Three-Way Switch Explained

 When it comes to a three-way switch, you'll notice that you have a black screw, a brass screw, and a brass screw on this side. And basically the way this works, of course, is you'll have this at the end of a hallway. One, a light switch, one of these on one end, one of these on the other, and you can turn the lights on or off or receptacle from either side of the hallway.

And so the way this works is inside the switch, you'll see these two here. The black is the common, and when you flip the switch inside. You'll have a device that will transfer a voltage electricity from this screw to that one depending on how the switch is. So if you flip the switch, it will go to this side.

You flip it the other way, it will go to that side. So you have to make sure. That you understand how these are wired. There are many different ways that they're configured by, and electricians know how to do it. They're very good at it. But we have to make sure that if we replace a three-way switch with a three-way switch, it's wired exactly the same way.

You cannot. Put a single pole switch on where a three-way switch was. And unless you really know what you're doing and you're going to have to make some changes, very often, not always, but often. So make sure that you know the difference between a single pole, which has two screws, a three-way switch, which has three.

And on the back, if you'll notice, it has everything that you need. There's a strip gauge. To make sure you don't exceed the, the length of the strip on the wire, you can put the wire in here. And this thin slot is where you, your screwdriver goes in or something thin enough to push the metal contacts together to remove the wire.

And again, if you have to remove the wire, install a new switch. The green is for ground. This will tell you all of the amperage, the voltage, and everything that you need on this switch so you can make sure that you're matching components with the electrical systems. And again, and I'll say this in, in every instructional that we have with electrical components, match the specifications and do not use used parts.