How do I replace a 3 way switch with dimmer?

Is original a 3-way dimmer (2 or more switches control same light fixture)?

If you wish to replace the 3 way switch with a dimmer you have to buy a special 3 way dimmer. 3 way switches are for the top and bottom of a staircase or two ends of a hallway to have 2 switches control one light or lights, so if you buy a dimmer for one end it would be good to buy one for the other. I almost understand visually where all those wires go in your description but a photograph would have been better. A better description of which switch you wanted to replace as well.

Hi *****,

I'm an electrician and can help you with this problem. First - shut off the power. Check your wiring as I describe the connections below.

If this is the only switch operating the fan and light, it should be wired as a single pole in the direction sheet. That is as follows:

1) one black wire - it should be connected to the "hot" power source, 2) one green wire - it should be connected to the bare / green ground wires & switchbox (if metal), 3) one red wire - it should be connected to the fan hot wire, 4) one yellow wire - it should be connected to the light hot wire, the remaining wires (yellow with a "3 way label" and red with a "3 way label") should not be connected to anything and capped with a wirenut.

The wiring changes if you are using a second switch to operate either the fan or light (download & view the wiring diagram provided here to follow along with my text). In this case, the hot wire from the fan or light would connect to the black screw of a standard 3 way switch, and the remaining two terminal screws on the switch would connect to the red / red with 3 way label - or yellow / yellow with 3 way label pair. Power and ground wiring on the dimmer black and green are the same as the single pole wiring described above.
I hope this helps & good luck!

Hi James, I'm an electrician and can help you with this problem.

From what you describe, the wiring in the switch box is for a standard, single pole switch or dimmer, and is not compatible with this replacement switch. Here's why: you stated that there are (2) wires in the box, a black and white insulated wire, that once fed a dimmer switch. Common wiring practices would suggest to most electricians that the white wire is the 120 volt "hot" supply and the black is the switched leg - or output of the switch to the fixture.

The replacement inductive dimmer switch is not a standard switch. It is designed to control inductive loads - or motors such as a fan. It does not simply control the flow of current - but actually uses a small amount of electricity to do this. This means it needs a complete 120 volt circuit consisting of a neutral and hot wire; and wire for the output of the switch to the motor. A total of insulated 3 wires. You have only two.

If you have a neutral in the box, you can use the switch if wire like this:

120 volt "hot" to the switch Black
120 volt "neutral" to the switch White
120 volt load wire (to motor) to the switch Red
The switch Yellow should be taped or capped off and is used only in a three way application.

The "arm switch" cuts power and the wheel is used to set low speed setting. You can see the info sheet here.

As mentioned above, this switch is used to control a motor - not a light. The same way a dimmer is used to control a light - not a motor. If you do not have access to a neutral in the box, you should either install one or, use a different switch. There are motor speed control switches that do not require a neutral wire and cost under $25.

If you need to control both light and fan there are products that are installed in the canopy of a paddle fan that will do this for under $50 and are operated via a wireless remote that can be secured to the wall such as those below:







These can be found at Home Depot, Lowes, and electrical supply stores.

I hope this was helpful & good luck!

Copy following link for 3-speed fan wiring:
http://waterheatertimer.org/How-to-wire-Cooper-277-pilot-light-switch.html#3-speed

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/gene_9f0ef4df2f9897e7

Lutron Dimmer manuals
http://www.lutron.com/Service-Support/Technical/InstallationInstructions/Pages/InstallationInstructions.aspx?syst=Dimmers+%26+Switches&prodn=Maestro%C2%AE+dimmer+%26+switch

Lutron manuals show a couple things that might be affecting you lights.
1) Wattage: If you have wrong wattage dimmer
2) Type of light bulb: Dimmers work on different types of bulbs
3) Wiring: You say you got 3 wires going to the chandelier? Why you got 3 wires? Is this a 3 way switch? Are the chandelier bulbs wired separately so you can control groups of bulbs with different switches?
Does the dimmer have 3 screws? A dark-colored screw and 2 brass screws? If so, then that sounds like a 3-way dimmer. A 3-way, is where more than one switch controls the same light.

Does the dimmer have 2 screws? Then that dimmer controls a single circuit. Your black Hot wire from breaker box connects to one screw and the black wire to Load connects to other screw.
A quick glance at Lutron wiring manual shows that Hot and Load wires connect to either screw.
The question is your 3-wires from the chandelier ... does the black Hot wire from breaker arrive in the ceiling box first? Or does it arrive in the wall box first? If your Hot arrives in ceiling box, then the Hot must come down to the switch box and connect to a screw on the dimmer >>> a second wire connects to other screw on dimmer and travels up to the ceiling box where it connects to black wire on chandelier. The white wire on chandelier connects to white Neutral.
4) Dimmer might be bad

Found a .pdf file that shows LSDC163pwv ... it does not show wiring for LSDC. It shows wiring for other 3-way dimmers & separate wiring for 3-way fan control. This is a clue.

The Pass and Seymour download page does not load, so I can't see specific manual.

Let me provide what I know:
-Instructions might be confusing because LSDC works for both single-pole and 3-way circuits ... which probably adds a lot of extra wording in manual
-LSDC Device has single-pole/3-way dimmer (this requires 3 wires)
-Device has single-pole/3-way fan control with 3 speeds (which requires 3 wires)
-That's 6 total wires
-If I understand correctly, you just want to control a ceiling light? -And you do not have a fan? And your ceiling light is set up with 3-way switches.
-IF you are also wanting to control a fan in addition to the light, the box will need separate wires that go specifically to the fan >> your description shows that you do not have separate wires for the fan. Is this correct?
-Without separate wires to the fan, you can still control the light ... but if wires to light also turn the fan on-and-off, then the LSDC is not the right control since a dimmer for lights will not work on both fan and light.
To wire the light:
-You have identified black common wire for light (it is connected to dark-colored screw on 3-way switch)
-You have identified travelers that connect the 3-way switches
-The neutral wires seem to be twisted together at back of box.
-I think the dimmer is located on the top, and fan control is bottom?? Not 100% sure >>>
-Question: are there 3 wires that are associated with dimmer?
-If you can see 3 wires for dimmer, one of those wires should be black ... just hook that to common, and hook other 2 wires to travelers ... and see if it works. If not, keep connecting them until correct combination is found.

Tip- I read a lot of electrical part manuals, and when confused, I write out the instructions so it breaks down the information.

I recently purchased a Leviton Dimmer switch which has a brown lead. This switch is to replace 1 of 2, 3 way switches that control the ceiling light in my kitchen. My problem is the new dimmer switch has 4 leads including a brown one which has me confused. I have installed and replaced numerous dimmer switches without difficulty. Please help.

ok- this is a complicated one... first these are called 3-way switches... two switches controlling one light(s) try this web site to help you figure it out.. you will probably have to open up the ceiling fixture to figure out which wire is which... http://www.thecircuitdetective.com/3and4wyinfo.htm#threebasic

For a single-pole installation:

1. Connect the 2 white wires together (one from the source and the other to/from the light fixture) - 2 wires
2. Connect the black wire from the source to the black wire on the dimmer switch - 2 wires
3. Connect the black wire to/from the light fixture to the red wire on the dimmer switch - 2 wires
4. Connect the ground wires - 3 wires