HELP please with half hot outlets


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Old 05-14-18, 05:25 PM
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HELP please with half hot outlets

I am replacing some outlets in my living room which there are about 5 half hot outlets in. I would like to make the outlet by the tv a normal outlet and not a half hot. I took it apart and was very confused. I have three sets of wires coming into the box, two with the normal black,white and ground. the other set has black, white, red and ground. I separated all the wires and turned the breaker back on and have power on two wires. but what is weired its on a black and a white, and with the wall switch on or off the power doesn't change. any help how to make this a normal hot all the time outlet would be greatly appreciated. OH also when I took it apart it looked like they had both hots wire nuted together with a whip going to the outlet screw. should two hots be nuted together, and w with the breaker back on no other outlets in the room work with this one disconnected.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 05:31 PM
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Welcome to the forums.

Normally you take a picture before opening the splices to eliminate future guessing.
You're changing outlets...... so why is the box out ?

That black marked out makes sense.
The white wire marked hot is going to be a problem.

You cannot use a non contact pen for testing. You need to use a voltmeter or two wire voltage tester.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 05:40 PM
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I def. should have taken a pic of the outlet before I disconnected everything. I took the box out cause I was going to move it up the wall to hide the wires for the tv. I did only test the wires with a contact pen. I do have a voltmeter should I test all the wires with the voltmeter?
 
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Old 05-14-18, 05:55 PM
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In order to move the box up the wall..... all the cables must come from above.

Yes.... use that cable with the black as hot as the reference cable. Measure all the other wires to that ground wire.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 06:00 PM
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So I turned the breaker back on and with the multimeter measured the voltage. The black wire labeled hot is getting 120v. the the white wire is only getting about 12-10v weired. but that is the only voltage I'm getting.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 06:07 PM
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Ok.... so the black wire marked hot is the live or hot cable. Don't worry about small mystery voltages that you get with a digital meter.

So.... is this location the start of the 5 switched receptacles ?
That would mean the others are completely dead now.

You are going to have to look and see what color wires are on the receptacle switch.
If it's red and black... I'm pretty sure I know how they wired it.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 06:20 PM
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yes I believe this is the start when I turn the breaker back on the other outlets are dead. I did take the face plate off the switches and I can see, looking at the front or face of the switch, top left red wire, bottom left ground, top right white, bottom right white.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 06:23 PM
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Not sure if this makes a difference but there are two switches that control the outlets, I only took one apart to see the colors.
 
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Old 05-14-18, 06:31 PM
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the second switch has top left red, bottom left ground, top right white, bottom right black.
 
 

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