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Got a real jolt from a mislabeled 3-way switch in an old Akron house yesterday
The homeowner said the dining room light had never worked right, and after tracing the wires for an hour, I found the common terminal on the old switch was wired with the red traveler, so I swapped it with the black wire from the two-conductor cable and it finally worked... anyone have a good trick for quickly spotting a messed-up 3-way when the wiring isn't color-coded?
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jenny_lane128d ago
Craig's voltage check at the fixture is the best first move. It tells you if power is even getting there before you waste time on the switches. In those old houses, you might find the feed is at the light and the switches are just looped. If you have no voltage there, your problem is upstream. Then you can work back toward the panel instead of getting lost in a rat's nest of cloth wire.
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craig.viola8d ago
Honestly, that's why I just gave up and bought a tone tester years ago. Tracing wires by sight in those old plaster walls is a nightmare, right? You just start assuming nothing is where it should be. My trick now is to check for voltage at the fixture box first, before I even touch a switch. Saves so much time chasing a dead end.
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