Hello, DIYer and first time poster here. Recently bought a house built in 1925, and am gradually working through adding and replacing the wiring, especially where the previous owners had done some seriously questionable work. I've run up against a real question mark though and I'm hoping someone might be able to tell me what I'm doing wrong or whether I need to call in some professional help. FYI the original wiring is old fabric insulated with no ground.
I wanted to move the light at the top of the stairs which is controlled by a 3-way switch, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top. At the bottom, the switch is in a 3-gang box with switches to two other lights (outdoor and bottom of the stairs). At the top, there is a 2 gang box, and 2 sets of wires coming into the box and 2 sets going out of the box... but only one switch. (They just had a blank space next to the switch that controlled the light at the top of the stairs!). There are two bedroom lights also on the same circuit.
When I went to remove the second floor switch to the overhead light, there a mess of wires, some taped together, one neutral just capped and not attached to anything, some spliced onto the old. I took a picture, but not really thinking about how complicated it might be to put back together, I went and un-taped everything and removed the switch.
Here's where it gets confusing. I tested each of the pairs of wires going in and out with a digital voltmeter, and only 1 of the 4 pairs registered any volts. When the downstairs light is OFF, I get a reading of 120 on my digital voltmeter; when the downstairs light is ON, the reading goes down to 7-10v. Why would it go down so much with just one light on?
Bigger issue--since removing the switch and separating the taped together wires, now, try as I might, I can't get the bedroom lights to come back on, though I can get the downstairs lights working fine. I've tried every combination of wires going into the second floor box. Why would the bedroom lights be affected when I only removed the switch to the hallway light? In one of my combinations of wiring that I tried, I could get a very very faint light in one of the bedrooms, which disappeared when the downstairs light was turned on... In a different combination of wiring, both the upstairs and downstairs lights turned into a 4-WAY switch--controlled by the downstairs switch and the switches in each of the bedrooms! When I flipped any of the three switches, one light went on when the other went off. (These were lights that never went on with the same switch before).
I assume this all has to do with some old fashioned way of doing 3-way lights that isn't really done anymore. If anyone could help guide me in the right direction so that I can get my bedroom lights turned back on, I would really appreciate it!
I wanted to move the light at the top of the stairs which is controlled by a 3-way switch, one at the bottom of the stairs and one at the top. At the bottom, the switch is in a 3-gang box with switches to two other lights (outdoor and bottom of the stairs). At the top, there is a 2 gang box, and 2 sets of wires coming into the box and 2 sets going out of the box... but only one switch. (They just had a blank space next to the switch that controlled the light at the top of the stairs!). There are two bedroom lights also on the same circuit.
When I went to remove the second floor switch to the overhead light, there a mess of wires, some taped together, one neutral just capped and not attached to anything, some spliced onto the old. I took a picture, but not really thinking about how complicated it might be to put back together, I went and un-taped everything and removed the switch.
Here's where it gets confusing. I tested each of the pairs of wires going in and out with a digital voltmeter, and only 1 of the 4 pairs registered any volts. When the downstairs light is OFF, I get a reading of 120 on my digital voltmeter; when the downstairs light is ON, the reading goes down to 7-10v. Why would it go down so much with just one light on?
Bigger issue--since removing the switch and separating the taped together wires, now, try as I might, I can't get the bedroom lights to come back on, though I can get the downstairs lights working fine. I've tried every combination of wires going into the second floor box. Why would the bedroom lights be affected when I only removed the switch to the hallway light? In one of my combinations of wiring that I tried, I could get a very very faint light in one of the bedrooms, which disappeared when the downstairs light was turned on... In a different combination of wiring, both the upstairs and downstairs lights turned into a 4-WAY switch--controlled by the downstairs switch and the switches in each of the bedrooms! When I flipped any of the three switches, one light went on when the other went off. (These were lights that never went on with the same switch before).
I assume this all has to do with some old fashioned way of doing 3-way lights that isn't really done anymore. If anyone could help guide me in the right direction so that I can get my bedroom lights turned back on, I would really appreciate it!
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