Originally Posted By: sleddriver
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
Originally Posted By: WyrTwister
sleddriver said:A three-way SW has four terminals:
Easy there sparky. You had the opportunity to answer earlier, but chose not to.
There are indeed 4 terminals. Even the diagrams provided by another shows that. BLK is commonly HOT, WHT is NEUTRAL, RED is used in 3-way SW and bare copper is GROUND. In a 3W, a WHT wire can be HOT, thus the black tape.
In practice , you can not depend on the other colors being a specific designation . If a white is connected to the switch , it most assuredly NOT a NEUTRIAL !
I should have included the other option, where the power comes in to the fixture, rather than either SW.
Yes , not uncommon for the hot and neutral and earth ground to enter the system at the lighting box . But it makes little difference , the hot has to go from there to one or the other of the two 3-way switches .
Yes the white may ( or may not ) be taped / marked another color . And may or may not be connected to a hot ( on residential , only ) .
But , in no case is a neutral ( legally ) connected to a switch ( unless the electronics in a dimmer or motion switch require it ) . If you see a white connected to a switch , it IS NOT a neutral , it is something else and was not taped / marked .
Last edited: