Hey everyone! I'm kind of a newbie, so please bear with me. I've been trying to set up a light fixture that has a switch at both the top and bottom of my stairs using new 3-way switches. The first time I installed them, everything seemed to work fine. But then I turned off the light, and after that, I couldn't get it to turn back on with the switch that just turned it off. I reset the breaker and checked all the connections, and it started working again. I plan to try this with a couple more switches. Am I doing something wrong? Should both switches be in the 'on' position when I cut the breaker?
2 Answers
If you’ve wired everything the same and it’s still not working consistently, it could point to a loose connection or possibly a wired switch issue. When you toggle one switch, it should always flip the state of the light. Try testing it with a voltage meter to see if there's power when the light doesn’t come on. Also, cleaning the wire tips can help if they look older. Just ensuring all bases are covered, you know?
Sounds like you might have the traveler wires mixed up. Double-check that you're connecting them correctly. If the switches are the same as your old ones and you matched the color locations, it should work fine.
Thanks for the tip! I wired them just like the old ones, but I’ll definitely verify that.
I did trim a little off the wires to make them fit better, and that seems to have helped a bit. I’ve got to install two more switches, so we’ll see how that goes!