Adding lights on a circuit

[ws6guy]

I looked at the boxes again, good news a side of the box is removable so no need to cut into the drywall. The side of the box clips into place, it's hard to remove and replace but it's doable!

Also looked at the switches, have one 4 way switch and the other two are 3 ways. No idea how they are wired into the lights though.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

Also looked at the switches, have one 4 way switch and the other two are 3 ways. No idea how they are wired into the lights though.

Power from your breaker(hot leg) runs to first switch. Lands on one terminal. Two wires run from that 3-way to the 4 way switch and land on one side of it. Then Two wires leave the 4 way switch off of the other two terminals and run to your 2nd 3- way switch. Then a wire ( switch leg) runs to light.

Fastest way to find which is the hot and which is the switch leg would be to(turn breaker off)remove wires from your two 3-way switches. Turn breaker back on and test for voltage at the two switches. The one that has power is your hot, the one that does not have voltage is your switch leg. Land everything back the way they came off.

BUT, you are just adding lights so really shouldn’t have to do any of this. Just Tie them into the light in the junction box you found.

 

[Hoosier Carry]

 

[actaeon277]

Have fun, you'll need to find the switch leg off of the last 3 way or you're going to create yourself a troubleshooting nightmare. I followed behind someone that didn't understand 3 and 4 way switches once. It wasn't fun. Remember that when you add more lights to the circuit your light output from the original lights will dim somewhat, may not be noticeable in your situation. Might want to consider upgrading to LED's.

And before someone goes throwing the calculations out there I've seen it in the real world, too much load and the output suffers.

If that happens, either the wiring is not the right size, or the lights are not wired in parallel.

 

[dudley0]

Should be easy to add lights in your situation.

A little skew from the topic here, but I remember working on my parents place years back. Dad wanted to have three switches for his living room lights. I bought two 3 way and one 4 way switch. Ran wire as needed and landed the switches. Couldn't get the dang circuit to work right. Kept scratching my head on it. Even went so far as to look up proper ways to wire the circuit. I had done this before, but had been a long while.

Long story short, after some serious cussing and possibly threatening to never run wire again I figured out that the four way switch was bad. Brand new and all that.

Now it is easier to do, but I always have one more switch than I need, just in case.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

I'd say you have a jumper wire wrong. My upstairs hall lights have 3 switches as well. A couple of years ago I replaced the almond color switches with white. If I remember correctly I had the same type of issue and I think it was a jumper wire hooked up wrong.

They've probably got the travelers on your 4 way on the wrong terminals.

Thanks much, now I just have to find someone who understands that to come over. I'll change a light fixture, socket, or switch but that is about the extent of my electrical knowledge. Although looking at the diagram I think I could figure it out.

 

[dudley0]

Thanks much, now I just have to find someone who understands that to come over. I'll change a light fixture, socket, or switch but that is about the extent of my electrical knowledge. Although looking at the diagram I think I could figure it out.

If it works in one position but not the other chances are it is only one wire off. Kill the power to it, take a pic of the wires as they are set now or mark them and then switch two of them out.

Just remember that the white wire isn't a neutral when it comes to these switches. If a white wire is attached, it is a carrier for the hot.

New guy I have working for me is not an electrician. Swapped out a fart fan and he was comfortable enough to wire it back in. Except he wasn't. Powered the breaker and the fan came on in the off position. Flipped the switch on to get the light and popped the breaker. I walked him thru switches 101 after that. Maybe it took, maybe I will continue doing all of the electrical on my jobs.

 

[Timjoebillybob]

If it works in one position but not the other chances are it is only one wire off. Kill the power to it, take a pic of the wires as they are set now or mark them and then switch two of them out.

Just remember that the white wire isn't a neutral when it comes to these switches. If a white wire is attached, it is a carrier for the hot.

New guy I have working for me is not an electrician. Swapped out a fart fan and he was comfortable enough to wire it back in. Except he wasn't. Powered the breaker and the fan came on in the off position. Flipped the switch on to get the light and popped the breaker. I walked him thru switches 101 after that. Maybe it took, maybe I will continue doing all of the electrical on my jobs.

Thanks, looking at the diagram and reading the descriptions it didn't seem to be bad, I do know how to kill a breaker and use a meter to check for current. So I shouldn't kill myself doing the work, when I test it after may be a different story though. My son while not an electrician does know some electrical, as in took some classes on it I'll probably have him stop by an supervise if he thinks he's capable. He's done a complete replacement of a breaker box, ran new lines, and a few other things so he might have some experience with a three switch circuit. And dang I've swapped out a light for a light and fart fan even I didn't mess it up. But it could have been luck.