Hello, and with the disclaimer that I’m no electrician whatsoever,

I had this three-way light switch in my room, which only controlled one light - and its pilot lit when the light was set off. Unfortunately I had to break the wall it was onto because the neighbor had water issues. Left the switch connected to the wires as I thought it wasn’t necessary to unplug it, but the person that fixed the wall unplugged it nevertheless.

The thing is I can’t remember how it was plugged. I can plug hot and ground (at 0 and 1, or 0 and 3) so I can turn on/off the light, but the pilot won’t work in any case.

Here’s a picture of the back of the switch, the numbers at each connector and the little diagram (tried to recreate it at the right side) that is engraved there. Not even sure why it’s 0, 1 and 3 but no 0, 1 and 2 - nor what the little “m” means:

So how can I connect this so the pilot works as before (it’s lit when the light is turned off?) I’d really appreciate any help about this from any electron wizard around here.

  • NatanaelEnglish
    2•4 days ago

    Is the pilot supposed to be always on, or just when the light is off (I assume the latter)?

    Are both 0 and 1 always live simultaneously? In that case it wouldn’t be a 3 way switch. I’m not finding info on that annotation, very hard to search, what country / state are you in?

    I kinda suspect pilot should be on the right 0 and light on 3 (guess that m signifies it measures current somehow), unless m actually signifies a separate terminal to use for the pilot

    • @m4m4m4m4OPEnglish
      1•4 days ago

      Yes, the pilot was on only when the light was off.

      Not sure if I’m understanding correctly what does it mean that if 0 and 1 are always live simultaneously, but leaving plugged 0 to the live wire and testing at 1 with a live wire tester won’t lit it - I left the live wire plugged to 0 and the light wire to 1 and the switch works, i.e. I can turn the light on and off, but the pilot won’t work in either case (nor when the light is on nor when it is off).

      I’m in Colombia, this is the switch as they sell it here (they changed the middle switch in it to an empty plate to use it in another house and left me with the other two)

      Can’t find any clue about what the little m means, but in the diagram it’s placed next to an interrupted connection between 0 an 3 (not like between 0 and 1, where the line is continuous) so maybe you’re right and 3 would be for the pilot. Still I won’t know why it won’t work

      Thank you, I appreciate your help

        • @m4m4m4m4OPEnglish
          2•3 days ago

          You’re a genius! That was it.

          I owe you a beer. Thank you so much.

          • NatanaelEnglish
            1•3 days ago

            Do you think Colombian beer would make it past Swedish customs? :)

            • @m4m4m4m4OPEnglish
              2•2 days ago

              Not sure, we as a country bear that horrible but deserved reputation of having “creative” ways to export (illegal) substances… -__-

              But if you ever come here there will be a beer, or at least good coffee

      • NatanaelEnglish
        2•3 days ago

        Do you have another identical switch that’s wired and working? Try taking a picture of that wiring in that case

        The actual switch piece doesn’t seem to have distinguishable branding, I was trying to find an instruction manual

        Also check if the lever on the switch can be detached to see if you can look at the pilot light source and any visible connections