On Feb 20, 6:38*pm, wrote:
In my mother-in-law's house there were some very old wall switches
that were 3-way. *I needed to replace them for what safety reasons. So
I picked up a couple of Leviton 3-ways from the HOME.

I replaced them connecting the red/white/black wires to the same
terminals as the old one on both ends. * Problem is - only one switch
controls the power. *Kind of defeats the purpose of the 3-way.

So, before I go crazy trying to figure this out with a meter and a
long jumper wire I thought I would ask here for some guidance for an
easier way to figure this out.

Anyone??? * *Thanks
Sounds like you have a traveler and a common reversed
Remove both switches leave the wires exposed so you can get to them
with a volt meter but not shorting to anything. Turn the breaker on.
Measure from each wire to ground at each switch until you find one
with 120 VAC on it. This will go to the common of one switch. Kill the
breaker and wire in that switch. Turn power back on and check for
120VAC at the other switch, this will be a traveler. Toggle the first
switch and check for voltage again at the position of the second for
120VAC. This will be the other traveler. Oh Yeah Turn off the breaker
that feeds it before you start. BTW noticed I made no reference to the
color of wire. You can never count on them being right.
Yeah I left out some stuff to protect the fools. Use this with any 3
way wiring diagram and what I left out will be obvious.

Jimmie