[Novalug] OT: Electrical Wiring Q

Jason Kohles jkohles@palantir.com
Mon Aug 29 19:41:17 EDT 2011


And where I said 'blue' you should read 'red'.  It's been a long day.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jason Kohles [mailto:jkohles@palantir.com]
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 04:31 PM
To: 'greg@pryzby.org' <greg@pryzby.org>; 'ninorpereira@gmail.com' <ninorpereira@gmail.com>
Cc: 'novalug@calypso.tux.org' <novalug@calypso.tux.org>
Subject: Re: [Novalug] OT: Electrical Wiring Q

That's your problem.  The 4-way doesn't have a wire that bypasses the switch, and you can't tap into it to power something new.  The way the 4 way works is that it taps into the two travelers from the 3-way switches and 'flip-flops' them.  So, for example, if your travelers are black and red, then the 4-way switch will have two black connections and two red connections.  When the switch is up the two reds are connected together and the two blacks are connected together.  When you flip the switch they get 'flopped' and now the red input is connected to the black output and the red output is connected to the blue input.

Because it's a three way switch at the ends, only one of those two travellers will ever be powered at a time.  This is why you can't tap something new into it, the thing you add in can only ever be on if the traveler you tapped happens to be powered at the time.


----- Original Message -----
From: greg pryzby [mailto:greg@pryzby.org]
Sent: Monday, August 29, 2011 04:01 PM
To: Nino R. Pereira <ninorpereira@gmail.com>
Cc: novalug@calypso.tux.org <novalug@calypso.tux.org>
Subject: Re: [Novalug] OT: Electrical Wiring Q

When you setup more than 2 on/off switches, the middle switch is a
four way. The 4way has 1 wire BYPASSING the on/off switch. Their are 4
terminals that are the color on the same side.

http://www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk/diy/electrics/light_fitting/three_way_switching.jpg

Because of placement on the new light, tapping into the middle
(4switch) is the only option

On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 5:25 PM, Nino R. Pereira <ninorpereira@gmail.com> wrote:
> Now, you don't say explicitly but we assumed that the original light has
> a white and
> a black wire that connects at the switch straight through to the house
> wiring.
> The third wire is then green, and ground. So, what's the 4-th wire for?
>
> Normally, white is power, black is neutral, green is ground. What's the
> 4-th?
>
> Also, check that the total power from the two light passing through the
> switch
> is below its rating. Both lights are fluorescent bulbs, right? or at
> most 100W
> incandescents, and not 500 W halogens? And it's not a dimmer switch? those
> may not be able to handle the increased current.
>
> HTH,
>
> Nino
>
>
>
>
> On 08/29/2011 09:50 AM, Daniel Copeland wrote:
>> Wire the new light in parallel with the existing lights, matching
>> black to black and white to white.  You may be able to stack them into
>> the same terminal on the switch, or make an extension and use wire
>> nuts to tie them into the same terminals.
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 9:29 AM, greg pryzby <greg@pryzby.org
>> <mailto:greg@pryzby.org>> wrote:
>>
>>     Looking for electrical wiring help.
>>
>>     I have 3 light switches (2 have 3-wires and 1 has 4-wires). I put a
>>     new light in near the 4-wire switch.
>>
>>     I would like to tie the new light (2-wires + ground) into the wiring
>>     at the 4-wire switch. I can't get it to work/cycle w/ the lights.
>>     Meaning when the existing lights are on, the new light is out. When
>>     the new light is on, the existing lights are out. Playing with the 3
>>     switches I can get the new and existing lights all out, but nothing
>>     gets them all on.
>>
>>     ANY constructive help (besides hire an electrician) are welcome. I
>>     imagine the internet can save me the electrician fee and teach me
>>     about wiring.
>>
>>     --
>>     greg pryzby                              greg at pryzby dot org
>>     http://www.linkedin.com/in/gpryzby
>>
>>     WEB: http://www.RestonArtisTree.com/
>>     TWTR: gpryzby
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-- 
greg pryzby                              greg at pryzby dot org
http://www.linkedin.com/in/gpryzby

WEB:  http://www.RestonArtisTree.com/
TWTR: gpryzby
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