Red wire power or hot wire black wire power or hot wire white wire neutral bare copper ground when wiring a 3 way switch circuit all we want to do is to control the black wire hot wire to turn on and off the load from 2 different locations. The black hot wire connects to the far right switchs common terminal.
4 Way Switch Wiring Methods Electrician101
Three way switch red wire. They connect the switch in this box to the other switch in box 2. Or it could be the red wire is the wire going to the fixture and the black wires are the live wires. In the 2nd diagram below blue wires are used for travelers. If the switch box is metal it also must be pigtailed to the grounding wires. With conduit the wire colors for travelers could be any color. There is no standard for wire colors on 3 way switch travelers.
Switch loops if you see a red wire spliced together with a black one in a 120 volt outlet its probably because the outlet is powered by a wall switch. 3 way switch wire diagram power to light fixture in this diagram power enters the fixture box. With nm cable the wire colors for travelers will be black and red using 3 wire cable. The cable run linking the two switches is made with 3 wire cable. When you see a red wire in a light switch box it can mean two things. The colors will vary depending on whether nm cable or conduit was used.
The black and red wires are travelers and are connected to the traveler screw terminals on the two switches. Red and blue wires link traveler terminals of both switches. This configuration may be used in open plan homes or in large kitchens or great rooms where a central bank of lighting fixtures might be controlled from more than two entry points. 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. It could be there is or once was a three way switch in play. 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 location. Regardless of what 3 way switch wiring diagram youre following youll need to use a 3 wire cable to connect the two 3 way light switches. The other 4 wire bundle will enter the box from the top and have three colored wires black white red and a copper bare one. A third type is the four way switch which is used in conjunction with two three way switches to control lighting from more than two locations. The red wire which is connected to the first switchs. First run a 2 wire cable from the wall power to the black screw on 1 of the switches.
So what you should see if you have correct 3 wire electrical cable romex is a black power white neutral and now a 3rd red wire. Certain switch loop configurations require a three conductor wire the extra wire is needed to complete the circuit at the switch. Well cover the easier scenario first.
Gallery of Three Way Switch Red Wire
