00:00How to wire a 4-way switch? It will make sense after this.
00:03A 4-way switch allows you to control a single-life fixture from three or more locations combined with two
00:073-way switches.
00:09It acts as a middleman, flipping the polarity of the traveler wires coming from the first 3-way switch before
00:14passing them onto the second 3-way switch.
00:16Tools and materials needed.
00:18Voltage tester.
00:19Wire strippers and screwdrivers.
00:22Wire connectors. Wire nuts or lever nuts.
00:25The step-by-step installation guy.
00:27Turn off the power. Locate your main circuit breaker panel and switch off the breaker controlling the lighting circuit.
00:33Use a reliable voltage tester on the switch terminals to verify that no electricity is active before touching any wires.
00:40Understand the 4-way terminal layout.
00:42A standard 4-way switch features four main terminal screws often labeled IN and OUT or color-coded as two
00:48brass gold and two black alongside a green grounding screw.
00:50It takes two incoming traveler wires from the first 3-way switch and sends two outgoing traveler wires to the
00:57second 3-way switch.
00:59Connect the ground wires.
01:00Take the bare copper ground wires from the incoming and outgoing 43 cables.
01:05Piss them together with a short pigtail ground wire using a wire connector.
01:09And secure the pigtail end firmly under the green grounding screw on the 4-way switch.
01:14Handle the neutral wires.
01:15If white neutral wires pass through the 4-way switch box, they do not connect to the switch itself.
01:21Place them together securely using a wire connector and push them into the back of the electrical box.
01:26Attach the incoming traveler wires.
01:28Identify the 14-3 cable coming from the first 3-way switch.
01:31Connect its red and black traveler wires to the top two terminals, the IN terminals, on the 4-way switch.
01:52Ensure that matching colors stay on the same side.
01:54For example, incoming black and outgoing black on the left pair, incoming red and outgoing red on the right pair.
02:00Mount the switch and test.
02:02Carefully fold the wires accordion-style into the electrical box, screw the 4-way switch into place,
02:06and attach the cover plate. Turn the breaker back on and cycle through every
02:10combination of the switches. If the light works in some positions but not others,
02:14the traveler wires on one side may need to be swapped. How to wire a four-way
02:18switch? It will make sense. After this, four-way switch installation. And that's
02:24the full picture. If this saved you a search, hit like and subscribe. One clear
02:27answer every day. See you in the next one.
