4 way switch question

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drcampbell said:
It's no different than hooking up a three-phase motor to rotate the right way: Hook it up, turn it on, and go back and hook it up the other way after it doesn't do what you want on the first try.
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I have a way to connect/orient all my 3-ways as I install so that they always end up correct.

Then when I connect my 4-ways I don't screw them in until power is on. Then I orient it correctly and it's a wrap.
 
I had a couple of people request that I change their 3-ways so that down was off. I said that's fine until someone flips the other switch. I had an engineer ask and he knew it would change with the other switch being flipped but wanted them to be both down when they were off. I started wiring them where I put the black traveler on the same side as the line in the box where the power enters. Then the other 3-way I would put the red on the load side. It works out fine that way with both being down when off. But that also requires the other switch to not be used or flip each again until both are down when off.
A 4-way, all bets are off as to the postion of the switches! :)
 
Little Bill said:
I started wiring them where I put the black traveler on the same side as the line in the box where the power enters. Then the other 3-way I would put the red on the load side. It works out fine that way with both being down when off.
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I install the red wire on the same side as the common. Every time.

Then, if the common is the feed, I point the common down. If the common is the switch leg I point common up.

That's one reason I'm insanely anal about curling the switch leg at every switch, every time, without any exceptions.
 
Sea Nile said:
Why does this 4 way switch say "this side up"? Do all 4 way switch brands also have an "up"? BTW, this is a legrand brand switch.
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I have wired in dozens of 4 way switches and never remember seeing this side up on them but does not matter. Only wall switches that I sort of remember that up position had to be meet was back in the 1960's when some companies made what they called silent switches due the dangerous mercury inside. My dad installed a illuminated mercury 3 way switch in our house back around 1960. I was lucky enough to help him. Held a flashlight during a bright day but thought he could not have done it without my help. This switch lasted over 50 years. When my mom called me that the switch that I helped install went bad kidded her that the warranty ran out 45 years ago. Not sure if this still works but the the two brands of 4 way switches that I used would just wire in first pair of travelers from say first 3 way to top right & bottom left terminals and other set of travelers to two remaining terminals. Meet more then one sparky who for some reason did not know how to wire a simple 4 way switch.
 
garbo said:
Not sure if this still works but the the two brands of 4 way switches that I used would just wire in first pair of travelers from say first 3 way to top right & bottom left terminals and other set of travelers to two remaining terminals.
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No, no, no. Never, never, never go by terminal position. Always, always, always go by terminal color.

Dark terminals to one 3-way (or next 4-way), light terminals to the other 3-way (or next 4-way).
 
mtnelect said:
I always label my gloves, Right Hand & Left Hand !
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You mean those disposable rubber gloves that are supposed to fit either hand, correct?

If you tear the one you are putting on your left hand you need to throw an additional right one away or else you won't have full pairs when you reach the end of the box. :unsure:
 
LarryFine said:
No doubt, but the terminal colors are always right.
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And just to double check, if A1 and A2 are two terminals of the same color, likewise B1 and B2, then the switch's two states will be A1-B1 / A2-B2 (where - means connection) and A1-B2 / A2-B1?

Does the switch in the OP actually have two different colors for the terminal screws?

Cheers, Wayne
 
wwhitney said:
And just to double check, if A1 and A2 are two terminals of the same color, likewise B1 and B2, then the switch's two states will be A1-B1 / A2-B2 (where - means connection) and A1-B2 / A2-B1?
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Exactly. A 4-way switch is identical to a DC plarity switch.

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wwhitney said:
Does the switch in the OP actually have two different colors for the terminal screws?
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It appears that the two left screws are darker, but that may be due to lighting.

If the switch is unmarked, a simple continuity test will tell you. Two terminals that never get switched together go toward one of the 3-ways.
 
It's not that I have trouble figuring out the 4 way terminals. I am just cursed and there always seems to be some other problem when I get into 4 ways. Last time, I had a bad three way switch, which I didn't realize until after I had tore everything apart assuming it was a 4 way issue. Then time before that it was an old house and they were switching the neutral. That will throw you for a loop until you realize it. Another time there were a ton of 4 ways and somehow I got one of a different brand mixed in and that one I wired wrong assuming it was like all the others.......🤬
 
electrofelon said:
Another time there were a ton of 4 ways and somehow I got one of a different brand mixed in and that one I wired wrong assuming it was like all the others.......🤬
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Which brings us squarely back to my point.

So many times I have heard "But, I put each wire in the same place it was on the old switch!"
 
LarryFine said:
No doubt, but the terminal colors are always right.
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There are some brands that don't have different color screws. If it's a brand I have never wired, and no wiring diagram included, I use my meter to find the correct terminals. I had one that I looked for the diagram and didn't see one so I used my meter. When picking up my trash after the job, I noticed the box the 4-way came in and on the inside, printed on the inside, was the wiring diagram! You had to tear the box apart to read the whole thing!
 
Seems 4ways are always an issue. Not due to lack of knowing how it works but that each mfg seems to want to configure their's unique to what the next mfg does. Unfortunately don't always have the luxury to have available a singular mfg 4way. So I always either meter or find mfg diagram. Found them with the traveler connections across top/bottom, or right/left. Then found one that someone must have but in the wrong box, it turned out to be not a 4way but DPDT, no markings on switch that I saw to indicate it being a DPDT, that will really throw a wrench into a 4way installation. Biggest system I've had to connect was with an 8way, pretty straightforward after first 4way.

Want to mess with GC who wants to get the materials because he doesn't want to pay the markup? Tell them you need 5way switch.
 
Fred B said:
Seems 4ways are always an issue. Not due to lack of knowing how it works but that each mfg seems to want to configure their's unique to what the next mfg does. Unfortunately don't always have the luxury to have available a singular mfg 4way. So I always either meter or find mfg diagram. Found them with the traveler connections across top/bottom, or right/left. Then found one that someone must have but in the wrong box, it turned out to be not a 4way but DPDT, no markings on switch that I saw to indicate it being a DPDT, that will really throw a wrench into a 4way installation. Biggest system I've had to connect was with an 8way, pretty straightforward after first 4way.

Want to mess with GC who wants to get the materials because he doesn't want to pay the markup? Tell them you need 5way switch.
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You can’t even rely on the diagram, my first four way I wired was an Eagle brand when I was in the fifth grade. I was doing a 4 H project wiring two three ways and a four way. Wired it by the wiring diagram on the box. Wouldn’t work. I took a battery and a light, figured out how it worked. The switch was side to side, instead of the top to bottom that the box shown.
 
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