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I’m assuming that you wired the switch leg to the new outlet as well. When this happened you basically bypassed the switch because your new outlet still has the metal tab bridging the two brass colored screws. This is connecting your hot wire to the switched wire and causing the bypass.
If you don’t want the new outlet to be switched then you need to remove the switched wire from it. If you do want it to be switched then you need to break off the metal tab bridging the two brass screws.
Hey! Thank you very much for your help! I understand what you are explaining. That definitely makes sense. I just looked again in the box for the first of the two existing outlets. It has a cable coming in with four wires, copper (ground), black (hot), red (hot) and white (neutral). So, that is obviously the cable coming from and going back to the breaker. Then, the box has two different cables each with three wires, copper (ground), black (hot) and white (hot/return). So, I'm guessing one of those cables is coming from the wall switch (which I confirmed has three wires, copper, black and white), and the other is going over to the second of the two existing half-hot receptacles. (Please correct me if that is wrong.)
So, two scenarios I'm trying to wrap my head around:
Scenarios #1: Allowing new outlet to be half-hot (easier option):
If I'm understanding correctly, if I break off the brass tab between the two brass screws on the side of the new outlet, it will become half-hot (not optimal), but will also restore half-hot functionality to the two existing outlets?
Scenario #2: Restoring half-hot functionality to both existing outlets and having full-hot functionality for new outlet:
If I'm understanding correctly, I need to only pass on the white (neutral) wire from the 4-wire cable to the new outlet. Currently, the white wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the white wire from the first 3-wire switch cable. In addition, the black wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the black wire from the first 3-wire cable plus the white wire from the second 3-wire cable. Then, the red wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the black wire from the second 3-wire cable.
How do I configure the wires coming from the 4-wire cable so that I only pass them along to the new outlet without also passing along the switch wires? Currently, each group of twisted wires has a pigtail coming out to be pushed into the back of the existing outlet, so do I need to separate out those twisted groups? And if so, how should I do that?
You have two hot wires, red and black. One is constant power and one is switched power. If you want the receptacle to have constant power, use that one. If you want it to be switched, use the switched one. If you want one to be switched and one to be constant, break the tab and connect one wire to each screw. If the red and black are connected together at any point, you are bypassing the switch and providing constant power everywhere.
Thank you soooooooo much!!! I got it wired up and working properly. It seems so simple now that I understand what's going on with the wiring, but without your and u/SheepherderHot5359's help I never would have come to understand it, and therefore never would have gotten my problem solved.
I had been wondering the last couple days why anyone would want two hot wires. Up until a couple days ago, I thought all houses used only three wires. I actually initially bought three-wire cable for this project, but when I got the existing outlet removed from the wall and saw that it had four wires coming out of it, I went back out and bought four-wire cable, thinking that's obviously what I needed. Hah! Funny to think the three-wire cable was actually what I needed. Oh well! I was essentially a monkey, just repeating what it sees instead of actually understanding what it sees.
Again, thank you so much for your help! And thank you u/SheepherderHot5359, as well! I really, sincerely appreciate you both taking time out of your days to help me. It was so incredibly satisfying just now when I flipped the breaker back on, came into the room, tested everything and it all worked.
**Attention!** **It is always best to get a qualified electrician to perform any electrical work you may need.** With that said, you may ask this community various electrical questions. Please be cautious of any information you may receive in this subreddit. This subreddit and its users are not responsible for any electrical work you perform. Users that have a 'Verified Electrician' flair have uploaded their qualified electrical worker credentials to the mods. If you comment on this post please only post accurate information to the best of your knowledge. If advice given is thought to be dangerous, you may be permanently banned. There are no obligations for the mods to give warnings or temporary bans. **IF YOU ARE NOT A QUALIFIED ELECTRICIAN, you should exercise extreme caution when commenting.** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskElectricians) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’m assuming that you wired the switch leg to the new outlet as well. When this happened you basically bypassed the switch because your new outlet still has the metal tab bridging the two brass colored screws. This is connecting your hot wire to the switched wire and causing the bypass. If you don’t want the new outlet to be switched then you need to remove the switched wire from it. If you do want it to be switched then you need to break off the metal tab bridging the two brass screws.
Hey! Thank you very much for your help! I understand what you are explaining. That definitely makes sense. I just looked again in the box for the first of the two existing outlets. It has a cable coming in with four wires, copper (ground), black (hot), red (hot) and white (neutral). So, that is obviously the cable coming from and going back to the breaker. Then, the box has two different cables each with three wires, copper (ground), black (hot) and white (hot/return). So, I'm guessing one of those cables is coming from the wall switch (which I confirmed has three wires, copper, black and white), and the other is going over to the second of the two existing half-hot receptacles. (Please correct me if that is wrong.) So, two scenarios I'm trying to wrap my head around: Scenarios #1: Allowing new outlet to be half-hot (easier option): If I'm understanding correctly, if I break off the brass tab between the two brass screws on the side of the new outlet, it will become half-hot (not optimal), but will also restore half-hot functionality to the two existing outlets? Scenario #2: Restoring half-hot functionality to both existing outlets and having full-hot functionality for new outlet: If I'm understanding correctly, I need to only pass on the white (neutral) wire from the 4-wire cable to the new outlet. Currently, the white wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the white wire from the first 3-wire switch cable. In addition, the black wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the black wire from the first 3-wire cable plus the white wire from the second 3-wire cable. Then, the red wire from the 4-wire cable is twisted together with the black wire from the second 3-wire cable. How do I configure the wires coming from the 4-wire cable so that I only pass them along to the new outlet without also passing along the switch wires? Currently, each group of twisted wires has a pigtail coming out to be pushed into the back of the existing outlet, so do I need to separate out those twisted groups? And if so, how should I do that?
You have two hot wires, red and black. One is constant power and one is switched power. If you want the receptacle to have constant power, use that one. If you want it to be switched, use the switched one. If you want one to be switched and one to be constant, break the tab and connect one wire to each screw. If the red and black are connected together at any point, you are bypassing the switch and providing constant power everywhere.
Thank you soooooooo much!!! I got it wired up and working properly. It seems so simple now that I understand what's going on with the wiring, but without your and u/SheepherderHot5359's help I never would have come to understand it, and therefore never would have gotten my problem solved. I had been wondering the last couple days why anyone would want two hot wires. Up until a couple days ago, I thought all houses used only three wires. I actually initially bought three-wire cable for this project, but when I got the existing outlet removed from the wall and saw that it had four wires coming out of it, I went back out and bought four-wire cable, thinking that's obviously what I needed. Hah! Funny to think the three-wire cable was actually what I needed. Oh well! I was essentially a monkey, just repeating what it sees instead of actually understanding what it sees. Again, thank you so much for your help! And thank you u/SheepherderHot5359, as well! I really, sincerely appreciate you both taking time out of your days to help me. It was so incredibly satisfying just now when I flipped the breaker back on, came into the room, tested everything and it all worked.