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I have a single pole light switch with a hot red wire secured at the top and a hot black wire at the bottom. I then have a handful of outlets wired with the metal tab broken separating the hot red and black wires.

However, all of the top and bottom outlets are always hot. The switch isn't doing anything. I tried swapping the switch (on the off chance the receptacle wasn't working) with a different one in the house that is working, but that didn't work either.

What could be causing the switch to not terminate?

A few (mediocre) photos below:

Switch:

switch

Hot wires with broken tab:

outlet hots, broken tab

Neutral (top) with tab connected and ground:

outlet neutral

Justin Helgerson
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  • Can you post photos of how the switch and receptacle are wried? – ThreePhaseEel Jun 29 '18 at 02:48
  • @ThreePhaseEel I added photos. – Justin Helgerson Jun 29 '18 at 03:54
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    Were those outlets always switched with that switch? – fixer1234 Jun 29 '18 at 04:08
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    BTW, the outlet wiring looks incorrect. The pigtail should bend clockwise so that tightening the screw tends to pull the wire in and tighter. It looks like the pigtails are facing the wrong way. The switch wiring looks correct from that standpoint. – fixer1234 Jun 29 '18 at 04:16
  • If the single pole switch is correctly functioning and you turn it off, then only one of the wires connected to it should be hot. If both are hot (with the switch off), then you are feeding the receptacle from another hot wire. This may be another wire on the same circuit or a different circuit. Is the power to this circuit shut off by a single breaker? – Jim Stewart Jun 29 '18 at 11:56
  • One way to test receptacle and switch which avoids confusion is to plug a long enough extension cord to reach the location under test into an unrelated receptacle and put tape over the hot opening on the female end of the extension cord. Put one lead of a multimeter in the neutral side of the extension cord. Probe for hot with the other lead. – Jim Stewart Jun 29 '18 at 12:08
  • @fixer1234 I'm starting to wonder if the switch doesn't control anything. I've wired switches in the house before and it was pretty straightforward. I originally rewired these probably 6-8 months ago and we haven't actually used them until now. I can't recall if I actually tested the switching; I might have just tested that they were getting power at all. Obviously a mistake on my part. – Justin Helgerson Jun 29 '18 at 13:03

2 Answers2

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You said the switched receptacles are chained all around the room, so each receptacle has a switched and unswitched socket, am I right?

One of the other receptacles still has its tab. That's all it takes.

Harper - Reinstate Monica
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Looking at your pictures, and reading your new comments. Here is what I see, you have a red and black wire attached to your switch and a red and black wire attached to both sides of you receptacle. Are the red and black wires the same wires? Because if they are then where is you hot or source wire?

If you have a voltmeter or a non contact indicator check to see which wires are hot. One attached to the switch and one attached to the hot side of the receptacle should both be constantly hot. The one attached to the switched side of the receptacle should be hot when the switch is turned on. You are right in saying it should be fairly straight forward. I have attached a sketch. enter image description here

Remember your taking reading from a live source so stay safe and good luck.

PS - If you don't have a voltmeter or a non contact indicator get borrow or buy one.

Retired Master Electrician
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