This is the video I needed. These different switches are my problem, plus my wires aren't the right colors. I have 3 brown wires and a white one. I got a circuit tester and I think I have the common i.d.ed, and the two carriers. The 4th one doesn't seem to do anything. Wish me luck.
This is a great teacher, and I am going through this problem, but my situation is that one of the 3 way switches has 4 wires going to it when my new rocker switch only appears to be capable of 3 wires, (grounds not included).
@1971SuperLead In a 3-way system, two switches will truly be 3-way switches (and have 3 wires attach to them), but any additional switches beyond those two will not really be 3-way switches -- they will be 4-way switches. So when you replace any 4-way switch, you need to have the new one be a 4-way switch. With a rocker-style 4-way switch, the pair of wires from same-color screws on the old switch will go to screws on the new one that are the same color as each other. Ditto the other pair.
@TheCircuitDetective Well, I looked on the back of the old switch with the 4 wires & saw that two of the lower wires stabbed into the back had the word "commom" inbetween them. I figured they must be connected and that the extra wire was a hot wire out to some other device, most likely the wall outlet on the other side of the wall. So I attached that extra wire to the hot screw on the side of the new swithch as the new switch did not come with two hot stab holes, only one.
@TheCircuitDetective Well, is that common that some switches have to stab holes for a hot wire? My place was built in 1985. Were switches just diffent back then? Is the method of getting a hot tap of a light switch now not to code anymore? I'm in Denver.
Why do people cut the wires off old switches instead of just releasing the stab hole locks? Seems like a lot more work to restrip those heavy copper wires.
@1971SuperLead Many switches still provide the means to "back-stab" a wire right next to a screw terminal. It is legal and saves having to pigtail a single wire from a wirenut. But it does make confusion possible when switches are replaced. Also it is not quite as reliable a connection as a wirenut. As for releasing wires from an old switch or receptacle, it takes a pretty small screwdriver to fit into the release notch, and even then it can be a struggle sometimes.
This is the video I needed. These different switches are my problem, plus my wires aren't the right colors. I have 3 brown wires and a white one. I got a circuit tester and I think I have the common i.d.ed, and the two carriers. The 4th one doesn't seem to do anything. Wish me luck.
pmarie2003 1 month ago
Thank you for posting,great heads up on the variation of appearance of the push in connections.
cinnamon11000 4 months ago
This is a great teacher, and I am going through this problem, but my situation is that one of the 3 way switches has 4 wires going to it when my new rocker switch only appears to be capable of 3 wires, (grounds not included).
1971SuperLead 11 months ago
@1971SuperLead In a 3-way system, two switches will truly be 3-way switches (and have 3 wires attach to them), but any additional switches beyond those two will not really be 3-way switches -- they will be 4-way switches. So when you replace any 4-way switch, you need to have the new one be a 4-way switch. With a rocker-style 4-way switch, the pair of wires from same-color screws on the old switch will go to screws on the new one that are the same color as each other. Ditto the other pair.
TheCircuitDetective 11 months ago
@TheCircuitDetective Well, I looked on the back of the old switch with the 4 wires & saw that two of the lower wires stabbed into the back had the word "commom" inbetween them. I figured they must be connected and that the extra wire was a hot wire out to some other device, most likely the wall outlet on the other side of the wall. So I attached that extra wire to the hot screw on the side of the new swithch as the new switch did not come with two hot stab holes, only one.
It worked & no fire!
1971SuperLead 11 months ago
@1971SuperLead Good thinking! So it was a 3-way switch but was being used to pass the circuit's hot along.
TheCircuitDetective 11 months ago
@TheCircuitDetective Well, is that common that some switches have to stab holes for a hot wire? My place was built in 1985. Were switches just diffent back then? Is the method of getting a hot tap of a light switch now not to code anymore? I'm in Denver.
Why do people cut the wires off old switches instead of just releasing the stab hole locks? Seems like a lot more work to restrip those heavy copper wires.
1971SuperLead 11 months ago
@1971SuperLead Many switches still provide the means to "back-stab" a wire right next to a screw terminal. It is legal and saves having to pigtail a single wire from a wirenut. But it does make confusion possible when switches are replaced. Also it is not quite as reliable a connection as a wirenut. As for releasing wires from an old switch or receptacle, it takes a pretty small screwdriver to fit into the release notch, and even then it can be a struggle sometimes.
TheCircuitDetective 11 months ago