Light switch

[Justin & Katy]

LOL! Hey, look. I'm certainly not going to throw stones. I can't tell you how many times I've had to stare at diagrams and drawings to finally understnad it. I look like a monkey trying to do a math problem so don't think twice about it.

[absolutsnwbrdr]

Its ok Bob!

Now that I think about it, you may have been thinking about a SPST (single pole single throw switch)

[eamarquardt]

^ btw... ignore the bickering in that thread I posted. Go with 2 SPDT (single pole-double throw) switches, and wire them as JoeG had indicated with his diagram.

:D

Bickering? On this forum? Never happens! Justed heated debate between friends with differing viewpoints, opinions, and solutions. :D

You mean I missed an "opportunity" to join in bickering? Must have been having an off day! Never miss a good bicker!

The dpdt switches will work FINE, IMHO! I agree that center off switches would only cause confusion.

Bicker anyone?

Cheers,

Gus

[absolutsnwbrdr]

DPDT?!!?!? Are you outta your mind?? That could self-destruct!!

[Corwin C]

The dpdt switches will work FINE, IMHO! I agree that center off switches would only cause confusion.

I'm planning on a center off switch on the inside of my tear so that I can disable the outside switch (using them for a "porch light"). (how's that for confusion? )

[eamarquardt]

The dpdt switches will work FINE, IMHO! I agree that center off switches would only cause confusion.

I'm planning on a center off switch on the inside of my tear so that I can disable the outside switch (using them for a "porch light"). (how's that for confusion? :lol: )

Let's bicker! I MEANT spdt (I get confused when at 8/10 on the pain scale, tough week). Please forgive me! Now I like the idea of adding confusion with a center off switch on the inside of the tear as some people (my #2 son included) cannot see a toggle switch and not mess with it just to see what it does! With a center off in the inside the outside switch will (at times) do NOTHING but cause confusion and wonderment. SWEET!

Cheers,

Gus

[Larwyn]

The center off position would just be like the "childproof" switch on the power windows of some cars. I would not hesitate to use the center off switch if that was what I had on hand. I'm sure that I would not spend too much time standing there blindly flipping the other switch in total confusion as to why the switch was doing nothing................

The subject here is "light switch" which brings to mind a subject which was frequently a source of "bickering" on the job. It seems simple enough. The engineers label a switch on a drawing as "Light Switch". Now everyone knows that when the light is on, the switch is considered to be "ON", no problem there. But for some reason these same engineers, in their great wisdom, decided that a few of the switches should be labeled as "Cut Off Switches". I'll use "Light Cut Off Switch" here but "Light" could be replaced by anything controlled by the switch. So my question for the engineers was always, "If you turn "ON" the Cut Off Switch, shouldn't that cut "OFF" the light?" Now, there's confusion for you.....

[dh]

I gotta throw my stone:

The two wires you ran between the two spdt switches, throw a DPDT in line with them, and you have a three way switch, you can keep adding DPDT's on those two wires and add as many switches as you want on the circuit, all you are doing is flopping power from one wire to another, much like you would when using a DPDT to reverse polarity on a 12v motor.

[MceeD]

I throw in my two cents here. Since I'm a electrician by trade, I'm sure I'll either put hammer to nail or confuse a few other people to do the same.

First I will say there are about 17 zillion ways to wire a 3way switch system and I know that it is one of the hardest things for an electrician to get there heads and round. So don't beat yourself up for not getting it right off the bat. There are journeymen who still have troubles with them.

Look up online for a few residential 3way wiring diagrams, If you see it in a few different ways, the per-verbal light might come on for you. Just try and think of the neutral as your 12v ground.

A three way switch has three points of attachment. One common (power at one switch and the switch leg on the other switch.) and two travelers. The common is just switched back and forth between one of the two travelers.

It really boils down to getting your travelers straight, travelers are two wires the go from switch to switch and no where else.

[dh]

Well stated MceeD