I pounded this out while you had your last post. I'm just going to add this so I didn't type all this in vain ...Sometimes a blk-wht pair will be used as a traveler set in a 3-way switch circuit. BUT, one is supposed to indicate the wht is being used as a HOT lead by putting blk tape or a blk marker on the end of the white wire.
Aside: Never run a white wire as a HOT lead without marking it!I know you said you did not wire this, so this is not directed at you.
http://www.electrical-online.com/3waydiagram.htm shows a properly wired 3-way, using 12-3 romex (3 meaning wht, blk, red, the copper gnd is not counted in the “3” label, so 12-3 actually has 4 wires: wht, blk, red, copper).
In this correct manner, the wht is neutral and neutral only. The two switched HOT leads are red and blk. Keep in mind, however, that there are several correct ways to wire a 3-way switch, not just the one on that web site.
Sometimes though, to avoid using 12-3, a person will use 12-2 and wire the circuit. At
http://www.wfu.edu/~matthews/courses/p230/switches/3way/variations.html, note the top diagram. This shows a proper way of wiring. Note the 12-3 between the two 3-way switches (copper not shown), wht-neutral, blk and red switched HOT.
To cheat, if you could get a neutral at the Light box, you could just run 12-2 (wht & blk) where the diagram shows red & blk. If so, you’re supposed to mark the white as a blk HOT lead.
It’s bad practice to run a wht as neutral and a wht as switched HOT (without marking it) as one would not know what wht is what.
To compound things, sometimes a box is used as a junction box and who knows what’s going on inside there - some wires are just a junction and some wires are for the lighting circuit. Your picture may suggest there’s more in that box than just the lighting.
CAUTION: If you were to take all that apart to trace as I suggested, you may not ever get it back together. So, if you do anything, take pictures, and more pictures, and notes, and more notes.This hits home because my laundry room had two ceiling light outlets, two 3-way switches, and I found that TWO different circuits were in one ceiling box - one was just “passing through” and the other was light wiring. Even I got so confused as to what the heck someone else did, I documented the heck out of what I had, removed everything and completely rewired the whole circuit. I was VERY lucky that my laundry room had the attic access, and I could just go up a ladder and have total access to the entire other side of the ceiling.
BTW - talk about a prime example of treating all wire as if they are HOT. I switched power OFF on the set controlling the lights - the lights went dark, but I still had another circuit in the box, and it was still HOT - and I did not know it until later.
See previous statement about funerals and assumptions.
You have a real challenge here, and it has nothing to do with X10, it has to do with your wiring and getting what you have all figured out before you can plan what to do for the X10 install. I believe one could have 3-way switch wiring that could work with 3-way switches but be incompatible with the needs of the X10 devices.
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Topic: 3 Way XPS3 w\ Slave XPSS (Read 10413 times)