Household wiring question

455 Bravo Uniform

455 Bravo Uniform

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455 Bravo Uniform
What the heck...why not ask pilots on a pilot forum about home wiring.

I am trying to put two separate controlled “circuits” (yellow and green) together and control them with 2 three way switches, to replace the present switches, but keeping the same switch locations.

Both circuit wires are accessible and laying side by side in the attic AFTER their respective switches and before their lamps.

How am I ever gonna pass an IFR written if I can’t even figure this problem out?

9593FAF1-66A9-4612-A325-6AEC254BE0FE.jpeg
 
Can't be done with standard 3-way switches without running a new wire between the switches. You could buy a couple of Insteon switches and link them.
 
Yep, you need a total of 3 wires between sw 1 and sw2, for traditional 3 way switches. Neutral and 2 hots (alternates depending on the position of the switches. )
 
Yeah, I need a fresh run of 3 wire between the switches, right?

Any way I can make use of the pink always hot circuit to do this? It’s also accessible in the attic and runs alongside the yellow for a short span. I don’t need it for the motion floods (will switch it with the rest.

I just can’t (don’t want to) open up the walls to run new wires in the vertical.
 
Correct. Or use some fancy remote controllable switches that can be linked (like Insteon and maybe Lutron/Caseta).
 
You pink circuit doesn't seem to go anywhere useful. Look at the new remote controlled switches. I wouldn't open up the walls
 
Are you trying to control both lights at the same time? Three way circuits control a single circuit with two switches. If you want to turn on and off all the lights from two locations, you can add the third wire between the switches and do a little wiring surgery to add the three way switches...
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
I just can’t (don’t want to) open up the walls to run new wires in the vertical.
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If you have decent top plate access, just drill new holes in the top plate, see if you can extract the current box, and replace with rework box, and go from there. If you have fire stop blocking, you may need some long bits, but it is usually manageable. I’ve helped a relative almost completely rewire the switches and outlets in a single story house, with a crawl space, and I only remember 2 places where we had to open up a 4 inch square access hole to handle something we couldn’t otherwise. I think he also had a couple cases later where he found junction boxes without access, likely caused by the house flipper they bought from.
 
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Typically the wiring between the three way switches requires three conductors and the ground, a neutral that goes on through, and two other wires, one or the other of which will be hot depending on the first switch's position.
 
Put a Lutron Caseta dimmer or switch (depending on the type of lights you're using) at each switch location. Those switches will continue to control each set of lights separately. Add one, or more, Caseta Pico remotes wherever you want to control the two circuits together.

https://www.casetawireless.com/

If you add the Caseta Smart Bridge you can control them via your phone or voice control (with Amazon Alexa and similar devices) as well as set up schedules based on time, sunset/sunrise, or geofencing.

Caseta uses a proprietary RF technology which does not rely on carrier-current like X10 and similar technologies.

Lowes and The Home Depot carry Caseta but you can get them cheaper on Amazon or Ebay.
 
Look at X-10 Components. Super simple and sends the control signs over the existing wiring. You put in an X-10 switch instead of a standard switch then they make either plug in, screw in, or hard wire receivers to activate what ever you want.

I have all three lights in my living room on the one sing switch...all plus and play modules.
 
Z wave baby.
2 smart switches and a hub.
60 for the switches and 70 or so for the hub.
Had the same problem when I bought my house.
Front lights on one timer in the front hall and driveway lights on another timer in the #*% basement.
Now front hall controls both and a program in the hub turns them on 15 min after sunset and off at 9:30.
You’ll find a lot more uses once you get started.
 
Wait a minute, are you trying to combine the green and yellow circuits so your outside lights other than motion controlled all go on and off together, with a single switch in the garage and one in the house, both 3 ways? That would be easy because you can use the neutral from one feed and get your power wires from the other. Would be best of course to mark the alternate power wire between the 3 way switches with some red tape on the ends.....
 
Lantraxco said:
Wait a minute, are you trying to combine the green and yellow circuits so your outside lights other than motion controlled all go on and off together, with a single switch in the garage and one in the house, both 3 ways? That would be easy because you can use the neutral from one feed and get your power wires from the other. Would be best of course to mark the alternate power wire between the 3 way switches with some red tape on the ends.....
Click to expand...

Yes, that’s what I’m trying to do. Most of the wiring AFTER the switches is easily accessible in the attic.

I think I need a drawing to help me understand (maybe two - a before and after).
 
IK04 said:
Are you trying to control both lights at the same time? Three way circuits control a single circuit with two switches. If you want to turn on and off all the lights from two locations, you can add the third wire between the switches and do a little wiring surgery to add the three way switches...
Click to expand...

Yeah. I did something similar once. I turned the Ground wire into the Neutral. Put some white insulation over the copper in the J boxes. Used the black and white as Travelers and then ran new Grounds directly from the outside fixtures to a grounding rod. I would have had to open up a lot of wall to run new 14/3 in place of the existing 14/2. @455 Bravo Uniform said his runs were open and accessible in the attic. I’d just get some 14/3 or 12/3 if it’s a 20 AMP circuit and wire it up. It would require getting to the switch boxes from the attic though.
 
luvflyin said:
It would require getting to the switch boxes from the attic though.
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Yeah, that's sometimes easier said than done. One of my fish sticks has a new permanent home in the wall between my master bedroom and bathroom. :rofl:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yeah, that's sometimes easier said than done. One of my fish sticks has a new permanent home in the wall between my master bedroom and bathroom. :rofl:
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Are the wires in newer homes “stapled” to the studs? If not, should be easy to pull new 3-wire by attaching to the old wire and pulling it up from the attic.
 
455 Bravo Uniform said:
Are the wires in newer homes “stapled” to the studs? If not, should be easy to pull new 3-wire by attaching to the old wire and pulling it up from the attic.
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Yes, they're generally "stapled". Code requires that the wires be kept in the middle of the studs, so that's what usually happens.
 
Wireless, go wireless, the new wifi stuff works well. Wires are for sissies.
 
You need the in and the out at the garage switch, normally three wire from switch to switch, then two wire on to the lights. Hope the holes are bored big enough. If you can install a short length of two wire from the attic to the garage switch, throw in a largish box in the attic. Use the black and white as luvflyin suggests as the travelers from the house 3 way switch to run to the garage 3 way switch, and the original black and white from the garage switch connected to all the lights. Largish box, lots of wire nuts (Including me probably, wire nut?). Better yet use a separate box for the feed in and the feed out. Terminate the black power wire in the garage switch box with a wire nut.
 
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