On Sun, 24 Nov 2013 15:25:16 -0500, "TomR" wrote:

I am trying to solve a 3-way switch circuit issue in an old house. The
wiring in the house is old, and it is either knob and tube wiring or
whatever came after that and before "Romex" etc. There are no ground wires
visible anywhere in either circuit, and everything is so dusty and dirty
that I can't tell what is a white wire and what is a black wire etc.

I'm confused, so all I can say is write things down, to make a diagram
of what wires you know about, at least the swtiches and an inch of
wire whereever there's a wire, indicating what color every wire is
(the real color too, in case any wire has been painted.) .

And make a chart of what they should do. LIke
Switch 1, turn on lights A and B.

Then start enlarging the chart and the wiring diagram to show what
wires you would need to make it do what the chart says you want it to
do.

When you're not sure which switch is for which, see which actual
switch and wires is closer to which item on the chart. Also, normally
when both switches are near the bottom of the stairs, the switch for
the living room will be closer to the living room than the switch for
the stairs will be.


When I bought my house, the front hall was miswired so one switch only
worked if the other switch was in the right position.

And of the switches by the stairs. the one closer to the basement
stairs controlled the landing near the second floor. The switches
worked but they were in the wrong place.

The electrician lived in the n'hood. A house might have been part of
his payment for doing the wiring. You coudl tell his house because
it had more lights than the rest of us, and he had a vent from the
range hood above his sliding glass door. (For the rest of us, the air
went through a filter and right back into the kitchen)

Anyhow, I saw him at a party 10 or 15 years after he'd wired our
houses, and I told him about the two mistakes. I thought he'd think
it was funny after all these years -- I thought it was funny when I
had to fix them --, but I was totally wrong. He was annoyed, didn't
believe me iirc, and I was sorry I said anything.