I have several 3-way circuits around the house, top and bottom of stairs and at the 2 entrances to several rooms. Some lights turn on when switches are opposite (one up one down), while others work when both switches are up. Is it just personal preference or luck as to how these traveller wires are connected or is there a recommended way?
Flip of a coin when they're wired. If you don't like the way it is, turn one of the switches upside down.
actually its best to ignore such things, its always feels wrong however it is.
randy
It may just be the computer guy in me but I like orderly "exclusive or's". Both up/down is on. It really makes no difference.
Not sure I understand your point here. Let say I start out with them both "down" which in a single switch setting is the 'off' position. I flip the switch at the bottom of the stairs up turning on the lights. So now I'm one up, one down and ON. If I flip the switch at the top of the stairs to turn OUT the light when I reach the top, both will now be UP and the lights off. Now way to get them BOTH up or down and be ON in this condition.
To get that to occur, one would have to be UP and the other DOWN when the light was off. Then toggling one to turn on the light would cause it to end up in the same position as the other (up or down) when the light was on, but opposite when the light was off.
Of course the whole scenario falls apart when you introduce a 4-way setup!
IMHO:
If you look at your 3-way switches, you will notice there is no definitive ON/OFF position marking on them. Just pointing out the obvious, so I can say might just like the switches, not care what position they are in, just that they do their job of turning the lights on and off.
Now to answer your question, yes, it seems that it is the way the travellers are hooked up. And I have not heard of a 'recommended' way of doing it, other than by code.
hth,
Tom @
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