So this morning I wired up the junction box just as I sketched it out on the diagram below. Turned the main power on, and the breaker tripped. STINK! I pulled the cover off the junction box. It should be right. It should. I put the cover back on and just stood there. I will need to call the electrician after all. The wiring to the junction box should be right. There must be something the way the three way switch is wired in the wall that I can't see.
Wait! That's IT!
See, on Tuesday I learned a lot about 3-way switches. The black screw is where the common wire goes, in most cases the black wire. When I put in a new switch for the set of basement lights on Saturday I wired the new switch just like the old one came out. Today I hypothesized that when I tried to wire the junction box correctly Monday the switch wiring then became wrong. I pulled the switch. The red wire looked to be in the correct place, but the black and white wires were opposite of what they should be – at least from what I learned Tuesday. I swapped the positions of the wires. I turned the breaker on. SWEET LIGHT! It worked! Two things wired incorrectly made the original wiring work. But, trying to make one part right Monday, made the entire thing completely wrong.
1 comment:
And I must add, they look amazing!! I love the lighting down there now and don't cringe whenever I descend into the girth of the house.
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