I have knob and tube wiring in our 110 year old house. There are 2 3 way switches that control one light in the house and also supplies power to the garage. There are 4 overhead wires going to the garage so I am not sure if the 3 way in the garage has the main hot wire going to the 3 way or if it is in the kitchen 3 way. How can I tell which one is the main feed and then replace the kitchen 3 way with a single pole switch?
Electrical – How to eliminate one 3 way switch and replace it with a single pole switch
electrical
Related Solutions
Since the red wire is already being used for the outlets, you'll need to run a pair of 3 wire cables from the existing switch box to the location in the garage where you want these light switches.
This is what you'll likely have to do:
Here are some other options:
Have you considered a remote for the house end of the garage hookup? I'm thinking a z-wave controllable light switch or something in the garage, and a remote control in the house. That way you can ignore the 12/3 romex and weird wiring (of that part of the circuit) and get on with your day.
I'm unclear whether it's allowed by code (especially with the colors you have), but with 3 wires, you've got enough for a single 30 amp circuit - ground, neutral and hot. Is that enough for the garage? That would at least be safe.
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Best Answer
A modification of longneck's process: (not enough rep to comment)
To figure out where the power really flows in this circuit, you have to power this up safely, with the terminals exposed, and use a neon tester figure out which is hot, when the switch(s are) is off.