Three way switch

That is not how a three way switch system works. Depending on how you are switching the lights, shunt, series, the way, the concept must be determined and familiarized with.
Hot wire connects to the common wire of a three way switch, the other two terminals connect to traveler wires, these traveler wires connect to the two terminals of a second the way switch and the common terminal of the second switch connects to the load wire or switch leg that turns lights on and off.
The three way switch has a dark terminal screw, it is the common. A three way toggle switch does not have the markings off - on and had the terminals.

Assuming you mean the old dimmer switch has three black wires. The old switch is a three way style switch and your new one is a single pole. You will need to take it back and get a three way dimmer switch.

Wiring diagram for a 3-way switch, one of the many wiring diagrams showing different methods of wiring a three way switch circuit. This electrical wiring diagram shows power into light switch Box #1 – wire to light from switch box #1, and from switch box #1 to three-way light switch box #2.

https://www.homeimprovementweb.com/information/how-to/three-way-switch.htm

you would need two 2 wire switch's as one wire feeds switch , one feeds ignition and one feeds starter to start on momentary

There are several ways to wire three way switchs, depending on which box the power goes to. Check ou this link for diagrams.
http://www.homeimprovementweb.com/information/how-to/three-way-switch.htm

Three-way switches require a three-wire cable: the power wire, the neutral wire, and the traveler or switch wire.
The cable should also have a ground wire, or a total of four wires in the cable. The system also requires three-way switches. The switches are wider than regular single-pole switches and they have three terminal screws on the side (sometimes back) of the switch housing. Two terminals will be on one side of the switch housing; one terminal on the other side.

The correct way to wire this switch is the wire that was on the gold or dark colored screw of the old three way switch is called the shunt or common terminal. The wire connected to this terminal is to be connected to the black wire of the three way dimmer. The other two wires are connected to the silver or light colored terminals of the switch. These are the traveler terminals. The traveler wires may be connect to either traveler terminal - it does not matter which.

If you have already disconnected the old switch, simply connect the dimmer wires to the house wires as shown top to bottom in each configuration below until you get it to work as expected:


Config1 Config2 Config3

B R R B R R B R R Dimmer Wires: B = Black R= Red R = Red
R W B B R W W R B House Wires: R = Red W= White B= Black



In two configurations or less, you'll have found the correct wiring for the switch. I hope this helps & good luck! Please rate my reply. Thank you.

A standard dimmer switch only needs two wires plus ground, just like a standard switch. If you are replacing a three-way switch with a dimmer, then you need a three-way dimmer switch (which has three wires). 4-way switches have 4 wires. Note, with 3-way or 4-way switches you have multiple switches controlling the same light, but only one of them can be a dimmer. good luck, Al K

a three way dimmer has three wires on it. two are red one is black. the black is the common just like the odd colored screw on a standard three way switch. the two red wires go to the "travelers" to the other three way switch. standard wiring practices: hot goes to the odd screw, travelrs go to the other three way switch. at the remote the load comes off the other odd screw.