On Wednesday, December 21, 2016 at 10:29:44 AM UTC-5, Ralph Mowery wrote:
In article ,
says...

So I'm replacing a 2 three way switches because one failed. Worth noting the switches probably 60 years old. I disconnected them and reattached in the same way and only one switch works. I disconnected the switches and using a non contact volatile tester i discovered that there is a hot wire in both boxes when there should only be one between the two. I'm no electrician but I'm pretty good at wiring but this
one has me stumped and I could use some help on how to proceed. Thanks

Sometimes the non contact detectors will 'lie' to you. There can be
enough voltge picked up off wires that are in parallel with each other
to set them off.

Look at the old switches and compair them to the new ones. The actual
screw terminals may be in the same physical place, but elecrically in
different places.

Sounds like you just have the wires in the wrong places.

+1

Or get a tester that will measure actual voltage. If it's a high
impedance one, he still might get some phantom voltage showing,
but it won't be full 120V. Or temporarily jumper a lamp between
the suspected hots and a neutral or ground to see if it lights.