Anatomy of the Three-Way Switch

Anatomy of the Three-Way Switch

From the outside, the three-way switch looks very similar to the regular light switch. The switch is unlabeled. As we will see, a three-way switch could turn on a light even when the switch is moved to the downward position. Thus, there is no on/off marking.

The back also looks different than a regular light switch. Rather than a Hot and Load terminal, the three-way switch has a common on the bottom and two travelers on top. When connecting the three-way switches together, the travelers will connect. This means that they need to connect to the correct side (left to left, right to right).