So....3 years ago we moved into our current house. It is in a semi-rural area and it is the first time either my wife or I have ever (a) owned a house, or (b) lived outside of a major city. My wife was nervous about living further outside of town, especially since I often work late. She wanted to have a monitored security system installed. I shopped around for quotes, found they were all too expensive for what they offered, and eventually got distracted by other matters. Her unease has persisted, and we find that we are often away from the house for a few days at a time, so I decided to bite the bullet and install a system (SimpliSafe -- much lower monthyl fees than what I was otherwise able to find). While I was at it, I also decided to do a security review of the house and decided that installing perimeter lights on timed switches that go on at dusk and off at dawn while we are away would be a large upgrade.
I purchased five of
these and have nothing but good things to say about them. Unfortunately, they are one-way switches only, and I had a couple of places where I needed to replace three-way switches. One of these is a switch that controls the light just outside our back door, between the house and the garage. There is a switch just inside the back door, and another just inside the door to the garage. Between the garage and the house is a small breezeway with the light installed overhead.
Since I didn't have a 3-way switch, I removed the 3-way switch in the garage, twisted the black and white wires together with a wire nut and capped the red wire with another wire nut. This bypassed that switch. Inside the house, I removed the existing three-way switch, capped the red wire with a wire nut, and installed the new, one-way timer switch. This worked perfectly. The timer switches have 3 wires out the back: black (line), blue (load) and white (neutral). I connected the black wire to the hot wire in the box, the blue to the black wire running between the house switch and the garage, and tied the white wire on the switch and the white wire from the garage to the bundle of white wires in the box. As I mentioned, the red wire was capped and unused.
Then I decided to buy a few of the 3-way versions of the same switch. See
here. The manual is available
here. As you can see, this switch has 4 wires: black (line), blue (load), white (neutral) and yellow (3-way). But for the life of me, I can't figure out how to wire it up and how to wire the 3-way switch in the garage. I've checked self-help books at home, and it seems that the Honeywell manual envisions a particular position for the light figure in the circuit. When I look at self-help books, it seems that there are at least 3 ways of wiring a 3-way switch: (A) fixture before the switches, (B) fixture after the switches, and (C) fixture between the switches. In any case, I can't translate either the diagrams in the self-help book or in the Honeywell manual to what I have in my setup.
I've tried replacing the switch in the garage with a 1-way switch and following the instructions in the Honeywell manual for a new 3-way installation, but that didn't work. And I can't figure out how to wire it up to follow the instructions for an existing 3-way installation, because that diagram assumes that there is a black and white wire pair running to the light fixture that is different from the black/white (and red) wire that runs between the two switches. I simply don't have that, on either switch. Moreover, it is clear that I don't NEED any extra wires, since I am able to run the light with a single-pole switch using just the black hot wire from the switch box, the black and white wire from the 3-wire wire between the switches, and the white neutral bundle in the switch box.
Here are a couple of different wiring setups that I've tried that have NOT worked:
SETUP #1:
Black hot wire from house --> Black wire on timer switch (Line) --> Black wire running between the two switches --> Common terminal on the 3-way switch in the garage
White neutral wire bundle from house --> White wire on timer switch (Neutral)
Blue wire on timer switch (Load) --> White wire running between the two switches --> Terminal A on the 3-way switch in the garage
Yellow wire on timer switch (3-way) --> Red wire running between the two switches --> Terminal B on the 3-way switch in the garage
Result: light doesn't go on nomatter what switch constellation I try between garage and house. If the switch in the garage is "on", and the timer switch in the house is "on", then the timer switch keeps clicking on an off by itself (light does not switch on and off).
SETUP #2:
Black hot wire form house --> Black wire on timer switch (Line)
White neutral wire bundle from house --> White wire on timer switch (Neutral) --> White wire running between the two switches --> Common terminal on the 3-way switch in the garage
Blue wire on timer switch (Load) --> Black wire running between the two switches -->Terminal A on the 3-way switch in the garage
Yellow wire on timer switch (3-way) --> Red wire running between the two switches --> Terminal B on the 3-way in the garage
Result: if garage switch is in Position 1, I can turn the light on and off from the timer switch as usual. If the garage switch is in Position 2 and the timer switch is off, the light is off. If the garage switch is in Position 2 and the timer switch is on, then the timer switch keeps clicking on an off by itself (light does not switch on and off).
SETUP #3:
Black hot wire from house --> Black wire on timer switch (Line) --> Black wire running between the two switches --> Terminal A on the 3-way switch in the garage
White neutral wire bundle from house --> White wire on timer switch (Neutral)
Blue wire from timer switch (Load) --> White wire running between the two switches --> Common terminal on the 3-way switch in the garage
Yellow wire on timer switch (3-way) --> Red wire running between the two switches --> Terminal B on the 3-way switch in the garage
Result: Nothing. The timer switch display is on and lights up, but neither switch has any apparent effect whatsoever.
SETUP #4:
Black hot wire from house --> Black wire on timer switch (Line)
White neutral wire bundle from house --> White wire on timer switch (Neutral) --> White wire running between the switches --> White neutral wire bundle in the garage
Blue wire on timer switch (Load) --> Red wire running between the switches --> Pole 1 on a ONE-WAY SWITCH in the garage
Yellow wire on timer switch (3-way) --> Black wire running between the switches --> Pole 2 on a ONE-WAY SWITCH in the garage
Result: If both the switch in garage and the timer switch are "on", then the light goes on. Any other combo, the light is off (i.e., neither switch is capable of controlling the light independently -- they need to work together).
I've tried this and about 20 other wiring scenarios, but I can't get anything to work. Any ideas?
Best regards,
Adam
