Another dumb questions

Status
Not open for further replies.
L

lady sparks lover

Senior Member
On the plans that I'm reviewing for my co-worker, they have four sets of switches (technically a 4/5 way switch) controlling on set of lights. In other words, they are making it so that you can control one set of lights from 4 locations.

Is this doable with Levitron swithes? I'm not sure...I've heard of single pole, 2 way, 3 way, and 4 way switches, but this is new to me!! :confused:
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Sure you can. It's still called a 4 way switch.
Just install 4 ways for the additional switches.
So if you wanted to turn on the lights at 5 locations you would have 2- 3way switches and 3- 4way switches.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Yes this is very doable (is that a word),sounds good to me. You can put as many switches as you want. Just have all 4-way switches in the middle. 3-way on each end. I hope i'm rexplaining this right. But i know that yes you can control a light from as many places as you want. Or can afford :0
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Originally posted by daryl:
Yes this is very doable (is that a word),sounds good to me. You can put as many switches as you want. Just have all 4-way switches in the middle. 3-way on each end. I hope i'm rexplaining this right. But i know that yes you can control a light from as many places as you want. Or can afford :0
Click to expand...
Ok, but you're telling me that if I put (2) 4 way switches in the middle of the (2) 3 ways I can do this.

I have (2) sets of 3 ways, and (2) sets of 4 ways (on the plans), and this will work, correct?? I'm not a electrician, just a lowly engineer so it's hard for me to imagine the connection!! :)
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Lady You got it now and if you want to add anymore locations just keep adding 4 way switches.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Page T-13 of the Pass & Seymour catalog shows a diagram with a single 4-way switch between 2 3-ways.

Go here:

Pass & seymour

and enter "4 way switch wiring diagram" in the search box. It should be the first hit.

Like others said, you can add as many 4way switches as you want. Voltage drop may become a problem though, if the switches are not very close to each other and if the circuit is heavily loaded.

STeve
 
Re: Another dumb questions

if you spec 3 in and 3 out, the feed and the light can be put at any switch location. feed the neutrals through, red and black travelers in-and-out. (the end 3 ways don't need double 3 wires).

if voltage drop is a concern, put one trhee-way at each furthest location.

paul
 
Re: Another dumb questions

This is funny. I bought some software to do basic drawings with. It said professional Architecture.
One of the electrical symbols was a five way switch. I use this to do simple and fast prints for residential customers and it works OK. It still amuses me when I see the 5-way. Do you think they added that to confuse young architects.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Originally posted by growler:

One of the electrical symbols was a five way switch. I use this to do simple and fast prints for residential customers and it works OK. It still amuses me when I see the 5-way. Do you think they added that to confuse young architects.
Click to expand...
Now an old electrician is confused. I've never heard of a 5-way switch, is there such a thing? I also am a little curious and perplexed that an engineer would have never had an opportunity to see the wiring of a 4-way switch. I guess some things are just not reviewed in school.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

I never meant to imply that there is a five way switch but there is a symbol for one. I bought the program at office depot ( on sale of course ). I guess you get what you pay for.
If anyone thinks that all engineers are familiar with 3-way and 4-way switches. Think again. I had to explain the purpose of a circuit breaker to an aviation electronics engineer not long ago.
I don't put down engineers. Why should someone that designs chips care how a house is wired. I don't care how chips are designed.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

I sure hope you don't think I was putting down engineers! Without engineers, our lives would be much more difficult. I just figured engineers would have come across this in school somewhere.
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Stiff,

Some of us old engineers had to take a lot of power whereas the newer crowd takes a lot of computer stuff. Most of know about fuses and circuit breakers.

They don't even teach slide rule anymore. Well, I played a tiny, tiny part in that drama 34 years ago.

Now, did you know that the behavior of a 3-way circuit can be described with Boolean Algebra? It is called an "exclusive OR".
 
Re: Another dumb questions

Lady, FWIW, whenever I lay out a house with a four-way switch (say a long hall with lots of doors), I literally write "S4 Hall" at every location. I don't care where the fourway switch ends up, so long as a switch is present to control the lights where they're supposed to be.

If you wanted, you could put "S4" at all 4 locations, let the electrician decide how he'd like to pull it. Unless he's a knuckle-dragging nincumpoop he'll have a three-way at either end of his system. :)

(In so doing, I would think you'd have less of a chance of one of your fourways being overlooked.) IMO. ;)
 
Re: Another dumb questions

I think most electricians would be supprised what engineers do learn in school. The schools shy away from teaching anything considered remotely "technical". A lot of the technical stuff we are expected to either learn on the job, or just figure out ourselves. (The last part has gotten much easier with the internet and forum's like this one).

I can not imagine one of my teachers explaining a 4 way switch diagram. I can picture them making us design one from scratch (reinventing the wheel if you will).

Steve
 
Re: Another dumb questions

OK Sam,

How about the Boolean expression for continuity through these three switches. Call them A, B, and C? Anyone?
 
Re: Another dumb questions

You brought up boolean logic a while back and I forget it. But I used to use quite a bit. If I get around to a three minute refresher I'll ace any logic question. :cool:
 
Re: Another dumb questions

ExclusiveOr3.jpg


[ June 15, 2005, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: physis ]
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top