Rewiring an outlet connected to a light switch

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Manths

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Hi! I have looked online for an answer to this but it doesn't seem like any answer really addresses my issue.

I have a bedroom light switch connected to an oulet. I replaced the switch a couple years ago and it I was still able to turn a night stand lamp off and on with the switch until I tried replace the outlet last year. The old outlet was 30 years old so I couldn't match the wiring configuration to the new outlet - they looked totally different. Here is what the outlet has box has:

-1 black wire
-1 white wire
-1 red wire
-1 ground wire

I tried every configuration I could come up with to no avail! Can anyone tell me what the configuration is? I would SO appreciate it! :)
 
I could guess at what you have, but it would be just that: a guess. Not what you want to base your home wiring on. I would advise you to find a friend that has a voltmeter and a little experience to help out.
 
Drywall has a very good point. We can only guess as to what is going on. I speculate that this outlet had the bridge removed and one plug was switched and the other was constant and both sharing the same neutral. The only valid combinations would be black/white/ground or red/white/ground. What color wires do you have in the switch box? Can you test for voltage on the above mentioned wiring combinations with & without the switch on?
 
Did you break the tab off between the gold coloured screws? The receptacle was only half switched. The black and red are the two power sources. One is always hot. The other one is the switched line. You need to break the tab so the hot one does not keep the switched one on.
The connect the black and red to the two gold screws. Connect the white to one of the silver screws. Leave the tab on the silver alone.
 
Thanks Joe D! I had read about breaking off the tab on other blogs but I am not quite sure what that means. On the outlet I have, there is a black rubber piece that sits in between the 2 screws - I thought that was what I was supposed to pull out but I couldn't get it out. Then there is a gold tab that sticks out but it is really small and hard to break off. Is that what I am trying to break off? Do I just need to use needle nose pliers to be able to grab that piece? I just didn't know if it should be that difficult. Thanks again!
 
Thanks - this info. is helpful as well! I will ask around and see if can find someone with a voltmeter to test the voltage.
 
Thank you bud16415! This is exactly what I needed to see!
 
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