I am putting up my Hampton Bay track lights and have 2 light switches in the room that operate that light. I have tried various combinations of the wires at the light (there are 3 black wires and 2 white (the third white is cut and not used)) and none allow the track lights to work with the switches (it will come on and stay on with several combinations and the switches won't work). I have attached a drawing of the light box. Are there such things as 2 pole track lights?

J.

All you need is a single circuit rack, there is no "2 pole" there is two circuit track, but that is not what is needed here, so disregard.

Did the original light that was there work? An which two wires was that fixture connected to?

Since the switch does not seem to control anything, I wonder if the 3 way switches are switching the neutral.

Hard to tell what is what from the sketch, such as which pair of wires is the 120 volt feed? Which pair comes from the switch? And which continues on the garage.

The note on the sketch does say"1+2+3 switches turn off & on power to garage", So are all three wires connect together and the switch then works the garage? What are you connecting to the two white, anything?

Really need to use a voltage tester with test leads to test across each wire to ground to learn if any wires are hot all the time, and if any become hot when the switches are operated.

Any idea why one white is cutoff, and capped I assume? Should test that one too to see if it is hot at any time also.

Sorry, but need little more info, and more clearer detail to help you with this.

Thank you for the reply - The previous light (a florescent) there did work. I will provide a more informative drawing of which wires are hot and which switches and switch wires are hot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by spcjep

Thank you for the reply - The previous light (a florescent) there did work. I will provide a more informative drawing of which wires are hot and which switches and switch wires are hot.

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spcjep, (sorry for butting in tk, curiosity has gotten the best of me)
Is there any wiring in the wall between the switches? (i.e.14-2 w/gnd? called travellers) On the left side of your sketch, where does the top cable go to and is it hot? Do each of the other two cables go the the respective switches shown below. Also are they 3-way switches and how are they wired in their respective boxes? I suspect the one cutoff white is from the one 3-way on the right that is not used while the black is the common switch leg from that 3-way switch fed with another 14-2 traveller between the two switch boxes. Nm

I have revised the drawing to include the switches and did more testing this resulted in revised results in connecting the various wires to the track light (the results are in the upper left of the drawing). I am sorry for the messy nature of the drawing.

nmwirez - I am not sure about the "travellers" I am somewhat of a novice. The bottom wire on the left side is hot all the time so I assume it is from the box. I am not sure where each cable goes as they are in the walls and ceiling... you can now see how the switches are wired.

I am not sure I understood this "I suspect the one cutoff white is from the one 3-way on the right that is not used while the black is the common switch leg from that 3-way switch fed with another 14-2 traveller between the two switch boxes." completely, can you put it in lay terms?

tkrussell - I hope the drawing will answer the questions you asked earlier.

Any suggestions on which to connect to the track lights are much appreciated.

Thanks for the help!

J.

Nice drawing Specjep,

Essentially you have a roundabout three-way circuit that needs reconnections to make it code compliant. If you want to understand what I am trying to say, it should best come from tk. Take care, nm

NM - Thanks for the input any suggestions are appreciated.

Here is a sketch that is my guess as to how the cable are run, and how the wires should be connected.

Spliced this way should make the light work, and send 24 hour unswitched power to the garage.

Who ever did this did a halfass job, pardon my French.

The capped white gave it away when I first looked at it.

I do not show grounds for clarity.

I had to assume the cable I have labeled "To Garage" is to the garage.

Hope this works for you, beyond this, three wire cable should be run between the two 3 way switches, and a three wire cable up to the light from the right hand switch.

I will try this - hopefully this weekend - and I will post the results. Thanks for the help and advice!