When the light bulb is switched off, no contact is made to any solder point, and the light bulb is not lit. When the light bulb is switched to its first setting, voltage makes contact on the side soldered contact wire and the inner top solder circle. The electrical current flowing through these two points excites the filament or ballast to generate its lowest light output. When the light bulbs is switched to the second setting, voltage makes contact on the side solder point and the outer solder ring on the bottom of the base. The electrical current flowing through these two points excites the filament or ballast to generate its medium level of light output. Finally, when the light bulb is switched to the third setting, voltage makes contact on all three solder points. The electrical current flowing through all three contact wires excites the filament or ballast to generate its highest light output. Note that the side contact wire will always make contact with the voltage in each setting of a 3-way light bulb.
If a standard screw base light bulb is placed inside a 3-way fixture, the light bulb will only turn on with its full light output. Only light bulbs with 3-way bases can operate properly in 3-way fixtures with low, medium, and high light output levels.
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