My light switch also controls my outlet below it. I have removed the switch from the box but left the wires intact and all I see is 2 black wires, 1 connected to each side and the remaining 2 white wires capped and in back of the box. How do I change this so I can turn off the light switch and the outlet remains hot?

Assuming you want the switch to do nothing, remove the 2 black wires from the switch and connect them together with a wire nut.

You can't do it with the wiring you have in the switch box if you want to turn a light on and off and have an outlet always hot.. You would need an additional hot wire. If the outlet is directly below the switch, you should be able to fish a 3 conductor wire, black, red and white, Then you could fishtail another hot and one neutral. You would break the connecting tab on the hot side on the outlet and only switch half with the other half being hot all the time. Are you comfortable pulling and connecting wire? With easy access, this is not a difficult job. It is against the code to just stuff a single loose wire down to the outlet.

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Originally Posted by hkstroud

Assuming you want the switch to do nothing, remove the 2 black wires from the switch and connect them together with a wire nut.

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First off thanks for the response. The switch and the outlet are not in the same box, the outlet is about 4-5 feet away from the switch. The switch controls the overhead light and also powers the outlet and I want the outlet hot at all times without the switch being on.

Remove outlet. Describe wiring there. May or may not be possible.

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Originally Posted by ma0641

You can't do it with the wiring you have in the switch box if you want to turn a light on and off and have an outlet always hot.. You would need an additional hot wire. If the outlet is directly below the switch, you should be able to fish a 3 conductor wire, black, red and white, Then you could fishtail another hot and one neutral.You would break the connecting tab on the hot side on the outlet and only switch half with the other half being hot. all the time. Are you comfortable pulling and connecting wire? With easy access, this is not a difficult job. It is against the code to just stuff a single loose wire down to the outlet.

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thanks for the response. The switch and outlet are not on the same box. The outlet is 4-5 feet away from the switch and as I said before there is 2 black wires, 1 from the light connected to one side of the switch and 1 from the outlet connected to the other side of the switch. The 2 white wires are capped and in the back and also 2 bare copper wires connected to screws on the box, assume those are the ground. I'm a novice with electricity so please advise on how to fix this.

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Originally Posted by Derek13

thanks for the response. The switch and outlet are not on the same box. The outlet is 4-5 feet away from the switch and as I said before there is 2 black wires, 1 from the light connected to one side of the switch and 1 from the outlet connected to the other side of the switch. The 2 white wires are capped and in the back and also 2 bare copper wires connected to screws on the box, assume those are the ground. I'm a novice with electricity so please advise on how to fix this.

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See my first post. You cannot do this as wired and need to rewire.