granted, no, this isn't the most festive post i have gone done, look you see. however i thought this may well be of some (vague) use to someone out there. it isn't really meant to show off my skill and prowess, and nor is it intended as a celebration of my vast talents. should you elect to interpret it all that way, though, well that's up to you.
quite likely the word "mending" is misleading there, for what happened was that i replaced a (very much) busted switch. a light switch, since you asked, which was busted. exactly how it came to be busted is not something i can immediately explain, but would guess it was down to wear and tear. nothing lasts forever.
it was the light switch for my bathroom that gone went busted, if that matters. one morning, after a shower (apologies for the mental image) i went to switch it off. off it went, but something didn't feel quite right with it. sire enough when i tapped it again the switch bit fell off. oh dear.
my immediate sense of options were to either report it in to the letting agent types for my lodgings in this era of exile or to contract a professional electrician. the former would likely involve a wait of weeks, if not months, to bring back the wonder of off and on (and off again) lighting, the latter would almost certainly bring about a cost of around £75 - £100. another option was to do nothing, but not so much in the hope it would heal itself, but because there was something (slightly) interesting on the radio about "showering in the dark" being a trend, with the claim being it was "healthy" or something. none of these options held all that much appeal, alas.
can't think why anyone would wish to see such, but there you go. above is some video (of course in VHS mode) of me in some futility pressing the busted switch. yes the switch had fallen off, but i kind of quasi wedged it back in to see if a "that will do" solution was possible. no, it was not.
ultimately, if not eventually, i went with a slightly different option. this was to jolly well have a ruddy good go (or words to that effect) at mending (replacing) it myself. no, i did not do it "blind" as such. first off i had a look at some videos online and established that, with some care, it was a reasonably straightforward thing to do, mindful that it was a basic, (importantly) plastic single light switch. after that i called some people who are rather good at doing things like this. they confirmed it was straightforward, that they had every confidence i could do it but also, kindly, offered to pop over and if not assist then just basically do it. with such a safety net, or back up, in place, well, off i went to have a go at it.
first off, of course, was purchasing a new switch thing. again, i must stress this was a like for like plastic one. should you wish to replace or fit a "metal" switch, that is something you really need a proper electrician to do for you, as it has to be "earthed" and what have you. plastic simply laughs in the face of any electricity that tries to run across (or over it), whereas metal does not. with regards to cost i made use of one of the leading (or rather prominent) DIY / hardware stores here and the price was just a little over £2.50.
with the new switch ready to go the first thing to do is make sure you switch the power off. pictured above is the "fuse box" for my lodgings, a device what has the proper name of "consumer unit". just to stress the importance of this, make sure you switch the f*****g power off before you start. don't go poking around any electrical wires that are on or "live". it will not end well at all.
as to how you switch the power off, well, there are 2 (two) options. your fuse box / consumer unit, taking as a given it is professionally installed and correctly set up, should be quite clearly marked up, indicating what switch does what. if you are feeling reasonably confident (which i was) it should be sufficient to just switch off the relevant supply, which in my case was the lights. indeed i did leave other lights on before i switched off (if that makes sense) to make sure the light circuits were all indeed off. should you not be all that confident, and there is no shame in such, then rather put that main switch off, which will shut down all the power in your own lodgings (or home). if you go with that then make sure all sensitive items like televisions and computers are off.
i shall assume (or presume) anyone reading this for practical assistance has also looked at some videos on how to do it (change a light switch). this is all meant as a "supplementary" to such ones. just about all of the videos i watched showed me how to do it (so to speak) in a way that turned out to be correct, but still a written guide is somewhat helpful.
very much of use in said videos was the tip to "take pictures". this is something one presumably does with the camera welded to their phone, rather than on a traditional film camera that would require needing to get developed. see, some of the modern world is useful. the images show what wire goes where, so you can just put them in the right place on the new switch. for most modern (done in the last 30 or so years) wiring the correct colour coding should be in place, with brown being live and blue being neutral. so, if the pic is no good (or you forgot to take one), the diagram with the new switch should show where "L" and "N" go, or it may well be marked up on the switch.
just what, exactly, happens if you get the wires the wrong way (or if you like incorrect) was around? nothing good. a "best case" scenario would be that nothing happens, as in the switch doesn't work and there is no harm done. more likely is a "reverse polarity" or what have you, which is a path that either leads to an electric shock or a sort of "fizz fizz bang" thing with a nasty "pop" explosion and fire. again, then, i draw your attention to the idea of contacting a qualified electrician if you have any sense of doubt or uncertainty. whilst it may seem like a "simple, quick and cheap" job, the risks of doing it wrong can be fairly significant.
nope, absolutely no idea why i included the above picture. oh, actually, yes i do. the copper bits protruding there are the ones that need to be screwed in (so to speak) to the relevant section on the new switch. please note copper only. don't get any of the plastic covering in there, with enough heat going through the supply they will melt. also make sure they are screwed in nice and tight (so to speak). a loose connection is likely to see it not work proper, or could cause "arching" which is another fire thing.
let me emphasise this again - i only undertook this one as it is the most basic (i am reluctant to say easiest) "electrical wiring" job one could do at home. on a par with changing a plug, although every now and then that can be fiddly. if this were a "double" light switch i may have been more reluctant to have a go, and i certainly would not have tried a plug socket. electricians might be expensive but they exist for a reason.
pictured above is the new light switch, which is working just fine. i felt no need to do any video of the light in the bathroom working, or (for that matter) a video of what i might be doing in there. some things are best left not considered. the only "glitch" really was the new screws that came with the new switch were just a bit too short, so i simply used the old (existing) ones.
righty-right, that's pretty much that. any words of caution or what have you have, i believe, been said frequently enough. good luck if you have a similar situation and give it a go!
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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