I have a light switch connected to a split outlet (one always hot, other controlled by light switch) that appears not to work when the switch is grounded. To be clear, the switch no longer routes power, and the always hot half of the outlet remains working.
I came about this as I was replacing the outlets and switches in my livingroom. I first replaced the outlet as a split outlet, and confirmed that replacement was correct before moving on. Next I went to replace the switch.
The switch is single pole and has 2 wires coming in to it (one black one red). I am assuming the black is hot, and I believe the red goes to the split outlet (I saw a red wire there earlier). The first thing I noticed as odd is that there was a taped off green ground wire in the box.
I decided to untape and attach the ground wire to the switch. The switch does not work.
I unground the switch (but not yet screwed to the box) and the switch operated the outlet just fine.
I screw the switch into the box (I'm assuming it gets grounded by the box), and the switch no longer works.
Any guesses what might be going on?
Best Answer
turns out the problem was with the switch, there was a bad contact with the switch on once seated. I replaced the switch and everything worked as expected