The Hidden Code Rule Almost Everyone Misses.

Comments · 222

• BA

  @BackyardMaine · 3 weeks ago · pinned

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• CH

  @christaciotola6025 · 2 weeks ago

  Why wouldn&apos;t you just use white as the traveler between the switches? Heck of a lot less confusing.

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• SP

  @spelunkerd · 2 weeks ago

  This thread has multiple responses to the question of why this code requirement is present, and many miss a critical point. When you use the reassigned white wire to carry constant power, the future homeowner or electrician will get instant feedback if he tries to use that wire as a neutral, regardless of the switch positions. There is always power on that line, and the breaker will trip, or a new device won&apos;t work if power is coming from both sides. So, the risk of delayed misadventure years later as a result of tape falling off or ignorance is reduced.

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• RI

  @richbruno1312 · 3 weeks ago

  The biggest mistake when people replace 3-way switches is they don&apos;t realize every manufacturer puts the black wire in a different location

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• BR

  @BrianRLawyer · 2 weeks ago

  My house is full of these! &nbsp;Most, if not all, of the 3 and 4-way circuits are &quot;dead-end&quot; but instead of using the white wire between box 1 and box 2 as the common hot, they use the white and red as travelers with the black wire used as the common. &nbsp;They did however neglect to re-designate/mark the white as a traveler and not a neutral.

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• JE

  @jeffdege4786 · 3 weeks ago

  When I was a kid, my dad decided to put an overhead light in the dining room. He thought he&apos;d done everything right. <br><br>When my mother noticed, though, that turning on a vacuum cleaner plugged into the dining room wall outlet would also turn on the overhead light, we quickly realized something wasn&apos;t quite right.

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• BR

  @BruceGreen-e7o · 2 weeks ago (edited)

  Our inspectors now say that you have a continuous feedwire in box 2, you must have a continuous neutral in that box also, so now you&apos;ve got to run a 4 conductor with ground, and they say that&apos;s national electrical code. She says it&apos;s because you need to have a neutral in any box that has a continuous hot for the install of new smart equipment

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• IA

  @ianbelletti6241 · 11 days ago

  With dead end three ways some jurisdictions require you to rephase the white with indelible marker instead of tape.

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• DE

  @deafear1363 · 2 weeks ago

  New code in Canada requires a neutral in each box, but for a rewire without adding conductors it works well.

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• FO

  @FORD4600Tractor · 3 weeks ago

  Happy Sunday John Backyard Maine!

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• FI

  @FixitFrank · 2 weeks ago

  I send power to the second switch and then tie the lamp to the main switch using a remarked white.

  1

• RO

  @robertg_nj · 3 weeks ago

  Your 3-way talks are the best. My favorite is the Chicago 3-way. I never knew it by name, but I came across it while troubleshooting a dining room chandelier in the 1980s in my 1905 house. I remember thinking “this scary thing works, but why did they do it this way?”

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