Replaced outlets... now switch won't work

Hi
I replaced all the outlets and the only switch in a room. Now the outlets work all the time, but the switch does nothing (it worked fine before- it turned off one plug in an outlet).

The switch is one-way (it only has one white and one black wire). I've tried replacing the old outlets and switches back but the switch still won't work. What could I have done to mess up the switch? and more importantly, how can i fix the problem? and is it safe to just leave everything as is?

Thanks!

 

You need to supply more information. Did the switch control one specific recepticle outlet? Did the switch control half of a duplex recepticle outlet?

If you provide details about exactly what the switch controlled and how the recepticle outlet was wired we can probably sort it out.

 

Carefully compare the receptacles you removed with the receptacles you added. Look very closely at the brass-screw side of the receptacle. On the new receptacles, note the small brass tab that connects the two brass screws to each other. Now look at the old receptacles. Is that brass tab there, or has it been broken out?

Are there both black and red wires in the receptacle boxes? Are there both black and red wires in the switch box?

 

I think the switch controlled half of a duplex recepticle outlet (if a clock and a light were plugged into the outlet, the switch would turn off the light but not the clock).


The old recepticle had 8 holes, 4 on each side and the four on each side are paired off into top and bottom pairs. There are no screws except for a green grounding screw. There are five wires: 2 black, 2 white, and the grounding wire. The brass tabs on the side are not broken but if you look into the slot where you are supposed to push to release the wires, there is a brass wire-looking thing that is broken (in all four of the slots).

The new recepticle has just four screws besides the grounding screw. Two silver and two brass. The brass tabs are not broken and there are no holes.

I know I have the wires connected on the same sides as before(the black wires on the right and white wires on the left) but I may have mixed up the top and bottom positions.

The switch has two wires: a black and a white one.

I'm not sure if this helps, but I'll describe how the wiring is in the outlet recepticle. There are three bundles of wires coming out of the wall. From all three of the bundles comes a grounding wire and the three grounding wires are twisted togheter so that one grounding wire comes out and attaches to the outlet. So besides the grounding wires, the first two bundles each have a white wire that goes to the outlet and a black wire that goes to a red cap thing. The third bundle has a white wire that goes to the red cap and a black wire that goes to the outlet. From the red cap the three wires come toghether and one black wire goes into the outlet.

Thanks for all the help!!

 

First lets address the outlet. The screws in an outlet receptacle are colored differently to verify the correct polarity of electricity through the outlet. Brass for Black (power side of the outlet), and silver for white (neutral wire back to ground at the breaker panel).

The tabs in the side of the receptacle are used to separate the top of the receptacle from the bottom. If you want half of the outlet to be "hot" all the time, but the other half to be controlled by the switch you break at least the tab on the hot side of the outlet (where the black wires connect via the brass screws). This interrupts power between the top and bottom, and would force you to supply an alternate power source to the half that doesn't have power (from a switch perhaps...hint hint).

The tab on the other side can be left alone since it goes back to ground anyway. Both halves of the outlet can use the same neutral.

...therefore, you have to have dedicated power (black wire) running to half of the outlet from the previous outlet so it can be hot all the time. Then run the white from the previous outlet to this half of the outlet on the silver side. That part of the outlet is now done and should be hot all the time.

Now the switch. Simple switches just interrupt the power side of the circuit. Since 12/2 and 14/2 with ground only has one black wire we can use the white as a black for the other side of the switch since the job of the switch is NOT to interrupt neutral to ground. I typically use a piece of black electrical tape to mark the white as black on both ends so I don't get confused.

The confusing part is getting power to the switch in the first place. The easiest thing to do is pick up power from that same hot side of the outlet you just wired previously. Literally, connect the black wire to the switch on one end, and to the outlet you made hot in the previous step. YOu should end up with two black wires on that side of the half of the outlet you're leaving hot all the time.

Now that you have power to the switch you can use that white wire as power to your other half of the outlet that still doesn't have power. As I said before put some black tape on that wire, and connect it on one end to the other side of the switch, and then connect it to the half of the outlet that isn't wired yet (remember this is a power wire, so connect it to the brass side). Now that your outlet has power on both halves, both should be sharing a neutral back to ground if you didn't break the tab on the silver side. If you did you have to get another neutral to the side of the outlet you just wired.

Now 1/2 of the outlet is hot all the time, and it supplies the switch with power that will interrupt power to the other 1/2 of the outlet, and both halves share the same neutral. That should do it.

 

This is a simple fix that is getting very complicated. If you connected the wires to the new receptacles the same as you removed them from the old receptacle then just break the tab on the new receptacle brass side of the one that had the light and clock plugged in.

 

Thanks everyone for your help. I got the switch to work by cutting the brass tab. Thanks!!!

 

To properly balance the neutral current you MAY need to break the brass tab on the neutral side as well, it depends on the complete wiring picture.

Before doing this, determine if there is continuity between the upper and lower side on the neutral half of the old recepticle.

 

racraft, if the outlet and switch work fine, should I worry about cutting the brass tab on the neutral side or is there some safety concern about not balancing the neutral current?

 

The answer to that depends on the exact situation of wiring.

 

You do not cut the tab on the silver side. That is a very rare case when you have 2 completely separate circuits on the same receptacle. In most of those cases the silver tab is still not broken as the white is used common with both circuits.

 

Joed,

I respecfully disagree.

In this case we have two hot wires connected to the recepticle outlet, a switched hot and an always hot. We also have two neutrals connected to the recepticle outlet.

I maintain that if the switched hot and the always hot arrive at the junction box in two separate cables, each with their own neutral, that the tab on the neutral side needs to be cut as well. Not doing so would cause a current imbalance in the two cables. (Not a big deal, but should be avoided if possible.)

If, however, the recepticle outlet is being used as a substitute for a wire nut, and simply passing the neutral on to another part of the circuit then the tab should remain intact.

I don;t think we have enough information from the original poster to know exactly how the entire circuit is wired. I do agree that we do not have two different circuits here.

 

I have to agree with racraft. It's ALWAYS more conservative to run a dedicated neutral for that other half of the outlet - regardless of the circumstances.

However, if this circuit is simply 3 outlets in series on the same circuit and the last outlet is the one in question there's nothing wrong with leaving that tab in tact on the neutral side of the outlet...

 

Check out this post on the same subject at different site I also frequent. I still can't think of a situation in a home where I would do this.

http://www.selfhelpforums.com/showth...oto=nextoldest