I have a light fixture that has three switches. I have installed a WS4777 and a slave switch at two of the locations. I had assumed that an extra slave switch CS277 could be installed at the third location. However, I am stuck since the slave has three wires (one red, two blues)while the switch I am trying to replace has four wires (two reds, two blacks). What switch should I be using for the third location? Thanks

Arvi

Three and four way with X-10 is not easy. The original setup used a master switch that had four wires and 2 switches that had 3 wires (not including any grounding), is this right in your case? If so, you will need to install the master switch where the switch that had four wires was. This is the master location and is where the slave switches will transmit. The slaves will require a hot and a ground. The wires that feed the slaves are located at the master. The wires are easily figured out using a meter. The way the original system worked is like this: One switch would feed a neg. and the other a pos. or vice versa. This would turn the light on having both needed poles. If the switch was changed then you had two of the same poles, there for no light. The master switch would allow either poles depending on the position (why it has 4 wires). It kind of works like a big loop with each switch having a say so in the chain. Anyway, Both slaves will hook up to a Positive and Neg. You will need to hook 2 wires in the master location to a hot and negative to send to the slaves. Then the wires that are left can be used to send the trigger to the master switch. It’s not easy to describe over a letter since so many things may be different. My suggestion is to hire a professional to install the 4 way for you. Also, trial and error works well. You will probably get a nice light show and be performing a few breaker tests but you will sooner or later figure it out.

Chris Couture

After rereading your post, I realized that I was of no help at all. You will only need to use three of the wires but one needs to be hot and one neutral then the third will be the trigger for the master switch.


Chris

Well, I was able to get the slave switch to work at the third location last night. I connected the two red wires to the one red on the slave and the remaning two black wires to each of the blue wires on the CS277. All three switch locations work. No fireworks or popping circuit breakers and best of all, the house is still intact.

Arvi

Good Deal!
Chris Couture