u/olive12108

He's a very photogenic boy. Currently at the groomers to have some mats taken care of. After that, night time beach trip!

Hi there everyone. I've spent the last several hours trying to troubleshoot this 3 way switch setup and I'm at the point that I'm turning to reddit for help. Trying to make this post as detailed as I can and explain what I've tried to do so far. Trying to make this post as detailed as I can and explain what I've tried to do so far.

I'm a computer engineer by trade, so I have some circuit/electrical knowledge, know how to use a multimeter, etc, but next to no experience with residential electricity. I'm a new home owner, the only DIY'er in the house and didn't get taught about home repair, so please go easy :^)

Some background:

This fixture has been working fine for a year (moved in last summer) and recently stopped working. Turned the light on, worked for a half second, then turned off. No combination of the switches being on/off works.

What I've Done So Far:

I checked the bulbs first - all of them work in a different lamp. None of them are new. They're LEDs.

When I opened up the switches, they were all backfed connections. I went ahead and used the screw terminals. I also noticed that the ground (green) on switch 1 was NOT connected. Not sure if that's intentional?

I found this comment on another thread about determining your travelers:

>Using your meter determine which conductors have 120v to ground. Flip the switch on the other end of the 3 way and check voltages again. The one that stayed constant is your common the other 2 are your travelers. If you don’t have a meter just hook them up in different combos until it works, usually the white is the common.

So I got to work doing just that. Pictures 1 & 4 are annotated for this part:

Taking the readings on switch 1, both switches OFF, I got this:

- Red/Black (top terminal): 96V

- Red/Black (bottom terminal): 96V

- Black/Black: 96V

And when flipping the other switch ON:

- Red/Black (top terminal): 92V

- Red/Black (bottom terminal): 92V

- Black/Black: 92V

Taking the readings on switch 2, both switches OFF, I got this:

- White/Ground: 32V

- Red/Ground: 120V

- Black/Ground: 120V

And when flipping the other switch ON:

- White/Ground: 120V

- Red/Ground: 32V

- Black/Ground: 32V

So....there were NO combinations that stayed constant when I flipped the switches.

At this point I'm confused on where to go further. Any suggestions on what to try or what to look at are appreciated, and TYIA for anybody that does help out. I try to pay it forward with my own expertise.

The switches: https://leviton.com/products/1453-2w

I have so many questions about this house

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/7481-S-Stone-Ridge-Rd-Orr-MN-55771/462770268_zpid/