I noticed two switched outlets on one wall were not working. (I am assuming the outlets are switched because the receptacles both have their tabs removed and I have located a switch on the wall that does 'nothing'). The bottom half of the outlets are working fine in both cases.
Now the wiring I encountered is confusing and I will try to represent it as clear as possible and get some suggestions before I attempt any other work.
Outlet 1 has 2 4-wire cables coming into the box. The 2 black wires are each individually connected to the copper side. The 2 red wires are connected to the top silver screws and the 2 white wires are connected to the bottom silver screws. Ground wire in place. The tab is broken on the silver connector side. Using a Fluke VoltAlert both black and red wires are ringing hot regardless of switch position.
Outlet 2 has 1 4-wire cable and 1 3-wire cable coming into the box. The 2 black wires are connected to the bottom copper screw. 1 red wire is connected to the top copper screw. The 2 white wires are individually connected to the silver screws. Ground wire in place. Rings hot on black wires only regardless of switch position. Tab is removed between copper screws.
Now the switch itself has one black wire at the top screw and one red wire connected to the bottom screw. Black is always hot while red is hot only in 'on' position.
Where do I start? Thx.