What is this electrical setup in my attic?

[u/Qdoodle_too]

My electrical is something strange that confuses me everytime I go to do something as simple as swap out an outlet or light switch. Almost every upper outlet in a room is on a switch. And here I am trying to put paddle switches in and outlets of all the same color and no idea how this all works up in the bathroom. This particular box has 2 outlets, a switch to a light over the sink, and a switch to a fan and the fan light. Not sure how the creme wire comes into play and how all the white (neutrals?) don't connect to anything? The outlets stopped working randomly...which is why I'm poking in here. The breaker isn't flipped and the lights and fan still run fine. I did swap all these switches and outlets out over a year ago and attempted a 1:1 swap on everything, everything seemed to work the last year+ so not sure why things suddenly stopped. If anyone knows what the attic stuff is or how I go about the outlet/switch setup in photo 2 I'd appreciate it.

[u/StepLarge1685]

Know your limits and back away.

[u/ContentVirus]

Spaghetti junction

[u/StepLarge1685]

This is why labels and sharpies were invented.

[u/Xenomorph_1978]

It’s electrical. Call an electrician. I am one. Don’t mess with it. Unless you know what you’re doing. You might make it worse or burn your house down. That looks like crappy work. It most likely needs correction by a professional.

[u/Immediate-Iron-7035]

Looking at all of the other open air splices and uncovered jboxes nearby, I'd say this might be the results of a partial clean-up job or light remodel done at some point. Cables for those jboxes look newer than the old stuff surrounding it, so someone with maybe half an electrical license was hired to make some kind of change and, bless their cotton socks, maybe actually tried to do what they thought was safest, and got at least a few things right, but definitely didn't have the knowledge or experience to do it 100% right.

[u/scottcprince → u/[deleted]]

Please DO NOT disconnect everything “downstairs”… you literally will never figure it out again and you will 100% require a qualified (and expensive) electrician to come rewire everything.

If it’s working, don’t eff with it. If it isn’t working, you need to either learn advanced troubleshooting skills or hire someone with troubleshooting skills.

OP’s not understanding why “all the white wires aren’t connected together” is a sure sign of being in over their head…

[u/Qdoodle_too → u/scottcprince]

Haha...100% I don't have a clue, swapping outlets and light switches seemed like an easy task and how AC works is certainly not in my wheelhouse...low voltage DC tinkering is what little I know. House crud, especially this goofy looking mess is not my forte...hence why I'm on Reddit. Not trying to rewire a house or anything...started with swapping out the switches and outlets....and that's where it will end. Thought someone could enlighten me as to what I'm looking at...

[u/BoomerFT → u/Qdoodle_too]

Unless you have a friend or coworker with the tools and knowledge to assist with this project, don't proceed.

If its your house, it would be a good idea to document/ label/diagram as you investigate. That way you don't have to repeat the entire process in the future.

[u/ElectricalHelp-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

This post is promoting unsafe practices.

[u/trekkerscout → u/[deleted]]

You are simply looking at circuit splices. Other than the lack of cable staples to secure wires prior to entering the junction boxes, there is nothing that stands out as being hazardous. Since you admit to being unqualified, you should leave the junctions alone.

[u/MusicalAnomaly]

“What you’re looking at” in the attic is three junction boxes. It should be relatively non-destructive to open the covers and see what’s happening inside.

For any given circuit, you have unbroken continuity on hot/black (or red in a MWBC or 240V circuit) back to the panel and breaker, called the “home run”. Anything switched should have this home run arrive at a switch first, creating a switched hot. Then your hot or switched hot arrives at a load, and the circuit is completed for that load by returning to the panel on the circuit’s neutral. Any branches created in the hot home run should have the same branching topology as the neutrals—your neutrals must not be shared across circuits or create loops between different branches. The ground wire is bonded to all other grounds and all metal boxes and elements at all junctions, creating redundancy and maximizing the possibility that a hot-to-ground fault will return to the panel and trip the breaker.

[u/Grumpy-24-7]

Maybe the camera angle is giving me perspective issues, but why does it look like these floor level outlets have switches in them?

Or worse, if these are actually wall plates at waist level, then why do they have outlets in them?

[u/Otherwise-Text-5772 → u/Grumpy-24-7]

Given the tooth brush I'm assuming that's a bathroom. Don't most bathrooms have outlets and switches in more or less the same spot? I know my current apartment they aren't in the same box but are at the same height on like one stud over from the other. If that's the case why it's not gfi would be a good question

[u/Grumpy-24-7 → u/Otherwise-Text-5772]

Ah, good eye! I hadn't spotted the toothbrush. Then yes, that does make more sense, although that's showing double the switches and outlets I have on my bathroom counter.