Electrical – Outlet appears to be switched but switches don’t work

electricalreceptacle

Hi all new to the Diy boards. If there's any more info I can post, I'm happy to.

I just purchased a house and have been replacing some outlets. A few of the existing ones had two red wires into the top outlet, two black wires into the bottom with a white neutral coming out of each. The tabs on the hot side are broken. Based on some googling, this seems to mean they are half-switched.

I wired my new outlets exactly the same, including the broken tab. The outlets all work fine but don't seem to be attached to the switch. There are two switches that don't appear to do anything. These outlets could be attached to either, both, or neither. I am unable to tell. I did not think to confirm before starting that the switches worked. However my wiring is identical so I doubt they did.

Did I do something wrong in the wiring? I appreciate any advice you can give.

Best Answer

If a single outlet tab is left intact on series of 1/2 switched outlets, it will prevent the switched outlets from working correctly. (The switched half outlets will also be always on also.)