On 6/18/2013 8:03 AM, Robert Macy wrote:
On Jun 18, 2:51 am, "John Grabowski" wrote:
Ok Ok I know this is simple but it's irritating me beyond belief.

Leviton light switches.

In a dual box next to an outside door there are two light switches.
One is the single control for a porch light, the other is a one of
four switches that turn on/off the hall way lights.

Of course the installer put the hallway light switch adjacent to the
door opening and the porch light switch way on the inside. Plus, paid
no attention to having all of the individual multiple switches end up
in any proper position when the hallway light is off, so want to
change. Swapping these two switches in their physical location in the
box is no problem the wiring appears to be long enough, although the
cabling comes down through the inlet holes in the wrong places. but
still reaches.

Big problem is the best way to change the switching action of the
multiple control switch. Went to google, not much help there. as
usual. Did find that 4 wire means 3 switches, not four. and nothing
for 5-wire and found an interesting description of how a 'control'
switch is in the box that supplies wiring up to the fixture. That may
be this box, but doubt it, because this switch has four leads.

However *if* this is the cable that goes up to the light fixtures; why
there would be a RED and a BLACK going to the fixtures when all I need
is the BLACK power going up there. So, thought I'd ask.

Ignoring GND wiring that's all done correctly. There is a cable with
RED, BLACK, and WHITE, call it CABLE A. Another cable, call it CABLE B
has RED, BLACK, and WHITE. As expected the WHITE is simply bypassing
everything with a wire nut. BLACK A goes to IN at the top of the
switch. BLACK B goes to OUT at the top of the switch. RED A goes to IN
close to bottom of switch and RED B goes to OUT close to bottom of
switch.

What is the best way to rewire the switch to get the inverse from what
it is now and the 'proper' position?

*You can just turn the switches upside down without changing the wiring.

no, tried that. two reasons. wiring is 14 Awg and a b**** to fuss
with, usually marginally too short, and the GND wire appears to be
oriented downward.

Unfortunately, the minute I post a question, the solution becomes
evident. After measuring the voltages on the switch as I operated
several; I found the switch is a simple X reversal. so I only had to
swap the two 'input' lines and got the effect I wanted.


The pair that connects the 3way and 4way switches in series are called
"travelers" and you can install an unlimited number of 4way switches on
the pair. When I worked on a Core of Engineers job some years ago, I had
to explain and illustrate the operation of 3 and 4way switches to my
electrical foreman and superintendent because they were mystified by
their operation. So don't feel bad if you had a problem with them. ^_^

TDD