electricalswitchwiring
I am looking to "close" a light switch that controls an outlet so the circuit is always on. What wires do I need to connect?
There are two black wires and one red wire connected to the switch, with two white wires tied together. Here is a pic of the switch:
Here is a pic of the outlet it controls:
Based on what you've shown, you should be able to wire it up like this...
However, those red Wing-Nut® twist-on wire connectors are only rated for a maximum of 6 #14 conductors. So you'll have to split up the neutrals in to two groups, and connect the groups with a pigtail between them.
Assuming this is the setup you have described:
You will need to pull a new 12/3 cable to your new 3-way switch. You will also have to replace your existing switch with a 3-way switch. Your wiring setup will look like this:
Because your lighting circuit's power is supplied by a conductor in a 12/3 cable, the figures above were modified as follows:
POWER SOURCE / 2-Wire Romex with Ground (i.e. 12-2) - I modified these to show your 12/3 wire with your RED supplying the power to your lighting circuit (since you described the BLACK in your 12/3 as being spliced into a bunch of other black conductors). From here, everything else should be one-to-one.
Best Answer
You can't eliminate the only switch
Both the electrical and building codes require that every habitable room have a light switch in the usual place, and that it operate a light. (or, in the alternate, because of builder demands, a receptacle into which you might plug in a light).
Builders prefer to give you switched receptacles, because it is cheaper for them to build that. Putting in a proper ceiling light is probably the #1 modification people do to home electrical.
If you were doing that, and connecting it to this switch, that would be copacetic.
However, I gather you want an unswitched outlet there so you can plug in other stuff. You are OK with simply groping in the dark for a floor lamp (since you know how to do that) and turning it on from there. However, that is a code violation.
You can split the difference (er, receptacle)
You can make one socket switched and the other always-on. Receps are designed to do this, and the wire in your walls supports this.
Your switch and outlet wiring actually brings always-hot along; wires aren't normally color coded like this but your wires happen to be, and red is switched-hot and black is always-hot in both boxes.
You see in between the screws is a little "tab". You can bend back and forth and break off the tab on the "brass" hot side (not the silver neutral side). Then you can put a short black pigtail wire from that screw (now isolated) to the wire nut of black wires in the back of the box. Now you will have one recep socket switched and the other not. You can plug in normal things into the unswitched, and still have a lamp on the switched.
Alternately, you can hardwire a ceiling light either from this receptacle or from the switch box, whichever you find more convenient.