Need help with an outlet/switch setup

Ghengis

Hi folks,
I recently bought a new house and the person who lived here before did a lot of updating. Unfortunately, in one room it looks like he updated all of the outlets and lightswitch, but the switch doesn't seem to control any of the outlet plugs.

I noticed that the bridge connecting the brass screws is in place on all the outlets, so I suspect this is the problem. However, I have no idea how to find out which outlet the switch is wired to, and I don't want to remove the bridges at random because I don't know if this will cause problems.

Is there any way to figure out which outlet this switch is connected to? Here is a rundown of what I see:

In the switch box: There are 3 white wires pigtailed together. There are 3 black wires pigtailed together, and two parts of the black wire are plugged into the brass screws on the switch.

Outlet #1: There are two black wires and two white wires in the box. All four wires are attached to a respective screw on the outlet (black to brass, white to silver) and are connected in a crisscross pattern (ie one black/white group goes to the top of one outlet and the bottom of the other).

Outlet #2 (On the wall with the switch): There is one black and one white wire in the box. Each is connected to a screw on the outlet (black to brass, white to silver).

Outlet #3: There is one black and one white wire in the box. Each is connected to a screw on the outlet (black to brass, white to silver) and are connected in a crisscross pattern (ie one black/white group goes to the top of one outlet and the bottom of the other).

Any advice is appreciated. I anticipate the problem is as simple as removing the bridge on the correct outlet, but I am not sure and I don't know which outlet.

Thank you.

kbsparky

I suspect 2 things:

1. The wall switch is improperly wired. Since all 3 black wires are connected together, and also connected to both switch terminals, the wall switch is essentially useless and not part of any circuit.
2. The outlet closest to the wall switch is most likely wired from the wall switch box. You will have to take apart the black wires inside of the wall switch box, separating them one at a time from the wirenut to determine which one feeds to that receptacle.

When you find which wire goes to that outlet, connect that wire and only that conductor to one of the brass terminals on the wall switch. Leave the other 2 black wires, together with one of the pigtails connected to the other brass terminal on the wall switch for proper operation of the switch.

Be sure to disconnect power to that circuit before handling those hot wires! Can't emphasize this enough ...