On 2/25/2012 9:17 PM, Doug wrote:
On Sat, 25 Feb 2012 18:31:23 -0600,
wrote:

I measured a 3 way switch and I got two wires on 2 different screws
measuring 120 volts. I thought only one should be hot??? I'm in a
rush so I can't write a lot but if looking at the switch with screws
were like this

c where c is the black screw


a b




I got voltage at "a" and "c" so I'm confused. I'll google later
if that will help me but does this make any sense? I will try to
explain more later as necessary. I may take the wires off the switch
and just measure from the wires rather than from the screws on the
switch, if that matters. I want to explain more but gotta run.


Based on what I read elsewhere (correct me if I'm wrong please) if I
measure the voltage at the switch screws with wires fasten to them, I
might get 2 hot wires but if I remove those wires and check the
voltage just at the wires, I will get one hot wire.


That is correct. With wires connected, one of the two switches will
always have two hot terminals, and the other switch could have one or
two hot terminals, depending upon the position of the handle.