Supreme Old Style 3 Way Switch Wiring

Regardless of what 3 way switch wiring diagram you re following you ll need to use a 3 wire cable to connect the two 3 way light switches.

Old style 3 way switch wiring. There are no ground wires visible anywhere in either circuit and everything is so dusty and dirty that i can t tell what is a white wire and what is a black wire etc. A 3 way switch will not have the words on or off written on it. And to be more precise there are.

At each switch in the above 3 way switch wiring diagram the black wire gets connected to the common copper or black screw. Replace any regular switches with the 3 way switches. The wiring in the house is old and it is either knob and tube wiring or whatever came after that and before romex etc.

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. The line white neutral wire gets connected to the light fixture. This is the 3 wire cable which you must have to wire a 3 way light switch.

3 way switch wiring diagram. The alternate 3 way switch wiring configuration california or west coast was used as a way to wire 3 way switches and be able to supply line voltage to either switch. This might seem intimidating but it does not have to be.

This configuration is no longer allowed as the neutral is not present in each switch box. However this alternate wiring. I am trying to solve a 3 way switch circuit issue in an old house.

Com on the first switch connects to com on the second switch l1 on the first switch connects to l1 on the second and l2 on the first switch connects to l2 on the second. From there use pliers to turn the wire into a j and carefully wrap it around the black screw on the light switch typically located at the bottom. The black wire from the other 3 way gets connected to the line black wire.