[seannymurrs]

My wife's closet/dressing room has a switch/outlet combination unit on the wall. Today I decided to replace the current unit with a GFCI outlet/switch unit. Upon turning off the power and removing the old switch I became confused. There is only one standard 3 wire romex line running into the box. Looking at the picture of the old switch below, the white wire was connected to the top left terminal, the black wire was connected to the terminal directly below the white one, and the bare wire (ground) was connected to the terminal by itself at the bottom right. I'm really confused what the original electrician did here. I'm also including a picture of the back of the new switch, so if you can provide some suggestions on how to wire it I would be eternally grateful.

 

[Jim Port]

I can tell you that the 2 blacks are on the wrong side of the GFI. You have them where the neutral or white should connect. You also have them on the terminals that go to other devices downstream that need GFI protection. Where is the white wire?

 

[seannymurrs]

I can tell you that the 2 blacks are on the wrong side of the GFI. You have them where the neutral or white should connect. You also have them on the terminals that go to other devices downstream that need GFI protection. Where is the white wire?

I'm confused by what you mean, as I haven't done any wiring yet and just posted pictures of the backs of the two outlets. The top picture is of the old outlet, and the bottom is of the new one. On the new outlet the two permanently connected black wires are for controlling the switch portion of the unit. I just took my little non-contact voltage tester and checked the wires, and it seems as if the white wire is hot in this box. I'm pretty sure the black is supposed to be the hot, so I'm guessing whoever wired this switch originally mixed things up somewhere.

 

[eastcoastsparky]

I'm confused by what you mean, as I haven't done any wiring yet and just posted pictures of the backs of the two outlets. The top picture is of the old outlet, and the bottom is of the new one. On the new outlet the two permanently connected black wires are for controlling the switch portion of the unit. I just took my little non-contact voltage tester and checked the wires, and it seems as if the white wire is hot in this box. I'm pretty sure the black is supposed to be the hot, so I'm guessing whoever wired this switch originally mixed things up somewhere.

Sounds like a switch loop which now violates code to have a nuetral at every switch location which u probably dont, can u take a pic of the switch box itself so we can see the wires

 

[seannymurrs]

Sounds like a switch loop which now violates code to have a nuetral at every switch location which u probably dont, can u take a pic of the switch box itself so we can see the wires

Kind of hard to see, but it's just a standard 3-wire romex cable.

 

[eastcoastsparky]

Kind of hard to see, but it's just a standard 3-wire romex cable.

Thats actually two wire romex, three wire eould have black, red, white, ground, anyway do u havd a meter measure white to ground and see wat u get then we'll go from there

 

[seannymurrs]

Thats actually two wire romex, three wire eould have black, red, white, ground, anyway do u havd a meter measure white to ground and see wat u get then we'll go from there

I do not have a meter measure. All I have is a non-contact voltage meter. When the power is turned on the white wire sets off the meter and the ground and black do nothing.

 

[rjniles]

The bare ground wire was used as a switched hot leg to the light. Totally non-compliant and dangerous. You should get an electricain in to rewire that circuit properly

 

[eastcoastsparky]

I do not have a meter measure. All I have is a non-contact voltage meter. When the power is turned on the white wire sets off the meter and the ground and black do nothing.

Sounds like a switch loop where the feed enters the light first then comes back to switch, on the previous switch outlet set up did the outlet ever work, bc u dont have a nuetral

 

[seannymurrs]

Sounds like a switch loop where the feed enters the light first then comes back to switch, on the previous switch outlet set up did the outlet ever work, bc u dont have a nuetral

Yes, the outlet worked fine. Unfortunately a lot of what you're saying is going over my head, as I have very little experience with electrical work.

 

[eastcoastsparky]

Yes, the outlet worked fine. Unfortunately a lot of what you're saying is going over my head, as I have very little experience with electrical work.

Just from u saying that i recommend getting a liscenced electrician, if they are using the bare ground as switch leg u have a dangerous situation, if u set it back up the way it was ur most likely going to dead short against that metal box. So get an ELECTRICIAN asap

 

[mpoulton]

You say that the bare ground wire was originally connected to the bottom right terminal in your picture. You mean the gold screw, not the green one, right? If so, then they were using the ground wire as the neutral return for the receptacle. The white wire was being used as a switch leg for the light. You cannot install a receptacle in that box without rewiring.

 

[seannymurrs]

And just to clarify, putting the old switch back how I found it would be dangerous as well?

 

[eastcoastsparky]

And just to clarify, putting the old switch back how I found it would be dangerous as well?

Its possible with that bare switch leg or nuetral, without a meter cant tell what, you probably stuff the box while putting it back and that bare wire could come in contact with metal box

Sent from my iPhone using DIY Forum

 

[mpoulton]

And just to clarify, putting the old switch back how I found it would be dangerous as well?

Yes. It was a dangerous installation and far from code compliant. That box was wired for a regular switch, not a switch and receptacle.

 

[mpoulton]

Its possible with that bare switch leg or nuetral, without a meter cant tell what, you probably stuff the box while putting it back and that bare wire could come in contact with metal box

The ground was used as the neutral for the receptacle (see his description of the wiring in the original post). The box looks plastic to me.

 

[Stubbie]

The ground was used as the neutral for the receptacle (see his description of the wiring in the original post). The box looks plastic to me.

Yep .... x2

 

[seannymurrs]

The ground was used as the neutral for the receptacle (see his description of the wiring in the original post). The box looks plastic to me.

It is a plastic box.

 

[rrolleston]

Someone rewired that so they could have a receptacle. If you want to have a receptacle there you will need to fish 12-3 or 14-3 whatever gauge is there currently. Probably easier to have it put back to a switch leg the way it was originally and leave it alone.

 

[operagost]

I do not have a meter measure. All I have is a non-contact voltage meter. When the power is turned on the white wire sets off the meter and the ground and black do nothing.

This is why punctuation, spelling and syntax are important, folks. They're not just something your grade school teachers thought of to annoy you.

Thats actually two wire romex, three wire eould have black, red, white, ground, anyway do u havd a meter measure white to ground and see wat u get then we'll go from there

Should have been:

That's actually two wire Romex. "Three wire" would have black, red, white, and ground. Anyway, do you have a meter? Measure white to ground and see what you get. We'll go from there.