DIYbanter - View Single Post - 3 way switch. 2 switches 2 recessed lights in the hall way

dpb

On 1/30/2014 3:55 PM, wrote:
....

but that could cause it to shorten?

No, it's a red herring to the problem.

Don't get sidetracked.

A) Did you note carefully the actual connections before you
disconnected so that you can without fail put back the original as it
was? Is there any chance you dislodged a marked wire; that is removed a
piece of black tape that wasn't actually holding anything but there to
mark a white conductor used as neutral as is allowed on certain cases
where there are insufficient wires of the proper color in a standard
romex cable? If that is so there's a chance you have the feed hooked to
the carrier.

B) What again is the original symptom? What are the fixtures? It makes
almost now sense that _two_ just plain light fixtures would fail with an
internal open altho I susppose it is possible. I'd approach it, since
the initial installation appears to have be correct by trying to
diagnose the failure and fixing that rather than by the "swap out and
hope" route you've outlined, particularly as it seems you've fouled up
what was working.

C) If you can't follow what's going on by looking for one of the
multiple places online that has outlines of wiring 3-way switches with
the alternate locations for the feed, then I'd suggest retiring from the
field unscathed with nothing more than a tripped breaker and recall the
former installer.

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