3-way Ceiling Fan wiring

[SkunkedAgain]

Last year I installed a bunch of MinkaAire ceiling fans in my house. I talked to the dealer who told me that it was indeed possible to add a second switch (3-way), however the switches aren't specifically made for 3-way use. Yesterday I climbed into the attic, pulled some new 14-3 wire between the switches and checked it out. Both switches have power and the main switch works fine. The second switch seems to lose power when the ceiling fan light or fan is on. If the ceiling fan is off, I can turn on the light or fan with the second switch, but then the little light on the switch dims (as if it's losing power) and then the switch won't work unless I turn off the ceiling fan from the first switch. Then everything is back to normal. It's as if when the ceiling light/fan is on, the second switch doesn't have enough power to issue another command. It's worth noting that these switches send radio signals to the ceiling fan.

I've taken picture of the switch wires along with a diagram of how I wired everything. Any thoughts on a better way to set this up?

Currently I have the red wire connected to the incoming black/hot wire to the first switch, which then supplies power to the second switch. Maybe I should instead connect it to the black wire coming out of the first switch - taking wire after the first switch instead of before it?

[pureinsanity]

I am no electrician but the problem I see is you have your red wire hooked up to HOT when it should go from switch to switch. Red and White wires should be your travelers between the switches.

[SkunkedAgain]

True. I did catch that too and will switch just for consistency sake, but it won't have any bearing on how the electricity flows.

[pureinsanity]

You're right it probably won't BUT, electricity is funny how it works and you would be surprised when something isn't hooked up right what can happen. For instance your issue.

[delcecchi]

They send radio signals? Why? They have wires.

[SkunkedAgain]

You can tell from the dip switches on the side...I didn't design them so I can't tell you why it's a radio signal versus a traditional switch.

[pureinsanity]

Having the red wire go from hot to the other switch would make it making both switches hot at the same time wouldn't it? Where as if your main switch is on, and the red is going from switch to switch that would all you to cut the power wouldn't it?

[SkunkedAgain]

So this whole problem came about because the fan dealer told me that I needed to run 14-3 wire in between the two switches. I finally got to talk to a person at the manufacturer who confirmed that 14-2 is fine, and that the switches just need to be run in series....black(hot) to the switch, and then that black(hot) from the first switch to the second switch, and then up to the fan. No traveler wires are needed. Sheesh. What a waste of some good 14-3 wire that I ran!

[JohnMickish]

Good job figuring it out on your own. Electronic switches are starting to become much more common now and a person needs to use them with an open mind because they don't always need the same configurations as the "old" way.

[SkunkedAgain]

Yup, ten minutes after work tonight and everything works great. It's a good reminder to go to the source/manufacturer versus trusting a salesman.