Skip to main content

Expand with Multiple 4-Way Switches

0:42
1:05
35.6K views

At 0:42 in

How to Wire a 4-Way Switch, Electrician Father Teaches His Son how to Wire his 1st, Thoughts?

What happens here

The instructor demonstrates that the 4-way switch system is scalable; you can add 'as many 4-ways as you want' in the middle of the circuit. The crucial point is to always ensure the circuit begins and ends with a 3-way switch ('the outer bun'). Each additional 4-way switch placed in the middle simply 'controls that lane of that highway,' meaning it redirects the flow of power through the traveler wires, allowing any switch in the series to turn the light on or off.

Goal: Understand the flexibility of adding multiple 4-way switches to a circuit for more control points.

Tools and materials

  • 4-Way Switch Wiring Diagram — Illustrating a circuit with several 4-way switches

What they say

Hide

travelers on the top, [music] and another set of travelers on the bottom. That's it. How many four-ways can I add in here? Can I make a sandwich? Can I make a hamburger that's this big? >> Yeah. >> [music] >> Of course you can. And all you need to remember is the outer bun, baby. Whatever you put in the middle, all you're doing is controlling that lane of that highway. >> All it does. So, power [music] in, light out. >> So, two three-ways and a four-way.

Auto-generated from the video audio.