Of course there is an "off". The hot goes between the two switches an either
completes a circuit to the lamp... or doesn't





"CJT" wrote in message
...
wrote:
I have what seems to be something wrong with a 3 way switch on the
light at the top of my stairs. This light can be turned off/on from
the bottom of the stair as well as from the top.

I was replacing the fixture at the top of the stair and turned the
power off at the switch thinking that I would be safe to replace the
fixture. After removing the screws holding the fixture to the ceiling
I checked the light with my greenlee gt-11 voltage detector and was
surprised to hear the unit ringing. I broke out the DVM and sure
enough 92 volts between the white and black wires to the fixture.

Turning on the light the voltage goes to 120vac, off back to 92vac.

So something seems very wrong, I went to the panel and turned off the
breaker and changed out the fixture. I am now glad I was lazy and did
it the wrong way first.

I don't understand why the incandecent bulb did not light at 92
volts. I have replaced the bulb with a CF as that is what we are
doing throughtout the house.

About the house:
1957 cape 2 wire hot/neutral with no ground for all parts of the
house. Any new work has been done with romex in proper gauges for
circuits.
5 years ago we had the 100Amp fuse panel replaced with a 200 amp
breaker panel.

Any common problems that might cause this?
Am I using electricity even though the light is off?

Thanks!
e

Think about how a 3 way switch works and the answer should be clear.

There's no "off" per se -- only the selection of which of two lines
is energized, and (on the other end) which of the two is selected
to be connected to the fixture.

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