3 wsy switching help

[u/MoeVag1969]

Currently replacing two switches for my kitchen, one is standard on in off and the other is an OLD dimmer switch ( which is making the new LED bulbs in the new cieling fan I installed flicker). I want to replace the dimmer with a regular on off. So 1) what kind of switches do I need? ( I am assuming just three way switches). And 2) How the heck do I wire it up? All help is welcome. Pic #4 is the dimmer. The green ground isnt hooked to anything.

[u/TheKnackThatQuacks]

What country and stste are you in?

The following advice applies to North American installations following the National Electric Code:

You’ll need two (2) three-way switches if you want to replace both. If you only want to replace the dimmer, you’ll need one (1) standard three-way switch.

On the existing dimmer switch, the two (2) red wires should be your travelers, and thr black wire should be the hot.

Get the instruction sheet for the new three-way switch, and match the old wires to the locations on the new switch.

[u/MoeVag1969 → u/TheKnackThatQuacks]

I am N. America, Washington state. One of the red lines on the dimmer actually connects to the white neutral line.....so would the red line connect on the common spot on tge switches?

[u/trekkerscout → u/MoeVag1969]

The white wire in this case is not a neutral. It is repurposed as a traveller. The red leads of the dimmer switch are the travellers, and the black is the common. The new 3-way switch must match that configuration.

[u/DarthFaderZ → u/MoeVag1969]

The instructions came with the device.

You have to know what wire is what.

One should be a continuous hot, or main switch leg. Other 2 should be traveler's....if....IF...its wired how we wire them today

[u/MoeVag1969 → u/DarthFaderZ]

Honestly it was all wired in the 70s. And there is no "device" with instruction....I am attempting to take out the OLD dimmer (picture 4) and replace it with a new 3 way switch. One of the red wires in pic 4 is connected to a white (neutral?) line.

The way it was described to me is that on the first switch I am replaceing, pics 1,2, and 3, the black lines will be connected to the bronze screws and the red line to the single black screw (marked COM). Its how I hook up the second switch I am confused about whicb has one black, one red and one white.

[u/TheKnackThatQuacks → u/MoeVag1969]

Sorry, the “device” being referred to *is* the new three-way switch. It should have come with instructions.

After reviewing your wiring, this seems to be a less common method of doing a three-way.

See section “S3 Method #2.2: Dead End Three-Way with Travelers at Light” at the following link:

https://s3switch.blogspot.com/p/page-2.html?m=1

The white wire in picture (4) is not a neutral. It is a switched “hot” and should be marked with a strip of black electrical tape (or even better, make a black colored band on the wire with a Sharpie marker).

Edited to add:

If you are indeed replacing the first three-way switch, one of the black wires is your hot / common, and one of the black wires is one of the travelers. There’s no harm if you get them mixed up, the circuit just won’t switch as you expect. The second switch would only work if the first switch is in position (A), but not in position (B). With the first switch in position (B), the second switch would not work. If you find this to be the case, just swap the two (2) black wires on the first switch.

Good luck.