Both travelers are interchangeable (one is hot and one is not throwing the switch swaps them). Now, travelers can be identified by the fact that they go to the brass screws on each switch. There is no standard whatsoever for colors. Always-Hot on black in /2, and ? in /3.Both of them have the same function and color codes (by necessity, unless they're /3, then all bets are off). The onward cable chains power onward to the next outlet. The supply cable comes from the power source. SUPPLY cable and ONWARD cablesīoth are usually /2 cables but onward might be /3. And that's the end of the color rules (aside from stuff about grounds and 3-phase industrial power). The only consistent color rule is if neutral is present, it must be on white. This situation is why I own 10 colors of tape. Note that 'color coding' is not happening here and the color codes will be a chaotic rainbow, with no consistency whatsoever. OK, so here's what we know about 3 cables My primary take away is your advice to, in the future, identify the wires by how they're wired to the switches BEFORE disconnecting anything. Move the red R /3 to the traveler on the smart switch.Move the L red to the load on the smart switch.Is it coming back from the light? Is there a way to confirm the white is a neutral?ĮDIT: Just in case it helps anyone else.īased on Harper's advice, I disassembled both boxes again and confirmed that the far right (R) /3 was to the remote switch, the far left (L) /3 was to the light (carrying both fan and light switched hots) and tagged the wires with small nylon ties. My tone probe is really old, but red & black were pretty solid signal, so I am reasonably certain that remote side white is not directly connected to the 2-gang box. So, it sounds like I should re-wire the remote box using red & white as traveler/common, but where does white go and why is red attached to the rest of the circuit? White should still be neutral I did run the probe around the light fixture, but wasn't able to hear anything that would indicate that's where it's wired to. However, I wasn't able to confirm the white wire from either direction. I've seen the video that discusses wrapping the line and travelers together to identify which is which, but that seems kinda dangerous to me, so I figured I would ask for help rather than keeping throwing darts at the board, first.ĮDIT: Red and black from the far right drop do tone out to the remote switch. Secondary switch does not have a line, but is seeing 20v on, I believe, the black wire.

I am trying to replace the non-smart flip switch with the GE add-on switch, but I am not having any luck figuring out the right configuration. However, turning off the non-smart switch on the other side turns off the light, but then the smartswitch is no longer able to turn it back on. Line was identified by voltmeter (123v), and the light in this configuration does work. I have also corrected the neutral connection.

The primary picture is not the most recent, as the two red wires were, originally, wire-nutted together and this appears to be necessary for the rest of the lights on the circuit to work. The light and fan are on separate switches in a 2 gang box with, what appears to be, 4 drops coming into the back. I have a ceiling fan/light that I am trying to convert to a smart switch.

Ge smart switch