I recently installed 3-way light switches at each end of an office in our house to control the ceiling fan and light. The ceiling fan stopped working after about one month. I checked the voltage of the wires coming out of the ceiling box and when the switch is turned on, I get 120 volts, when it is turned off, I get about 54 volts.
Next I went to the first 3-way switch where the wires are connected from my breaker box and the problem originates there. I have 120 volts where my hot wire is from the breaker and one of the other two connections on the switch reads 120, and the other reads 54. When I flip the switch in the other direction, I get 54 volts on the side that had 120, and get 120 volts on the one that was 54 volts. I disconnected the wires from the switch that lead to the other switch, and the only wire left connected to the 3-way switch is the power source. I then tested the connecting screw only on each side (without wires attached) and get the same results. One other item I forgot to mention is that this 3-way light switch is the type that when the item it is controlling is turned off, the switch has a tiny light in it so you can see in the dark. Also I took the switch out and bought another one identical to it at Lowes, hooked it up and got the same problem. Does anyone know where this 54 volts is coming from? Thanks, Tom [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
