I want to replace and old Leviton attic light switch with a Leviton combo switch/outlet. The junction box has two Romex cables in and one out to the current light.
The two in have each a black wire going into to the push-in terminals of the switch and one black one connected to a side screw going to the light. Why would there be two romex cables with two black wires going into the switch? How would I install the combo switch with this wire config? The grounds are just wire nutted together (all three). Thanks for the help.
UPDATE:
Here is a better shot of the back of the old switch with some labels:
CORRECTION… New diagram here:
Based on the updated diagram above… Romex 1 from bottom of box has the shepherd's hook and was attached to the screw… Romex 2 from bottom of box was pushed-in to the bottom of switch… Romex 3 goes to the light through the top of the box from the push-in connection at the top of the switch.
And here is the switch I'm needing to install:
FINAL UPDATE… SUCCESS!!
Thanks to ThreePhaseEel (accepted answer) and Harper.
Best Answer
You're in luck!
The fact there are two cables here is a good thing, since it means neutral is available at this box. The wiring here goes as follows:
Once it's all wired up, you can then button things up, turn the power back on, and enjoy your new receptacle!
If you want a switched receptacle
If you want the receptacle to be controlled by the switch, the wiring is actually no harder than an always-hot receptacle. Simply keep the neutral and ground wiring the same, but swap the always-hot and the switched hot so that the always-hot pigtail goes to the brass screw on the switch end and the switched hot goes to one of the black screws.