Dad came over yesterday and today and we hit the basement pretty hard. However, things are getting awfully closed to being finished.
We got the main room finished this morning, after thinking about the problem for a while. We had wiring diagrams that showed how to wire 1 light with 2 three-way switches, and 2 lights with 2 three-way switches, but not 3 lights with 2 three-way switches. For those of you seeking the answer to this -- it turns out that you just want to pass-through the red (white wire taped black) and black wires. The second set of wires coming into the box hook up as normal (whites to the white poll, blacks to the black poll). Ah, the joys of wiring.
Once we finished that up, we started working on the back rooms. We had to pull a few lights and move them around, and then rewire it so they would be on their own circuit. As of right now, the only two lights which are not setup is the one in the bathroom (which makes sense -- it's a bar of lights for over the countertop), and the track lighting for the fireplace (again, which makes sense). The boxes are in place for it, but there's no lights to hook up at this point. The next step is getting power into the livingroom so that it's on its own breaker, and finishing two boxes for outlets by where the fireplace goes. Then it's time to hook all the new stuff up to the box (which I'm hiring an electrician to do).
So it's moving along!
But winter is almost over, which means that working in the basement is almost over as well. I have so much outdoor work that needs to get done, I'm going to put the basement on hold for a while once the weather gets nice. I have a bunch of trees that need planting, some rock to put down, a garden, a deck. The list goes on. :-P
I leave for Austin on Wed -- I'm excited!! :-)
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm off to go help dad file his taxes online.
Man, those three-way switches are a pain if you don't wire them on a regular basis. I was an industrial electrician for a number of years, rewired three-phase motors, fixed robots, all of that, but when it came to the basic three-way switch, I was stupified.
Aaron, good job, you and your dad both (wild clapping and cheering)
How does a Group Night Friday April 14 sound?
Yay for getting the wiring done:)
@Will -- thanks!
@Jess -- I think I may be out of town then (back down in Austin), but if I'm in town, then that sounds good to me.
Yep, you'll be in Austin. We can have our own personal "group" night.
@Lis -- w00t! Bowling? Or just general drinking?
Why not both and more? We can do anything you want to do Aaron, it'll be tons of fun!
Most diagrams are a little baffling since they try to make it "easy" to follow their instructions by obfusticating the principal of how the switches work. 3-way switches are just Single Pole Double Throw switches. The marked terminal is the common pole.
Here are the four possible states of a 3 way switch.
ON o------------o
/ \
line -----o o----- load
o------------o
OFF o------------o
/
line -----o o----- load
/
o------------o
ON o------------o
line -----o o----- load
\ /
o------------o
OFF o------------o
\
line -----o o----- load
\
o------------o
If you throw in a 4-way switch then things get interesting. A 4-way is a special switch with 4 screw terminals where the common terminal is not available on the exterior of the switch.
OFF o---o o---o
\ \
line -----o o o----- load
\ \
o---o o---o
ON o---o o---o
/ \
line -----o o o----- load
\ /
o---o o---o
ASCII art. So much fun...
ASCII art.
It ate my spaces!
Oh my gosh! I'm talking about drinking and bowling on our own, not a threesome!! Ah!
Damnit!