Short circuit?

[janneken]

I moved an electrical box . Stupidly I did not turn off power at the fuse but simply turned off the light. When I removed the box a metal flange fell inside and I think touched both terminals at once. I heard a pop and saw a flash. Took the fuse out moved the box and reconnected the switch. put fuse back and the lights are not working as well as an outlet on the wall. Tried new light bulb and new fuse and still no power. What on Earth did I do and how can I fix it? If the one switch were faulty, would it stop the other switch and outlet from working? I have since removed the fuse to avoid further problems until I can fix it. Thank you in advance for any ideas!

[gizmo]

Originally Posted by janneken

I moved an electrical box . Stupidly I did not turn off power at the fuse but simply turned off the light. When I removed the box a metal flange fell inside and I think touched both terminals at once. I heard a pop and saw a flash. Took the fuse out moved the box and reconnected the switch. put fuse back and the lights are not working as well as an outlet on the wall. Tried new light bulb and new fuse and still no power. What on Earth did I do and how can I fix it? If the one switch were faulty, would it stop the other switch and outlet from working? I have since removed the fuse to avoid further problems until I can fix it. Thank you in advance for any ideas!

Sounds like the connections are not tied back together like they were originally. Maybe a ground loose ?????

[janneken]

Hello again. Will try that. Is it possible too that I fried the switch and that that is affecting things too? Thanks for the idea!

[gizmo]

Originally Posted by janneken

Hello again. Will try that. Is it possible too that I fried the switch and that that is affecting things too? Thanks for the idea!

It could be possible. take a tester see if one side of the switch is hot with the switch off. If its hot turn the switch back on and check the other side of the switch. If its not hot with the switch on,take 2 jumper wires one from the neutral to the other side of the neutral.Take a jumper from one side of the hot side to the other, that will tell you if the switch is bad as long as the bulb is good. If nothing works start back tracking in the box.

[janneken]

Hello. OK switches test as working. I have reconnected them. The fuse had blown but I had pulled the wrong one which is why the replacement didnt work --duh! So the lights work now. The problem is that I rewired the upstairs 3way incorrectly and now the two switches dont coordinate the right way to operate the fixtures. In the downstairs switch I have red wire on the single terminal on the left of switch and on the right I have black going to the common and black to the traveler. On the upstairs switch I have a red wire a black and a white. Which terminals do those go on in the up switch?
Thanks again!

[gizmo]

Follow the diagram in the link below



http://www.electrical-online.com/3waydiagram.htm