Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Old 3 Way Carter System wiring in Knob and Tube wired homes . Causing problems when trying to use LED bulbs now that Incandescent are no longer available

 If you own an old Knob and Tube style wired home  chances are it has its 3 way switches  wired in a now Illegal Carter wiring system as seen in diagram below  Now that EPA has rules that Incandescent bulbs can no longer be made r sold for consumer use has caused a real problem for those who have older homes.



In a carter system the Shell of the lamp socket switches polarity every time the opposite switch changes position it goes from shell being hot to shell being neutral . this constant back and forth is not tolerated by modern LED bulbs causing them to burn out faster and even possibly catch fire as i have seen some severely damaged bulbs which where on Carter Systems.

The bulbs are not meant to be powered reverse where a old incandescent bulb does not care.

Carter Circuits also do not allow dimmers to be used as well. 

But once again make up a regulation and not think far enough ahead to see if there are any ramifications .


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