Finding the Power Source For 3-Way Light Switch
78Save Money Doing It Yourself
Low voltage wiring is rather simple and can be done by anyone with the proper know how. Always use extreme caution with electricity. Always call an electrician for high voltage electricity jobs.
Where's the power?
Wiring can be a hassle with trying to determine which wire is the power source if you lost track of it. The wiring for a light switch usually isn't labeled and is hard to know which wires are what. You can run into problems if you are installing a dimmer and/or a fan control.
Sound familiar?
The wires all look the same and I don't know where to begin. Please help!
No need to worry. There is a way to find out which wires are for what lights in your home.
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Simple steps to help discover the actual live wire for 3-way switches:
1. You can buy a voltage tester which is usually a few dollars at your local home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowes. The tester will indicate which wire is "active" or "hot" This will work if the power breaker to your house is on. Try not to touch any of the wires to avoid getting shocked. Proceed to the steps below if you don't have a voltage tester.
2. Turn off your main breaker to avoid getting shocked
3. Next, you should straighten all of the black or common wires sticking them out and away from each other.
These black or common wires are either your feed connections and/or the power source to your light(s). The white wires are neutral and they should be wired together using a wire nut.
Half hot wires are different from neutrals. You should keep these separated. Half hot wires allow for you to control a light from more than one location like from the other side of the room. This involves a third wire and is usually red.
4. Next, flip on the main breaker to get power.Get your voltage tester ready to reveal the projected source of electricity; the wire that is the power source for your light. There is only 1 active hot wire as the power source. The rest of the wires shouldn't have any voltage.
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No tester? No problem
Use 1 of the black wires and contact it with ONLY one other black wire. Repeat this process until you have gone through ALL of the remaining black wires. Label the wire that was found to turn the light on. This wire is your power source.
Each light switch has 1 wire going into it and 1 going out to the power source "host". You should hook up the remaining light switches as you did with the first switch.
Half hots should be hooked up individually to an alternate power source. They usually have a red wire in addition to the 2 main wires.
WARNING! Low voltage can give you a good jolt so use extreme caution.
For more home improvement info and how to's go to my site on my profile. Thanks for reading.
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trishool 22 months ago
hey buddy. congratulations on publishing ten hubs