Thanks for responding. I agree with your reasoning on plugs vs hardwired, the only reason I started leaning toward putting in outlets and going with plugs is because that's what Home Depot installers expected and one of the (several) reasons they refused to do the install.

I think it is still not to code to put all those wires into the dishwasher box because it is too small, but someone else commented that if you just did that same junction in an actual junction box it would be fine. I think that might be the way I go since it'll be much cheaper than putting in outlets and plugs.

Thanks! That is indeed a very elegant and straightforward fix. Just keep them hardwired but do the splice in an actual junction box. Don't know why I didn't think of that. lol

The only real advantage I see personally to adding outlets and converting the appliances to plugs is that Home Depot's installers expected that. As long as the only real code compliance thing with the original setup is the point of the splice being in the dishwasher, this could be the way to go.

Thanks. I'm a total newb to all this and it's taken me days to get to this point, so I have no idea what replacing the breaker would entail. But I'll look into the possibility of doing that since using a standard outlet with half-hot switch wiring would be easier and cheaper.

From my brief googling of the difference, I think you are right that it is a sanitary tee, not a wye.

I took another photo from a different angle:

https://i.imgur.com/UKixPEl.jpg

I suspect that the disposal was added after the fact, which would explain a lot of this. I guess I could knock out the plug and put the drain into the disposal and just cut and cap that whole drain from the air gap. I haven't decided but I'd probably go with the path of least resistance since this has been working.

Thank you, this is great info. Funny you should say that about the dishwasher j-box probably not being big enough. I (stupidly) didn't photograph the original situation but I seem to recall the box was not even closed all the way in the original setup, just partly fastened on one side and bulging open, lol.

With regard to the other solution, (I think) that is one of my earlier plans. I had even diagrammed that way: https://i.imgur.com/d1brqYl.png

But is it actually possible to separate the hot on a GFCI switch like that? It seemed like the GFCI switches like this one don't have the brass tab to break the connection. They just seem to have a designated "line" upper half and "load" lower half.

Thanks!

That's just it, it doesn't connect anywhere, it just gets capped. Apparently to accommodate the possibility of future retrofitting for "smart" switches, which do require a neutral, per other comment above.

Thank you. It certainly would be cheaper to reuse the existing 12-2 that is already in place going from the switch instead of buying new 12-3.

It's coming from an air-gap above the sink--where the dishwasher drain currently goes--and goes into the main drainage away from the sink at the bottom.

This is closer to my understanding. Thanks. For the record, my dishwasher/dispoal circuit is separate from the countertop circuit; both circuits are labeled in the box ("dishwasher" and "small appliance").

I'm not surprised. It seems to work though. What's the problem?

Thanks for responding. Yeah, I've heard that both need to be on separate 15A lines, but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information on this, tbh. Some say it's fine to have disposal and dishwasher on the same circuit if it's 20A, which mine is. No one really cites to the code itself, though, so I may have to dig deeper into this for an answer.

They were definitely lazy and cheap with everything in this house, but I mean, I kinda am too... Putting in a new circuit would probably be beyond my DIY limits so I'd rather avoid it.

Thanks for responding. Yeah, the plan would be to add plugs to both dishwasher and disposal. As far as the advantage? Beats me, but Home Depot seems to have expected to be able to simply plug in the dishwasher, and the fact they couldn't is one of the reasons I'm installing it myself now, lol. I also just want to be as close to code compliant as possible.

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>As to you wiring, you don't need to run the 12-3 wire to the switch, just wrap the ends of the white wire (that you have capped on both end) with black tape and use it.

I've seen tutorials showing that way, but then I've also seen some say that the new NEC updates for 2018(?) made it a requirement to use 12-3 and include a capped neutral... for whatever reason.

Anyway, if this is the case...

>The box inside the old dishwasher is a valid junction box.

I think that's what I need to hear. If the disposal line can just be spliced in at the junction box inside the dishwasher, the way it was before, without any safety or compliance issues, I would definitely prefer to just do that.