Removing an outlet from a switch (light connected) with unfamiliar wiring.

Amped1111 · Dec 30, 2020

Hello,

I'm knew to electrical work but I feel comfortable doing some beginner, easy work. There's actually 2 bathrooms in our house that have the outlets and lights controlled by one switch. I can only speak to one bathroom setup so far.

Bathroom1: One switch that controls the light and one outlet. The switch has only 1 black and 1 white wire attached to it (12 gauge). The outlet has 1 black, 1 white, and 1 ground (14 gauge). The outlet is ungrounded and so far this is the only outlet with a ground wire and 14 gauge wires in the whole house. I believe the previous owner added this in when he was doing some remodeling in that bathroom.
Q1: Is it a problem to have the 14 gauge wire on the 20 amp circuit (with a 15 amp duplex receptacle)?
Q2: Is it a problem to attach the ground wire to the ground screw even though there is no ground in the outlet?
Q3: Is it possible to make the outlet so it's always hot and not connected to the switch without tearing apart the wall (I have not looked at the wiring in the light fixture yet)? All the solutions I've read involve more wiring than what I have (multiple hot wires).

House was built in 1958, 20 amp circuit with the rest of the house (from what I've seen) having 12 gauge wire, and only hot and neutral wires in each outlet. All outlets are unground. I've been adding in some GFCI and AFCI outlets where recommended.

Thanks for your responses!

Megawatt · Jan 1, 2021

Amped1111 said:
Hello,

I'm knew to electrical work but I feel comfortable doing some beginner, easy work. There's actually 2 bathrooms in our house that have the outlets and lights controlled by one switch. I can only speak to one bathroom setup so far.

Bathroom1: One switch that controls the light and one outlet. The switch has only 1 black and 1 white wire attached to it (12 gauge). The outlet has 1 black, 1 white, and 1 ground (14 gauge). The outlet is ungrounded and so far this is the only outlet with a ground wire and 14 gauge wires in the whole house. I believe the previous owner added this in when he was doing some remodeling in that bathroom.
Q1: Is it a problem to have the 14 gauge wire on the 20 amp circuit (with a 15 amp duplex receptacle)?
Q2: Is it a problem to attach the ground wire to the ground screw even though there is no ground in the outlet?
Q3: Is it possible to make the outlet so it's always hot and not connected to the switch without tearing apart the wall (I have not looked at the wiring in the light fixture yet)? All the solutions I've read involve more wiring than what I have (multiple hot wires).

House was built in 1958, 20 amp circuit with the rest of the house (from what I've seen) having 12 gauge wire, and only hot and neutral wires in each outlet. All outlets are unground. I've been adding in some GFCI and AFCI outlets where recommended.

Thanks for your responses!

To start with you said that you have a black, white and ground in the switch so excuse me but I’m confused about you stating that you have no grounds. No it’s not alright to put 14 gage wire on a 20 amp circuit they should be on 15 amp breakers. On your question on making the receptacle hot all the time you can take the wires in the switch loose and you should have at least 3 cables in your switch box with 1 cable being your live cable and you have a cable that goes up to your light and the last cable should be your receptacle which should be a GFCI receptacle. Tie the black wire coming from the receptacle and tie the black wire in with the Constance live wire. Please turn off the power to the bathroom you are working on since you are not an electrician which you probably need to help you with this. You will need a meter or at least a non contact wand which you can purchase at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Be careful and stay safe