how do i light a five hundred foot tunnel with 6 switchs and only have two lights on as you use each switch?

Question

as you turn on switch one two lights come on , you then walk a hundred feet when you turn on switch two the light behind you goes out and the light in front of you goes on this will continue all the way down the tunnel only two lights will stay on at any time till you reach the end when you flip the last switch the last two lights go out . this is done with three different kinds of switchs ,a two way , a three way , a four way, or a two pole single throw . the ground is ran in parallel . this can also be ran in reverse as you come in from the other side of the tunnel . please only anwser if you understand the full answer . this customer is very much in a hurry to get this done and i only have two weeks until i lose the contrack for a big deal on wiring the rest of the warehouse .

Answer 1

ADDITIONAL NOTES: If you are talking about just using 5 lights with six switches, you can not do it with any flexibility. LeAnne is right. The switches only know their positions, not how they got there.

It is impossible not to expect a different result with the same switch positions. For example, all switches down and all lights off, go from switch 1 to 6 twice. Just before Switch 5, you get Switch 1-4 down & 5-6 up and want lights 4&5 on. Now, start over again with all switches down and all lights off, go from switch 6 to 1 once. Just before Switch 4, you get Switch 1-4 down & 5-6 up, BUT now you want lights 3&4 on, a different result is wanted for an identical set of switch positions.

The switches don't know what direction a person is walking in, but they don't have to for the below to work. The principle is the same as for one light with two switches on opposite sides of a room, in a home. It always works no matter which way a person is walking.

The below can be done with just 5 lights instead of 5 pairs of lights, with just one light on at a time. That's really not a big deal. If a light bulb blows out, a person will flip a switch and be in the dark. The obvious reaction is to flip the switch back, then the light behind comes back on. They can turn around and go back, or they can continue through a darker section and flip the next switch, turning on the next light in front of them and continue on. They can leave adjacent lights on while the blown bulb is being replaced. Too small an amount of motion might allow motion sensors to turn all lights off, for example, while a blown bulb is being replaced. Motion sensors should always have manual switch overrides.

The scheme below actually works quite well, even if a person doesn't flip some switch(es) in the right sequence. Go through all possible combinations for yourself. The next person can always get them back in correct sequence easily, no matter which direction they're walking in.

Good luck.

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PREVIOUS ANSWER:

Six SPDT (Single Pole Double Throw) switches for five pairs of lights.

Switch 1, wire HOT to top, NEUTRAL to bottom, middle to one side of first pair of lights.

Switch 2, middle from other side of 1st pair of lights, wire HOT to top, NEUTRAL to bottom. Middle is also wired to one side of 2nd pair of lights.

Switch 3, middle from other side of 2nd pair of lights, wire HOT to top, NEUTRAL to bottom. Middle is also wired to one side of 3rd pair of lights. NOTE: This repeats the wiring for Switch 2, moving down one pair of lights.

Repeat for Switches 4 and 5.

Switch 6, middle from other side of 5th pair of lights, wire HOT to top, NEUTRAL to bottom.

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It works this way. If all 6 switches are down, then NEUTRAL is connected to both sides of all lights. All lights are off.

Throw Switch 1 up and HOT goes to one side of 1st pair of lights while NEUTRAL is still on the other side. All other lights still have NEUTRAL on both sides.

Throw Switch 2 up and HOT goes to other side of 1st pair of lights. Since HOT is on both sides, the 1st pair goes off. The second pair gets HOT on one side and still has NEUTRAL on the other side so they turn on.

This repeats all the way down, through the rest of the lights. When you get to the 6th switch, the 5th pair of lights get HOT on both sides, and they turn off. All lights are off.

The lights turn on and off in sequence, as you walk through, throwing switch after switch, either direction. You can go left to right, mutliple times in a row. You can go right to left, multiple times in a row. Or you can change direction, back and forth, any number of times, and it still works.

You can even go part way through, turn around and go back, at any point anywhere in the middle. Switch back every switch previously thrown, and the lights go on and off, going back in the other direction, and when you leave, throwing the last switch, all lights are off.

A light socket can be "hot" even when the light is "turned off". This is normal even in a home that has two switches for the same lights. Of course, you run the safety ground, as necessary.

Answer 2

I suggest you simplify this concept greatly by using motion detectors aimed in each direction. Each set of lights will respond to the motion detected by each detector - aim and calibrate the detectors to overlap each set of lights only in a very short span of distance. If more sensitivity is needed for a 50+ foot range, you can easily wire additional motion detectors in parallel.
When all set up, the lights will literally "follow" you through the tunnel.

The original 6- switch set up has some pretty hairy concerns. For instance, how does each individual switch know which direction you are going in the tunnel? And, when you reach either end of the tunnel and hit the switch - it will go off if you are leaving (preferred) or on if you are entering (preferred) but it must "know" if you are entering or leaving in order to do this. And, worst, what happens when you are three quarters way through the tunnel and someone else enters the tunnel? Two and three way swithes will not control six lights on and off. Sounds like a project for a computerized control panel loaded with SCRs, triacs or relays - and I don't think the means would justify the end, let alone the wiring nightmare.

Yeah, for sure, motion detectors are the way to go - inexpensive, simple to wire up and very reliable. And they'll work no matter how many or where different people enter the tunnel - and they're hands free passive devices requiring no input from the people using the tunnel.

Answer 3

You need to look at jbj1950's answer, he got it right for ya.

I assume they wanted 2 lights to provide some light to replace 1 burned out bulb, so just wire 2 lights in parallel between the center position of the two way switches. I am assuming that the center is the common to the switch, maybe it's the first or third.

Some people refer to the neutral as the ground, if so you are still right as rain by doing it the way jbj told you. The neutral, and the hot, are run parallel to every switch.

Draw out what jbj1950 told ya and you can still have a chance at that contract.

Answer 4

I would use 6 two way switches(the kind with three wires) 1 normally off, 1 normally on, and a power wire... wire the ground in parallel and the power in series by going through the switch in front of it first. this way will work but you couldn't have two adjoining sections ever on at the same time. it would also work going back through the tunnel from the other side, or if someone was half way through the tunnel and some one followed them turning on lights.

Answer 5

A timmer switch would be something to look at however different wiring would be required for every 2 lights along and set the switch to go off on a time limit.

So basically time how long it would take you to walk 100M then put the timer on for 10 seconds longer then the time you counted so it gives you time to get to the other and press it in.

This is one idea others might have others.