![]() ![]() 3 beyond there all the way to the far switch. Run /2 from the powered switch to the first lamp. From the other, you only need /2 cable to the lamps proper. Now we only have 8 wire counts per box, for a more reasonable 16 cubic inches with #14 and 18 with #12. There is no reason for them to go through every lamp box, it's a waste of time, a nightmare to splice, and makes box fill too large. Run the /3 cable straight from switch to switch, bypassing all the boxes. That brings the wire count to a reasonable number. I do this scheme all the time, but I run individual wires in conduit, so the two traveler wires simply "pass through", and grounds and cable clamps are handled by the conduit. That means wasting money on a spool of /4 you won't use for anything else. Much bigger than you planned to use.Īlso due to NEC 300.3 all wires must be in the same cable - no using two /2's as a substitute for /4. 14 cubic inches with #14 and 27 cubic inches with #12. Since grounds are 4 for the price of 1, that's 9 wires per box, plus 1 count for the cable clamps, plus 2 counts for the receptacle itself. It doesn't have enough wires.īut even if you upgraded to /4 or /2/2 cable, you have a bigger problem: That's an awful lot of wires in each box. Between all lamps you will need switched-hot, neutral, 2 travelers and safety ground. Safety ground conductor present in all cables. All protected receptacles need "GFCI Protected" stickers. I'll just go ahead and show that in my diagrams, disregard if irrelevant. Or this circuit can be fed from the "Load" terminals of a GFCI receptacle, but that means the lights will trip if somebody trips the receptacle. In that case, your best bet is to make the box (where power comes in) an XL size 2-gang box, and wire a GFCI deadfront before the switch. They cannot be GFCI receptacles if they are out of easy reach. In junction boxes, #14 needs 2.0 cubic inches per wire, and #12 needs 2.25 cubic inches.Īlso note that receptacles on a garage or basement ceiling need GFCI protection. If you thought "lights get #14" that is false unless the lighting circuit is 15A. If the breaker is 20A, #12 wire must be used. #14 wire is allowed only if the circuit breaker is 15A. ![]()
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