Make an outlet bypass the wall switch...


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Old 12-19-06, 11:06 AM
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Make an outlet bypass the wall switch...

I have a wall outlet and wall switch in a bedroom. The switch works the outlet and a ceiling fan/light. I'd like the wall outlet to have continuous power and not be affected by the wall switch and for the switch to only work the light. I searched through this forum and found a couple of other threads dealing with this, but they usually involved red wires, which I don't have any. So I'll describe what's in my boxes.

Here is a description of what is in the outlet box.
There are 3 wires, Brown, White, and bare (ground). The Brown wire is attached to the brass (lighter colored) screw side at the top outlet and the white is attached on the other side to the bottom outlet. The ground wire is attached to the ground screw.

Here is a description of what is in the wall switch box:
There are 9 wires. 3 each or Brown, White, and bare (ground). The 3 White wires are wired nutted together and the 3 ground are wire nutted together. The 3 brown are attached to the switch. One is attached to the top screw of the switch and 2 are attached to the bottom screw (back) of the switch.

Hopefully this can be done without too much trouble. Let me know if there is additional information needed. Thanks in advance for your help.
 
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Old 12-19-06, 11:26 AM
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dgtaylor:
"The 3 brown are attached to the switch. One is attached to the top screw of the switch and 2 are attached to the bottom screw (back) of the switch."


If you take one of the 2 that are attached to the bottom screw (back) of the switch and simply move it so that it is now connected to the top screw of the switch (with the original), that wire will now have power all the time.
(Pick the most obvious one that you would think runs to the outlet).

If you find that the light/fan is now always on and the outlet is still controlled by the switch, simply switch the brown wire that you just moved back to its original position and move the other brown wire to the top screw.

I suggest marking everything BEFORE you start so if you get confused you can always put it back!
And turn off the breaker to this circuit while working on it.
 
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Old 12-19-06, 11:55 AM
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jn,
Thanks for the quick and accurate response. I did as you suggested and now the outlet, switch, and ceiling fan all work as desired. I don't think it could have gotten any easier.
 
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Old 12-19-06, 11:58 AM
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Hey,
Glad to be of help.
Thanks for posting back!
 
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Old 12-19-06, 12:43 PM
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And don't put two wires under one screw. That is not allowed. If that is how it was done it should be changed. Put the two wires into a wire nut with third 6 inch black wire. Conenct that 6 inch pigtail to the switch.
 
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Old 12-20-06, 05:48 AM
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Originally Posted by joed
And don't put two wires under one screw. That is not allowed. If that is how it was done it should be changed. Put the two wires into a wire nut with third 6 inch black wire. Conenct that 6 inch pigtail to the switch.
Thanks for the additional info. It is not done this way. One wire to a screw and the other is inserted into the "hole" (sorry not sure the correct term) on the back of the switch. Is this ok to do?
 
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Old 12-20-06, 08:46 AM
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That works, but if you ever have any problems with no power on the circuit, the first place to look will be the wire in the hole. Those back stab connections are cause of many no power situation that come to this site.
 
 

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