The two switches appear to be connected by a 3 wire plus ground cable. This 3 way switch wiring diagram shows how to wire the switches and the light when the power is coming to the light switch.
How To Wire A Light Switch Smartthings
How to wire light switches. In this diagram the incoming hot wire attaches to the first switchs common dark colored terminal. How to wire two separate switches lights using the same power source. The source neutral wire is spliced to the neutral on the receptacle half of the combo device and to the white cable wire running to the light. Connect the black wire coming from the lightbox with the black wire leading to the second switch by twisting their ends together and fastening with a third wire nut. There is only the single 3 wire plus ground in the downstairs switch box and only two 2 wire plus ground cables at the fixture. In this picture you can see the strip gauge on the back of the switch.
This gauge is when you want to use the quick connect method when wiring a light switch. Strip about 34 inch of insulation from one end of each black wire. The two hot wires of three wire cable connect to a pair of brass colored traveler terminals on each switch. Simply strip the wire to the length specified and push the wire into the hole. Connect the source wire to the bottom terminal of the switch and the other black wire to the top terminal. Connect the last switch in the usual manner looping the wire around the screw in a clockwise direction.
Instead of running a separate pigtail from the hot wire to each switch just leave the hot wire extra long. Two wire cable runs from the combo to the light fixture and the switch output is connected to the black wire running to the fixture hot terminal. But in some case we need to wire and connect electrical appliances in series as well. Cut two lengths of black wire and two lengths of bare copper wire about 6 inches long. When nothing is hooked up there is power in the 2 wire plus ground cable on the upstairs switch. At the light it connects to the neutral terminal.
Take the white wire leading to the second box and mark its end black too. There are many ways to control and automate your lights with smartthings. Connect it to the screw on the left side of the switch. Connect the 2 ground wires with a fourth wire nut. Although we know that series connection for household wiring like fans switches light bulbs etc is not a preferred way instead of parallel or series parallel wiring. It isnt unusual to wire two or more light and switch combinations from the same power source in fact its common practice.
To help guide you through wiring a light switch yourself we wanted to highlight a great post from the smartthings community posted by sidjohn1. To connect the switches simply score the wire with your wire stripper and push the insulation to expose about 34 in. If you choose to control your overhead lighting with smart switches or dimmers youll either want to hire an electrician to install the switch or wire the light yourself. On each of the two single pole switches install a hot wire pigtail and a ground wire pigtail that will be used to attach the switches to the wires from the feed cable.
Gallery of How To Wire Light Switches
