electrical
I have a combo switch outlet that has one hot outlet and the switch controls a floodlight over my pool.
I want to add a duplex outlet further down my patio to be able to plug in my aerator pump and ceiling heat lamp. This outlet needs to be hot and not affected by the switch.
A diagram would really be helpful also. Thank you, Harr.
If you want to have power always on to a box that is downstream of a switch, you'll need to use 3-conductor cable between the switch and split the hot side of the outlet.
At the outlet, break off the tab on the hot side only between the top and bottom outlet. Wire the red conductor to one of the hot screws, the black conductor to the other one, and then the white to the other side of the outlet.
At the switch/outlet, you'll need to wire the incoming black wire to one of the hot screws, and the outgoing black wire (to the 3 condutor cable) to the other hot screw. The outgoing red wire (the one controlled by the switch) goes on the neutral side of the switch, and the incoming white wire gets wire-nutted together to the neutral side of the outlet along with the outgoing white wire (from the 3 conductor cable)
Be sure to ground all outlets and switches as well.
With this setup the bottom outlet on the second receptacle, and the outlet on the combo device will always be hot. The top outlet on the second receptacle, will be controlled by the switch.
The reference to a switch loop in the related question describes a pair of wires that are both hot or live. The white wire is serving as a black and should have a black marking or tape on it. The switch is serving as a break in the hot line.
Every operating device (like a fan or lamp) in standard wiring needs a hot line and a neutral line, and usually a ground, although that is not strictly necessary in all circumstances. In the wiring described in the other question, there was no neutral running through the switch box, but there had to be a neutral connected to the device itself, in the box that the fixture was attached to. The neutral wire is never switched, so only the hot lead was routed to the switch loop. Modern code requires that new switch circuits also have a neutral present, since some newer switch devices need a neutral to function.
Your situation may be different. On your circuit, one of the three boxes is closest (electrically) to the main panel. There is a live circuit line running either to one of the outlets or to the switch box. In either case the outlets you describe must have a neutral wire present as well as a hot wire.
If you want the fan to be switched on and off by the same switch as the outlets, you can simply add a wire from either outlet box to the fan location and connect all wires in parallel (black/white/ground).
If you want a separate switch for the fan, you need to tap into the power where the live circuit comes in to the room. It may be either of the outlets or it may be the switch box (if there is a neutral in that box). You need to tap into the unswitched hot, run that hot to a new switch and connect the neutral and ground in parallel. Then run the full cable from the new switch to the fan.
If you want to use separate hard wired switches for fan and light, run 14/3 from a switch box fed by the always hot line, using the two hots separately for the two features.
An alternative if you want separate switching is to run a full cable (14/2 or 12/2) directly to the fan from the box that has an unswitched hot. Use a fan that has a hand-held or wall mounted remote and wire the fan as always hot (no line switch). Then the remote controls whether power is going to the fan. This also simplifies installing a fan/light combination.
As to your other outlets, white wires are generally not hot unless used to connect to switches and should be so marked. Most white wires are neutral. You can test your outlets for correct wiring with a plug-in tester like this one.
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If the tester reveals miswiring, you should consider calling in a pro. It also sounds as if you are not too familiar with wiring in general, so you may want to enlist the help of someone with a bit more experience until you become more confident. In any event be sure to turn of the circuit breakers before opening any box and confirm wire are not live with a non-contact tester like this one
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Best Answer
You simply need to tap off the wiring for the existing outlet using pigtails (short pieces of wire of the same weight and color).
Run a new 14/2 cable from the combo box to the new outlet location. Remove the hot lead (probably black) from the side of the existing outlet. Connect that lead to the black of the new cable and to the black pigtail using a wire nut or a push-in connector. Attach the other end of the black pigtail back on the hot terminal of the combo outlet.
If the hot wire to the combo outlet is already connected through a wire nut, you just have to add the new black to that bundle and reattach the wire nut (or a bigger one if necessary), no new pigtail needed.
Do the same for the neutral (white) wires. White to white.
Connect all ground wires (bare or green).