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About Ben
Expertise
Can answer questions in the residential,commercial electrical fields. From Trouble shooting to new installation,service changes and related items. We can answer questions about Generators,We are a Authorized dealer and service center for a few major Brands
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30 years in the electrical trade. Ran jobs from small houses to large shopping centers to new construction on Wal-Marts Nursing homes and Factories, CCTV,CARD ACCESS SYSTEMS
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NFPA,NEC CODE ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION,VNM/MC VIET NAM VET OF OHIO VIET NAM VET K-9 HANDLER ASSOCIATION VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
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OSHA APPROVED TRAINING,UPTO DATE CODE BOOK DISCUSSIONS,MEMBER NFPA FROM 1996 TO PRESENT MEMEBR OF ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS NETWORK OHIO CONTRACTORS LICENSE FLA CONTRACTORS LICENSE MASTER ELECTRICIAN IN 5 STATES
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You are here: Experts > Home/Garden > Home Improvement/Repair > Electrical Wiring in the Home > Outlets work, switches do not
Expert: Ben - 11/7/2009
Question
QUESTION: I just bought a house and 4/4 bedrooms have switches just inside the door (you would think to turn on a light), but none of them do anything. Every outlet works fine in these rooms, but the switches do nothing. This is also the case in the living room. There is no overhead lighting i these rooms, so I'd imagine the switches give / turn off power to one of the outlets in the room, but as I said, I've tried plugging a light into each and every one and tried the switches, but have had no luck. The living room has a double switch, one turns an outside light on just fine, while the one beside it would be for inside, but does nothing. The rest of the switches in the house work just fine. Any ideas!??! Thanks.
ANSWER: Jason
Those switches are used to turn on half of a outlet usually the top.Shut the switches off and then test every outlet upper one and lower one.You should be able to find 1/2 that's dead then by operating the switch it should come on,If not open the covers and look to se if the switch has a red wire going out of it and then check the outlets for the same red. There are tabs on the hot side that need to be removed to make the switch work the outlet.
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: I found the red wire on the switch and on an outlet. It is connected at both pieces; however, the switch does nothing. The outlet has power at all times, both on the top and the bottom. This is also true for the rest of the rooms in question. The outlets all have power, but the switches don't work. Any other ideas?
Answer
Jason
The reason the switch does nothing is because the black wire is always hot so it won't allow the red wire on the switch to do anything.Like I said be for there are small tabs on the right side of the outlet connecting the top and the bottom outlet. You need to break this tab so it is separate from the top and bottom. Do not break the tabs on the white wires!I have attached a picture for you to see what I am talking about.
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