DIYbanter - View Single Post - Strange electric situation

Tom Horne[_2_]

wrote:
Ok, so now the dramatic (or not so dramatic) conclusion. I did buy a
circuit tracer, and hooked it up. There were no outlets on this
circuit so I connected the adapter and tied it directly to the screw
terminals on the switch that was left in the box. This worked OK,
but the tracer couldn't pinpoint a specific breaker, since it would
indicate 4 consecutive breakers as all being the correct one. I guess
I was a little confused at first too since this is a 3-way switch and
maybe wasn't sure which lead would be "hot" when the switch was on or
off (and the other switch too). I can follow instructions to install
a 3-way switch, but troubleshooting an existing one and not knowing
specifically where power comes into the branch is a little beyond me.
So I simply took the switch out of the equation and disconnected all
four cables coming into the box from each other. One went out to my
lights that I'm trying to disconnect and has no power, even with the
breakers on (the lights are all downstream of the switch). One goes
out to the 3-way switch, and has no power of its own. The other two,
as suspected, each have power from their own circuits. One ties back
to a lighting circuit - main panel breaker 1A, and the other ties to a
"Smoke Detector" circuit - main panel breaker 2B. I capped off one of
the power feeds and reconnected the other to my 3-way switch, taking
the second switch out of the box. Now, all lights that are supposed
to work do, smoke detectors all function appropriately, and the lights
that I want to remove have no power. Thanks to everyone who
contributed to help me solve this error and potentially dangerous
situation.

Did you separate the two white supply conductors from each other so that
each one only serves the loads supplied by the black wire from the same
cable. If not you will want to go back and do so. This will prevent
either one from being overloaded by the current from two breakers if the
white wire from one of the circuits goes open up stream at some later time.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison