Wiring Issues --

Feb 11, 2006 2 Replies

I have an old house. The previous owner redid the attic into a bedroom.



He has a Switch at the bottom of the stairs, it runs to the attic, the to an outlet.



This switch controls a Fan, and top outlets of two wall outlets, then passes power on to the bottom outlets always hot.



I want to install another switch. I have 12/3 wiring.



does this make sense?



Switch - 12/3 wiring - Fan - Top Outlets Power through switch not controlling rest of circuit.



Does't make sense to me, I'm lost.



Abraham



from buffalo ny: the source of the power isn't the switch if the switchbox has only two wires, they may be just opening the hot circuit. the hot attic outlets may be separately fed unless there are more working wires in the switchbox. the outlet bottoms have constant unswitched power suggests that the link between the upper and lower of the duplex outlets has been separated to allow you to turn a lamp on or off separately from a constantly powered device like a clock radio. who: you and a neighbor with a flashlight and a voltmeter and basic tools what: do you want to control with another switch? where: does the new switch need to be located? when: you turn on/off the switch will it be a 3-way switch setup for the existing outlets to be controlled from the top of the stairs for example? why: what wattage device do you plan to control will determine what wiring or parts are required. how: see pictures at:

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basic info at:
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ask us for more info if you get stuck. read up on 3 way switched, 4 way switched circuits.

select the electrical project and see the helpful illustration at:

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