the brass (traveller) terminals.
One of the blue or black wires brings power to the circuit. The other
connects to the light. The 2 browns go between the switches.

They are odd colors for a house but OK assuming actual building wiring is
being used.

Doug

RBM Thanks for the advise I will keep this in mind. But I am not too good
with the power on and finding which one is hot when kids are running around
so I tried the other suggestion first and I was lucky it worked. But thanks
and this is very useful information.

MC

"RBM" rbm2(remove wrote in message
...
Remove all six wires from switches. With power on one wire at one location
will be hot. It is the common at that location. The two other wires are
travelers-connect them. Now with power on at the second location one wire
will be hot. It is a traveler, connect it to the switch. Go back to switch
one and flip switch. Go back to location two and find a different wire is
now hot. It is your second traveler, connect it to switch. The last wire
is
the common for location two. Done



"miamicuse" wrote in message
...
I had a hallway with a light switch on each end. The light fixture is
physically located in the middle of the hallway.

The original three way light switches worked fine, but because I am
switching all the outlets and switches to the same look I am replacing
those
too. Unfortunately the old switch and the new ones (Leviton) do not
have
the screws in the same places, so I think I made a mistake in putting
them
back.

Originally I can turn on or off the light from either end. Does not
matter
if it's toggled up or down, I flip it and it will turn on if it's off or
turn off if it's on.

Now that I have replaced the switch...not anymore. Now switch 1 is the
master. If it's turned on, then switch 2 on the other side will turn on
when in the UP position, and turn off in the DOWN position. If I turn
off
(DOWN) switch 1, then it behaves as if switch 2 is disabled. So either
I
wired it wrong, or the new Leviton three way switch has some built in
feature that makes it work this way? When I turn ON switch 1, switch
2's
toggle will be faintly lit.

So I took the switches out and examined them. This is the way they are
wired NOW.

Switch 1:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one blue wire.
One
brown wire is connected to the black common screw (top left), the other
brown wire to the gold screw on bottom left, and the blue wire to the
gold
screw on the right.

Switch 2:
Three wires come out of the box. Two brown wires and one black wire. I
attached the black wire to the common screw (top left), and one brown
wire
to the bottom left, the other to the right side.

I thought these wires are supposed to be black, white and red, but they
are
not, so I am not sure what is what. There is also no green wire for
ground.

Is it possible to tell from my description what is wired incorrectly?

Thanks in advance,

MC

In article ,
miamicuse wrote:

The only question now I have is that one of the two toggle switches is
always dimmly lit which is nice at night at finding the switch. The only
question is why only one and not both? The other 3 way switch is not lit.
But they both function and work.

My first guess would be that the lit switch is an illuminated model and
the dark one is a non-illuminated model. Buy an illuminated 3 way
switch and replace the dark one if you wish.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321 6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst Owner:Sibernet-L

On Tue, 8 Nov 2005 19:06:47 +0000 (UTC), (Rich
Greenberg) wrote:

In article ,
miamicuse wrote:

The only question now I have is that one of the two toggle switches is
always dimmly lit which is nice at night at finding the switch. The only
question is why only one and not both? The other 3 way switch is not lit.
But they both function and work.

My first guess would be that the lit switch is an illuminated model and
the dark one is a non-illuminated model. Buy an illuminated 3 way
switch and replace the dark one if you wish.

"Rich Greenberg" wrote in message
...
In article ,
miamicuse wrote:

The only question now I have is that one of the two toggle switches is
always dimmly lit which is nice at night at finding the switch. The only
question is why only one and not both? The other 3 way switch is not
lit.
But they both function and work.

My first guess would be that the lit switch is an illuminated model and
the dark one is a non-illuminated model. Buy an illuminated 3 way
switch and replace the dark one if you wish.

--
Rich Greenberg Marietta, GA, USA richgr atsign panix.com + 1 770 321
6507
Eastern time. N6LRT I speak for myself & my dogs only. VM'er since
CP-67
Canines:Val, Red & Shasta (RIP),Red, husky
Owner:Chinook-L
Atlanta Siberian Husky Rescue. www.panix.com/~richgr/ Asst
Owner:Sibernet-L

That is not the case, the are the same model and I bought them at the same
time. Strange? Unless one of them is defective?

MC