How do I wire this?

[ivwshane]

I'm adding the electrical components to my workbench and I'm a little confused.

Basically I want a switch to control one duplex receptacle, power will be coming in from the outside into a box with two receptacles that I don't want controlled by the switch.

From the switch I know that I will connect BL to C and W (coded for hot) to D and G to the ground terminal. At the switched receptacle I believe I wire it as; W (coded for hot) to P then to C, BL to D but how do I continue to the other two receptacles?

I've included a picture to help me visualize what needs to be done and to make it easier to write out the instructions for those that reply.

Thanks

[Bill in Buena Park]

If you don't want the switch in the circuit for the 2-gang receptacles, you may consider hard-wiring them first (hot to hot terminal, neutral to neutral terminal, ground to ground terminal), then:
1. Lead from their hot terminal to the switch hot (brass) terminal
2. Outgoing hot terminal of switch hot-coded to 1-gang receptacle hot terminal
3. Return-lead from receptacle neutral terminal back to the neutral terminal on the 2-gang, all with grounds connected to appropriate ground terminals.

Loring - can you check my math on this?

[cabinetman]

The drawing for the switch represents the switch interrupting the hot line. The in/out connection could be on the same side or opposite sides. More than likely on the same side of the switch. On the drawing for the duplexes on the incoming side, the wire from the right side of "B" does not connect to the left side of "D", but rather at the right side of "D" (drawing looks like it does).
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[Black wallnut]

As C-man edited your image with A to A being black and C to A being white marked black, so the switch opens and closes the hot side of the outlet. I might wire through the ganged outlets but I would pigtail to the first one and the line out to other outlet.

Why do you want a switched outlet fed by a ganged outlet? Just curious.

[ivwshane]

Thanks guys, I'll have a look once I get everything together to make sure I understand what you are saying.

As C-man edited your image with A to A being black and C to A being white marked black, so the switch opens and closes the hot side of the outlet. I might wire through the ganged outlets but I would pigtail to the first one and the line out to other outlet.

Why do you want a switched outlet fed by a ganged outlet? Just curious.

The switch and the corresponding outlet are in a cubby on the workbench where as the double ganged outlet is mounted on the side of the bench making it easier to be plugged into an outlet from the house.

[Stytooner]

This is how I would do it.
Just a bit different than Cman's. You will need to check the switch to make sure it is switching the hot lead.

[woodturner]

This is how I would do it.

+1 that's how I would do it as well.

A comment on Black Wallnut's comment - NEC allows a white wire to be used as a hot or black wire under specific circumstances, and this is one of those.

You can used NM-B three conductor cable to wire the switch, four conductor cable is not required. The white "return" wire can be used as the switched hot but should be colored black. Electricans often do this by drawing stripes just on the end with a Sharpie - and this meets code. Personally, I like to wrap the entire exposed wire with black electrical tape on both ends, so that it's clearly and obviously black.

[chopnhack]

Electricans often do this by drawing stripes just on the end with a Sharpie - and this meets code. Personally, I like to wrap the entire exposed wire with black electrical tape on both ends, so that it's clearly and obviously black.

Agreed, I too like to wrap the length when allowed by code, but I don't find it to be necessarily clean... I have used good quality 3M electrical tape before, but in some instances, especially in higher temp. applications, the surface of the tape gets cruddy from the adhesive.

[ivwshane]

This is how I would do it.
Just a bit different than Cman's. You will need to check the switch to make sure it is switching the hot lead.

Thanks! This is how I thought it would be wired but I wasnt sure about the double receptacle.

I plan on using a sharpie to code the white for hot because this cabinet will see many temps and it gets pretty hot in my garage sometimes (summer + hot car) and in my experience electric tape tends to get gooey.

[woodturner]

I have used good quality 3M electrical tape before, but in some instances, especially in higher temp. applications, the surface of the tape gets cruddy from the adhesive.

Good point - up here in the "frozen north", we usually don't have the heat issues. If I lived in a warmer area, I'd opt for the coloring instead of taping, too.

[BigguyZ]

Are you using Romex between the boxes for the workbench? If so, that's not to code. anything exposed would need to be in conduit or be run with MC or BX cable. It's simple enough to work with, and if you accidently bang a tool against it it won't (easily) damage it.

[Stytooner]

I was thinking he was pulling wire in a conduit. You don't have a color issue if you pull the wire in conduit.

[JimD]

It's easier for me to visualize if I leave out the wire from the unswitched outlet to the switched outlet. I understand how you can wire that way and have the white serve as the hot coming back from the switched but if the physical layout is OK, why not just run from the unswitched outlet to the switch and back to the switched outlet? Then you you are only running hot wires as black wires, not white colored black where if the mark comes off it is a little dangerous.

In other words, just wire up the unswitched outlet, run all three conductors to the switch but only break the hot wire, and then run the switched hot, neutral and ground to the switched outlet.

I don't see how running wire from unswitched to switched outlet directly gets you anything other than confusion.

Jim

[woodturner]

In other words, just wire up the unswitched outlet, run all three conductors to the switch but only break the hot wire, and then run the switched hot, neutral and ground to the switched outlet.

I don't see how running wire from unswitched to switched outlet directly gets you anything other than confusion.

Nothing wrong with doing it as you describe. Other than (slightly) higher cost for wire, the only issue I see is box fill limits. As long as he is within the fill limits on the boxes, that would be fine. As a guideline, the smaller "handi boxes" would be too small, but square deep metal boxes or the deeper plastic boxes should be fine.

[ivwshane]

I was going to use 12/2 mc cable and metal boxes, 4" for the double and a 4"x2"x1 7/8" for the switch and single receptacle.

Is that enough room?