Smart 3 Way Switch Common Wire Color

Ignore the green ground screw of course.

3 way switch common wire color. With conduit the wire colors for travelers could be any color. There is no standard for wire colors on 3 way switch travelers. At this first switch the black feed wire is connected to the common screw on the switch.

The switch wiring for three ways is normally red black and white. The colors will vary depending on whether nm cable or conduit was used. Iâ ve decided to put this faq together to help those with questions about installing ge 3 way switches.

The hot wire from the breaker usually black neutral. The red and black wires travelers of the 3 wire cable get connected to the common terminals on the three way switch. If the switch box is metal it also must be pigtailed to the grounding wires.

The cable run linking the two switches is made with 3 wire cable. You may also use a single 14 3 or 12 3 cable which contains 1 bare ground wire 1 white wire 1 black wire and 1 red wire. If the power comes from the light s location run the 2 wire conductors up from each switch to the light fixture.

The ground connects to the ground terminal on each switch and to the light fixture. If the white is correctly used for neutral the connected switching wires are red and black. With nm cable the wire colors for travelers will be black and red using 3 wire cable.

It doesn t matter which traveler goes on which common terminal. The white neutral is often referred to as common but the colored wires are both used as hot wires alternately as the possible switch positions are made. The grounding wire is connected both to the switch using a pigtail wire and to the second cable run passing onward to the next switch.