mjf
Senior Member
Guess why the switched 1/2 of the receptacle was constant hot.
Troubleshoot
- Thread starter mjf
- Start date
- Status
MichaelGP3
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco bay area
- Occupation
- Fire Alarm Technician
Becuase whoever was there first switched the neutral.
MichaelGP3
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco bay area
- Occupation
- Fire Alarm Technician
What did I win?
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
Switch fused/welded closed?
Cow
Senior Member
- Location
- Eastern Oregon
- Occupation
- Electrician
They didn't break the tab.
mjf
Senior Member
Hint 1 - It was all correctly wired.
Hint 2 - The switch worked correctly.
Hint 3 - The tabs were gone from all 3 receptacles involved.
Kinda narrows it down to just about nothing, right?
Hint 2 - The switch worked correctly.
Hint 3 - The tabs were gone from all 3 receptacles involved.
Kinda narrows it down to just about nothing, right?
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
Was something external to the circuit involved? A possible screwy backfeed situation....
mjf
Senior Member
mjf
Senior Member
I'll tell what I found at 7:45 EST if no one guesses.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
Like a two-120 to one-240 convertor with one side plugged into the switched receptacle?
So mjf, are you saying that the single switch was wired to three separate switched halves of duplex receptacles?
One receptacle with an internal defect could power all three.
Were tabs removed on the neutral side too?
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
mjf
Senior Member
when I opened up the 3rd of 3 receptacle boxes that APPEARED to be the case, but after installing 3 new receptacles, a new switch and reinstalling the cover plates.......still constant power on the switched and unswitched halves of all 3 receptacles!!
mjf
Senior Member
Nothing plugged into the circuit.
Yes, power originated in the switchbox and a 3 wire (correctly wired) runs from the switch to rec #1 to rec #2 to rec #3.
Pigtails (where applicable) for all neutrals, so, no neutral tabs were broken.
- Location
- Placerville, CA, USA
- Occupation
- Retired PV System Designer
Methodical troubleshooting would lead me to ohm out the unpowered circuit while removing receptacles.
If the connection to hot remained on the switched wire side with all receptacles removed, that leaves the wire.
Damaged three plus ground NM?
If the connection to hot remained on the switched wire side with all receptacles removed, that leaves the wire.
Damaged three plus ground NM?
mjf
Senior Member
7:45 on my clock
The dang nam long a$$ screws that came with the fancy-schmansy cover plates were the culprit. They were somehow internally connecting the top and bottom halves of the duplexes.
When I finally found out, I cut the screws shorter, installed 3 more new receptacles (incase the ones I'd just installed were damaged) and PRESTO!!!
Just figured I'd share incase one of you runs across something similar you might save some time.
These were standard duplexes (single center screw) not decora style and the cover plate screws were about 1 inch long. I cut them down to about 1/2 inch and all is well.
Additional info: Of course, it's a spare room and the homeowners had no clue how many of the receptacles were supposed to work off of the switch or when they stopped working properly.
The dang nam long a$$ screws that came with the fancy-schmansy cover plates were the culprit. They were somehow internally connecting the top and bottom halves of the duplexes.
When I finally found out, I cut the screws shorter, installed 3 more new receptacles (incase the ones I'd just installed were damaged) and PRESTO!!!
Just figured I'd share incase one of you runs across something similar you might save some time.
These were standard duplexes (single center screw) not decora style and the cover plate screws were about 1 inch long. I cut them down to about 1/2 inch and all is well.
Additional info: Of course, it's a spare room and the homeowners had no clue how many of the receptacles were supposed to work off of the switch or when they stopped working properly.
Last edited:
jumper
Senior Member
- Location
- 3 Hr 2 Min from Winged Horses
7:52PM......
Edit: MJF needs a new clock.
Edit: MJF needs a new clock.
mjf
Senior Member
7:52PM......
Edit: MJF needs a new clock.
Or speed typing lessons!!
Wow, it took me 6 minutes to type those couple of sentences.....I should have pre-typed!!!
John120/240
Senior Member
- Location
- Olathe, Kansas
mjf
Senior Member
It must have been 120v hot. I've never tested a cover plate screw for voltage and didn't this time either.
After exhausting all other possibilities with no power to the circuit I checked for continuity in the switch box between the black and red from the 3 wire cable. I started at each receptacle. first just removing the cover plate, checking, then the screws holding the device to the box, check again.
As soon as I removed the 3rd cover plate screw continuity was gone.
- Status