Here a ceiling fan with a light kit is controlled with two 3 way switches. When wiring a 3 way switch circuit we will be using a 3 wire cable known as romex coming from the source such as the breaker box.
Insteon 3 Way Switch Alternate Wiring Bithead S Blog
3 way switch red wire. Well cover the easier scenario first. Before you start installing take a look at your new 3 way switch to identify all of the terminals that you will be connecting wires to. Then a 4 wire cable going between the two 3 way switches and then a 3 wire cable going from the switches to the load. 3 way switch wire colorsthere is no standard for wire colors on 3 way switch travelersthe colors will vary depending on whether nm cable or conduit was used. With a pair of 3 way switches either can make or break the connection that completes the circuit to the light. The grounding wire is connected both to the switch using a pigtail wire and to the second cable run passing onward to the next switch.
The three way switch is a variation of the standard single pole switch which controls a light only from one locationa third type is the four way switch which is used in conjunction with two three way switches to control lighting from more than two locationsthis configuration may be used in open plan homes or in large kitchens or great rooms where a central bank of lighting fixtures might. The cable run linking the two switches is made with 3 wire cable. In this wiring the source is at sw1 and 3 wire cable runs between each switch and the ceiling fan. The black and red wires are travelers and are connected to the. To wire a 3 way light switch youll need 2 3 way light switches 2 2 wire non metallic cables 1 3 wire non metallic cable and 2 6 inch grounding wires. Ceiling fan 3 way switch wiring.
Replace any regular switches with the 3 way switches. If the switch box is metal it also must be pigtailed to the grounding wires. Keep in mind that the traveler terminals for red black wires are universal and will work regardless of which one the traveler wire is connected to. A 3 way switch will not have the words on or off written on it. It could be there is or once was a three way switch in play. When you see a red wire in a light switch box it can mean two things.
With nm cable the wire colors for travelers will be black and red using 3 wire cablewith conduit the wire colors for travelers could be any color. First run a 2 wire cable from the wall power to the black screw on 1 of the switches. Traveler wire terminals these are located on each side of the switch towards the top of the switch. Each 3 way switch in these examples are controlling the power source to the same load. Wiring a 3 way light switch is certainly more complicated than that of the more common single pole switch but you can figure it out if you follow our 3 way switch wiring diagram. This is the same arrangement as the second diagram on this page with a fan in place of the light fixture.
C now connect the traveler red black wires from the new 3 wire romex cable to the two traveler terminals at the top of 3 way switch 1 the first switch. Or it could be the red wire is the wire going to the fixture and the black wires are the live wires. Wiring a 3 way light switch.
Gallery of 3 Way Switch Red Wire
