I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.
Use your digital camera next time before disconnecting ANYTHING. Then
you can show us what you actually DID.

wrote in message
...
I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the
circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have
been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style
swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it
with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts
of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way
switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots
so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing.
Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is
strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but
not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on
the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

-----------

when you say "does not have power" - how are you testing this? Are you
saying the light doesn't turn on? or are you saying you have used a voltage
detector to sense the presence of voltage on one or more wires?

Did you look at the unchanged switch to see how it is wired?

wrote in
:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I
can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are
the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and
sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and
replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I
got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main
floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the
wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the
same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs
no longer has power either. This is strange because the half
bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light
in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed
switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

Turn the breaker off. Then take the cover plates off of *both* three-way switches, and pull
both of them a few inches out of their boxes. DO NOT disconnect any wires from anything.

Take photos of both switches and both boxes, showing clearly all the wires that are in each
box and all of the existing connections. Post the photos somewhere (personal web space,
dropbox. flickr, whatever, some place where everyone can see them) and make sure you
identify which switch is the one you've messed around with, and which one you left alone.

Probably somebody here can figure out what went wrong.

On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

My guess would be a loose wirenut inside the box with the 3-way. If
the switch was working properly before you changed it, it should not
affect any power to anything else.

On 12/08/2014 09:21 PM, Seymore4Head wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

My guess would be a loose wirenut inside the box with the 3-way. If
the switch was working properly before you changed it, it should not
affect any power to anything else.




Yep. That makes sense

On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 4:07:20 AM UTC-5, philo* wrote:
On 12/08/2014 09:21 PM, Seymore4Head wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

My guess would be a loose wirenut inside the box with the 3-way. If
the switch was working properly before you changed it, it should not
affect any power to anything else.




Yep. That makes sense

He says that circuit also involves a half-bath and that it still
has power. It's possible that a GFCI in that bath has tripped
that serves the outlets in the bath and the 3 way light is downstream
of it?

If that's not it, then I'd check for voltage at the 3 wires going to
the switch. The switch is at the bottom of the stairs, so most likely
it's wired with the hot feed coming to the center pole of that switch,
light is connected to the center pole at switch at top of stairs.
See if there is 120V at the correct terminal, or 120V at all.

Finally, there is the issue of what kind of switches these actually are,
besides being square? The common, lower priced ones are just SPDT
switches, just like the old one. Higher end ones, eg Lutron Maestro,
use an electronic protocol between the switches, you need their devices
on both ends. IDK what happens if you just put one on one end, but given
that there is also no power in a bedroom, I doubt that's the problem.
Most likely, something is either wired up wrong, or else something came
loose, eg a pig tail was pulled loose from a wire nut, etc.

On 12/8/2014 9:10 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:
I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.
Use your digital camera next time before disconnecting ANYTHING. Then
you can show us what you actually DID.


I've got a couple ROLLS of YELLOW tape from EBAY,
which is handy for MARKING wires as I take THEM
off. Just FOLD some TAPE over the wire and NUMBER
with SHARPIE.

--
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 7:47:00 AM UTC-5, Stormin Mormon wrote:
On 12/8/2014 9:10 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:
I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.
Use your digital camera next time before disconnecting ANYTHING. Then
you can show us what you actually DID.


I've got a couple ROLLS of YELLOW tape from EBAY,
which is handy for MARKING wires as I take THEM
off. Just FOLD some TAPE over the wire and NUMBER
with SHARPIE.

--
.
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

From what I've heard so far, he didn't even need that. He's
only said there was a red, white and black, so they appear to be
identifiable as is.

On 12/8/2014 8:36 PM, wrote:
I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.


Is there anything else in the box besides the switch and the three wires?
Could it be that there is a junction point in the box which was loose to
begin with and which was disturbed by your activities? I've seen stranger
things...

On Tuesday, December 9, 2014 8:29:53 AM UTC-5, BenignBodger wrote:
On 12/8/2014 8:36 PM, wrote:
I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.


Is there anything else in the box besides the switch and the three wires?
Could it be that there is a junction point in the box which was loose to
begin with and which was disturbed by your activities? I've seen stranger
things...

To that line of thought, I'd add this. He also said something about
only changing switches on the main floor. He's replaced other switches
at the same time. Depending on what he knows about when it stopped
working, it's also possible he dislodged a wire in another box he was
working on that feeds the stuff that's out.

On 12/09/2014 05:59 AM, trader_4 wrote:

snip



Yep. That makes sense

He says that circuit also involves a half-bath and that it still
has power. It's possible that a GFCI in that bath has tripped
that serves the outlets in the bath and the 3 way light is downstream
of it?

If that's not it, then I'd check for voltage at the 3 wires going to
the switch. The switch is at the bottom of the stairs, so most likely
it's wired with the hot feed coming to the center pole of that switch,
light is connected to the center pole at switch at top of stairs.
See if there is 120V at the correct terminal, or 120V at all.

Finally, there is the issue of what kind of switches these actually are,
besides being square? The common, lower priced ones are just SPDT
switches, just like the old one. Higher end ones, eg Lutron Maestro,
use an electronic protocol between the switches, you need their devices
on both ends. IDK what happens if you just put one on one end, but given
that there is also no power in a bedroom, I doubt that's the problem.
Most likely, something is either wired up wrong, or else something came
loose, eg a pig tail was pulled loose from a wire nut, etc.




I just recalled that with a GFCI outlet (at least all the ones I have)
if you turn the breaker off at the box...the outlet will have to be reset.


Finally...I've only seen this once:

A circuit that was working, stopped working after I turned the breaker
off and later turned it back on. The breaker itself failed.

On Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:47:20 -0500, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 12/8/2014 9:10 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:
I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.
Use your digital camera next time before disconnecting ANYTHING. Then
you can show us what you actually DID.


I've got a couple ROLLS of YELLOW tape from EBAY,
which is handy for MARKING wires as I take THEM
off. Just FOLD some TAPE over the wire and NUMBER
with SHARPIE.
Get stuffed, Stormy. You are a blinking IDIOT

On 12/9/2014 12:41 PM, wrote:
On Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:47:20 -0500, Stormin Mormon

I've got a couple ROLLS of YELLOW tape from EBAY,
which is handy for MARKING wires as I take THEM
off. Just FOLD some TAPE over the wire and NUMBER
with SHARPIE.
Get stuffed, Stormy. You are a blinking IDIOT

YEAH! But at LEAST I have s SENSE of HUMOR


http://fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/f/20...99-d4ucj2k.gif

-
..
Christopher A. Young
Learn about Jesus
www.lds.org
..

On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:

I am in a townhouse that was built in the late 70s. From what I can tell the circut breakers, wiring, and electical switches are the original. I have been replacing my older style switches and sockets with modern square style swiches and sockets.

I removed a 3 way switch that was at the foot of my stairs and replaced it with a new one. When I turned the breaker back on I got power to other parts of the loop (my half bath on main floor) but no power to the three way switch.

I thought I may have put the black, white, or red wires in the wrong spots so I tried every possible combination. Each time the same result: nothing. Now the bedroom at the top of the stairs no longer has power either. This is strange because the half bath still has power when the breaker is on, but not the light in the stairs or the bedroom at the top of stairs.

I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.

Get a volt-ohmmeter, also called a multimeter, and learn how to use it.
It will reward you many times.

Don't buy the cheapest one, unless it's at Harbor Freight. Anywhere
else plan to spend about 15 to 20 dollars, unless you want to spend more
for more features. But the second cheapest is good enough.

Digital meters can register ghost voltages, but if you get those you can
ask about them here. Other than that, they are easier to use than
analog meters, the ones with a needle that moves.

posted for all of us...



On Tue, 09 Dec 2014 07:47:20 -0500, Stormin Mormon
wrote:

On 12/8/2014 9:10 PM, wrote:
On Mon, 8 Dec 2014 17:36:38 -0800 (PST), wrote:
I have not changed anything on the 2nd floor yet. Only changed switches on the main floor.

Short of calling an electrician, I don't know what to do.
Use your digital camera next time before disconnecting ANYTHING. Then
you can show us what you actually DID.


I've got a couple ROLLS of YELLOW tape from EBAY,
which is handy for MARKING wires as I take THEM
off. Just FOLD some TAPE over the wire and NUMBER
with SHARPIE.

Get stuffed, Stormy. You are a blinking IDIOT

+50

--
Tekkie