Why a switch and not a switch. The switch won't turn off

As it turns out, choosing a socket and switch is not so easy.
Soon, very soon we will move to a new apartment. For almost three months, together with a mobile team of handymen under the leadership of foreman Victor, we have been trying to construct a cozy apartment from completely bare walls in a 17-story box on the Right Bank. We recently installed the plumbing, and now it's time to install electrical outlets and switches.

Why a switch and not a switch?
Throughout the civilized world, electrical products with a key are called switches, and only in Russia - switches. There is a common joke that Russians are lazy and like to turn everything off. However, there is another explanation - for serious people. When Lenin invented the Ilyich light bulb, there were no switches yet. To put out a light bulb, it was simply unscrewed from the socket. This can even be seen in newsreels of those times. But this was inconvenient, since the light bulb got very hot. And so they came up with a device that allows you to turn off the light bulb without exposing your hands to burns. Turning the light off was more of a problem than turning it on. That’s why they called it a switch, and not a switch, as would be more logical.

My selection criteria
Kaluga stores sell Anam (South Korea), Bticino (Italy), GUSI (Russia, Sukhinichi), Makel (Turkey), Legrand (France, Hungary), Lezard (Turkey), Scneider-electric (France), Wessen (part of Scneider-electric group), purely Russian and Belarusian sockets. All standard solutions from these manufacturers are almost comparable in price.
In principle, any of them is a worthy home decoration. If funds allow, feel free to choose Germans, Italians or French - only the personal subjective feeling of meeting face to face or by touch plays a role here.
In general, when choosing sockets and switches for your home, I would advise you to take a closer look at mid-priced products from more or less well-known brands. Products from “solid middle-of-the-road” brands are almost never counterfeited; domestic manufacturers can make good electrical installation products, but foreign brands still need to catch up.

Makel sockets and switches
In the end we chose Makel. They are made in Turkey using high-quality German equipment. The choice fell on them purely intuitively: in addition to the appearance, I liked the convenient sealing of the contacts, the universal support with spacers and a frame for the mounting box, and the ceramic base.

Not without flaws
As it turned out during the installation process, Makel is not without sins. The screws for the contacts are weak, on the dual designs of the mechanisms there is no space for inserting a second wire (double models can only be used as a terminal device), in some models ceramics are used as the base material (officially this is a disadvantage, since ceramics is a fragile material and In the EU countries, these sockets are prohibited).

Correct location
According to European standards, switches should be located at a height of 90 cm from the floor, and sockets - 30 cm. But you don’t have to follow these numbers, and it will be quite acceptable to place sockets at a height of both 20 and 50 cm, and switches above or below the mark at 90 cm.
In the bathroom, sockets must be connected through an isolating step-down transformer or using an RCD to protect them from current leakage to the ground.
Well, everything seems to be done with the sockets. And then?.. It only seems that the renovation is coming to an end. And the chandeliers, and the wallpaper, and the built-in wardrobes... Yes! Construction continues!

When a light switch breaks, it becomes necessary to disassemble it and repair it. If you find that the device is not working, first determine whether there is voltage in the apartment’s electrical network. After this, you need to remove the light bulb connected to the switch and find out if it is working. It often happens that the fault lies in a completely different place. If no faults are found in these places, then the fault is in the switch itself.

How to fix a switch: types of devices

If you find out that your switch is not working and decide to fix it, then the device must be disassembled. Before this can be done, the power to the network is completely cut off. To do this, turn off the power at the switchboard automatically, and then check the voltage status at the output.

Sometimes it happens that it is not the phase lead that is connected to the machine, but the zero lead. Such mistakes can be made by an unqualified electrician who assembled the panel circuit. The network will work, but the lighting wiring is constantly under voltage. That is why, after turning off the power to the lighting, be sure to check that it is not in the switch. If you find such an error, then it is best to eliminate it.

If you were unable to turn off the power to the line you needed, then it is best to turn off the power to the entire apartment. Only after this can you begin repairing the switch. But that's not all. Before removing the switch, it is necessary to determine its type.

What could the switch be:

Single-key;
Two-key;
Pass-through, or three-key;
Spinning;
Dimmer – switch;
Touch switch.

Today there is a wide variety of switch models on the market, but most users have conventional key devices.

Light switch repair: causes of breakdowns

Before disassembling the switch mechanism, you need to find the core through which the phase is connected to the switch. Voltage is applied to it, and the indicator checks for the presence of current on both contacts. Then the key must be turned off to another position and the test is repeated.

The device is inspected for the quality of contacts. If any of them are oxidized or burned out, they are cleaned. Melted contacts indicate that the switch cannot be repaired.

After this, you need to check the contacts at the places where the wires are attached and also clean them. Again, you need to check the strength of the supplied wires.

Why do switches in an apartment fail:

Increased humidity in the room, which often leads to oxidation of contacts or wires;
A poorly secured contact when installing a light switch and the device short-circuits;
Improper use of the device, in particular loading with visible defects (sparks, buzzes, crackles);
Exceeding the permissible voltage of electric current at the connections to the device;
Voltage drops when the device is turned on.

Usually, if the switch does not have a manufacturing defect, then it breaks down solely due to the direct or indirect fault of the user.

Let's look at how to change a light switch: necessary tools

In everyday life, it often happens that suddenly, when we turn it on, we realize that the room light switch stops functioning. Some, realizing that the device is broken, immediately run for an electrician. However, it is not at all difficult to repair or replace a faulty device yourself. You need to try to do it yourself at least once, and you will immediately have the relevant experience.

The most common cause of device failure is poor contact with the automatic switch assembly, where there are plates that become covered with a burnt coating over time. To return the device to functionality, you need to clean the switch contacts.

A novice electrician should remember that before working with any device that is part or part of an electrical wiring diagram, safety regulations must be followed. In addition, the work requires special devices and tools.

You will need the following repair tool kit:

Screwdriver indicator;
Regular screwdriver;
Insulating tape;
Fine sandpaper;
Marker;
Pliers.

In addition, prepare a jar or box where it would be more appropriate to put all the small parts and bolts so that they do not get lost and are always at hand.

The light in the room does not turn on or off: what to do

If you notice that the light switch is working somehow wrong (it turns on unstable or by itself), then you can assume that the cause of the breakdown lies in burnt out contacts. In this case, after turning off the power supply, it is necessary to check the switch a couple more times at the breakdown site for lack of electricity supply and get to work.

After making sure that the network is de-energized, you should slowly disassemble the switch. To do this, use a screwdriver to pry the keys of the mechanism and remove them. If you have a Soviet switch, then simply unscrew the bolt and remove the box.

Modern switches exist with one, two or even three keys. If they are not removed, the device cannot be disassembled. All elements and fastenings are hidden inside the device. All keys are removed in order of priority. Then, prying it by the edge, we remove the decorative frame pressed against the mechanism and held in place by the latches.

Stages of dismantling the light switch:

We check whether we have actually turned off the power supply;
Use a screwdriver to pry up the edge of the button and remove the housing;
Remove the lid trim;
Using an indicator, we check that there is no current in the terminals;
If the switch has two or more buttons, then the common wire should be marked with a marker;
Unscrew the screws and remove them from the socket box;
We insulate exposed wires;
We clean the contacts on which carbon deposits have formed;
We assemble the device in reverse order.

Our switch has been repaired. Connect everything in the reverse order, turn on the machines and check the operation of the device. When assembling a switch, it sometimes happens that the cover does not want to sit on the base of the switch in any way. In this situation, you need to loosen the bolts that hold the housing a few turns and press the cover tightly into place. Then you should tighten the bolts. If this manipulation does not help, then it is best to simply replace the device. In order not to get confused in the store at the sight of a huge assortment of products, take an old device with you from home.

Many people, faced with such a breakdown, do not hesitate to run to an electrician, since they are completely unfamiliar with the structure of this mechanism and do not know what to do with it and how to fix it. The light switch is actually easy to fix. You just need to get down to business once and figure it out a little. Why does the switch break?

The most common cause of failure is poor contact in the automatic switch assembly, which contains plates that become coated over time due to constant sparking. To restore the switch to functionality, just clean the switch contacts. Before you fix the light switch yourself, we recommend reading this article.

Safety precautions

You should always remember that before repairing a switch, socket or other equipment related to the operation of electric current, you should follow safety precautions. First, you need to turn off the power supply at the work site. This can be done using an electrical panel and the corresponding switches in it. Secondly, you should stock up on special tools. You will need:

Indicator screwdriver or multimeter.
Marker.
Small fine-grained skin.
A regular Phillips screwdriver.
Insulating tape.

Disassembling and cleaning contacts

If you find that the light switch still works, but is unstable, then, often, the cause of the breakdown is burnt contacts in it. In this case, you should be guided by the following sequence of actions:

After turning off the power supply at the breakdown site, you should carefully check the switch a couple of times for the presence/absence of current supply using a multimeter or an indicator screwdriver.
After making sure that the mechanism is de-energized, you should carefully disassemble the switch. To do this, first use a screwdriver or other tool to pry the buttons of the mechanism and remove them.
Remove the plastic rim of the switch housing and put it away.
Check the terminals of the device being dismantled for the presence of current using an indicator screwdriver.
In the case of disassembling a two-key switch, you need to use a marker to identify the wire that is common for two types of switching.
Next, using a regular screwdriver, you need to loosen the 2 bolts that are located at the edges of the mechanism body, and then remove them from the plastic socket.
After this, the bare wires supplying current to the device are cleaned using previously prepared fine-grained sandpaper and wrapped with insulating tape.
This completes the repair process.

It is worth noting that if you are not well versed in the repair business, or if this is the first time in your life that you have decided to repair a light switch, arrange the parts of the device during dismantling in the order in which they were disassembled. Or, as an option, take a photo of the step-by-step disassembly of the device, so that after solving the problem, you can calmly and without any hesitation assemble it as needed.

A little about contacts

The contacts that need to be cleaned are located directly under the switch button on a plastic base shaped like a hemisphere. Those of them that are the suspected cause of the breakdown are very easy to identify: they contain a specific soot of dark shades, which appeared due to sparking in the device. To clean this type of plaque, you can use a special fine-grained sandpaper.

Assembly

After repairing the device and preliminary checking its functionality by restoring the current supply, you should install it in its place and assemble its parts in the reverse order. There shouldn't be any particular difficulties in this matter. However, if you still have doubts, you can use the photographic material that you prepared for yourself in advance (even at the disassembly stage). Having started assembling the switch, you first need to connect the wire that we previously highlighted with a marker to one of the terminals, and after that all the remaining wires. At the next stage, the device is fixed in the socket box and the housing rim, decorative cover and light on/off buttons are installed.

Pay attention! When assembling a switch, it often happens that the cover does not want to be attached to the base of the switch. In this situation, you should loosen the bolts holding the housing in the socket box a couple of turns, press the cover tightly to the base and, holding the entire structure, tighten the bolts.

At this point, the process of repairing a switch at home can be considered complete.

By following safety precautions and the above tips, acting step by step and with due care, you can extend the life of the switches in your home without much effort and without the help of strangers.

Video

Video about the procedure for disassembling the switch and its internal structure:

If at one point you notice that the light switch in the room does not work or turns off the lighting every once in a while, you should not immediately go and buy a new one. The design of the product is not complicated and most often the cause of failure is burnt contacts that just need to be cleaned. Next, we will look in detail at how to repair a light switch with your own hands, and also tell you why this type of breakdown can occur.

Repair technology

So, to make the repair instructions clear to you, we will consider it step by step, with photo examples for each important point of repair.

Video instructions for assembling the case

Thus, in 10 steps you can repair the product yourself. As you can see, the repair is not difficult and even a novice electrician can do it. We also recommend that you familiarize yourself with the tips provided below, which will allow you to quickly and correctly repair a switch in your apartment.

If an old-style switch breaks, you can of course fix it, but there is no point in doing so, because... Every part wears out over time, and in electrical work it is very dangerous to use old switches and sockets, especially if they often break down. Today, even such leading companies as Legrand have inexpensive but reliable products, even with lighting, a chain (cord) or a dimmer.
The reason why the contacts on the key switch burn out quickly is because the light bulbs are too powerful. We recommend replacing incandescent lamps with more efficient and at the same time less powerful light sources -. In this case, you can forget about repairing the switch for a long time.
Before proceeding with complete disassembly of the case, check how well the wires are tightened with screws. You may be able to fix the switch simply by tightening the screws with a screwdriver.
In order not to confuse the order of assembly of spare parts of a disassembled case, we recommend using a camera: take photographs of each of the disassembly stages one by one and, if necessary, assemble the structure from the photo.

That's all I wanted to tell you about how to fix a light switch with your own hands. We hope that the provided instructions and photo examples will help you repair a switch that does not turn off or turn on the lighting in the house!

Also read:

Let's imagine a situation: one day, as usual, you return home from work late in the evening, go to wash your hands, and then suddenly the light in the bathroom goes out. My first thought was that the electricity had been cut off. You check its presence in the apartment, trying to turn on the light in the kitchen or in the hallway, it turns out that it is still there. The second logical thought comes to you - the light bulb has burned out. You start frantically looking for a new light bulb. And then, using a flashlight, you change the old, burnt-out light bulb in the bathroom lamp with a new one. But it doesn’t light up either. You examine both light bulbs and find them completely intact and unharmed. Now it becomes finally clear that, after all, the switch does not work. If the lack of lighting in other living rooms can still be tolerated for some time, then as for the bathroom, this is quite problematic and causes a lot of inconvenience.

If you invite an electrician, then only during working hours. In addition, you can spend a whole day waiting for it. Don’t be upset, if you have a working spare switch lying around somewhere, you can cope with the task of replacing it on your own. To do this you just need to follow our step by step instructions:

First, you need to remove the faulty switch. Before starting all work, it is necessary to de-energize the apartment in the floor panel in order to protect yourself from electric shock. Recently, hidden supply switches have been widely used, i.e. the main part of them is hidden in the wall, in a special socket box, and only decorative overlays and the switch keys themselves are installed outside. Removing them won't be difficult. You just need to pry it by the edges with a screwdriver, pull it towards you and pull it out of the grooves. The switch mechanism itself is usually screwed to the socket box with screws. They are on the edges. You need to loosen them and pull the mechanism out.

Secondly, you need to identify the cause of the switch malfunction. To do this, you need to carefully examine it, find the area of the melted contact. This most likely caused the breakdown. Next, you should carefully disconnect the wires and get rid of the faulty mechanism. At this stage it is important not to mix up the wires, remember them or mark them in a special way so that they are connected to the new switch in the correct order.
Third, assemble the new switch in reverse order. Make sure you connect correctly. Very often, the cause of a breaker malfunction is its incorrect installation. After completing the assembly, turn on the electricity in the apartment and check the functionality of the switch.

Hide

The lights went out in your house because a switch closed? Don't rush to call an electrician.

You may be able to handle it yourself. Why the switch closes and how to fix it - we give simple recommendations.

Reasons for closing the switch in the apartment

Experts identify several of the most common faults that can lead to the circuit breaker closing.

High humidity, which leads to oxidation of wires.
Poor contact when installing the light switch, constant sparking when turned on.
Exceeding the permissible electrical voltage in the network due to the simultaneous activation of several electrical appliances.

Home light switch repair

Before starting work, turn off the power supply at the distribution panel. To do this, you need to turn off the plugs on the shield, that is, press the big button if the shield is Soviet-style. If the shield is new, move it from the “on” position. to the "off" position.

There are many more useful tips on household repairs on our website. The article under the title will tell you how to fix this whimsical device

What to do if the faucet is leaking? Find repair instructions on our website at the following link:

Tips on how to visit our site

You will need the following tools:

indicator screwdriver;
jar for parts;
regular screwdriver;
felt-tip pen;
insulating tape;
small skin (fine-grained).

General progress of repair work

Checking for no voltage

Important! There is no need to put any special effort into disassembling the case, since usually the cover of a closed switch can be easily removed.

Removing the switch housing

Removing the switch cover

If a switch with two buttons is closed, then mark with a felt-tip pen the wire that supplies electricity and is common to both switching modes.

Switch screw location

Naturally the switch! Nothing included yet
No need for a switch! And when they turned it on, I had to invent a switch!))
How to turn it off somehow, like the Collider (LHC)

Because we save electricity)))

turn on one light bulb for 5 minutes, then turn it off, turn on the second one, go see which one is warm, the first one is on, the second one is on and the third one is off

29501459 krustpils! call there and there will be meal and service and if you really need it they have 1 more meal in Imanta for Volvos, they should find it there

you turn it on, and from there it fires?
ahhh... there's no depot in the cruise?

in the armory... bang and the lights went off

WhiteAsh - don’t talk nonsense - the outlet has alternating current and there is no minus.

Actually a new lamp - one wire to zero (check with a screwdriver with a neon, it should not light up in any position of the switch), the second from the lamp, to any remaining of the two. It will be turned on by one of the switch keys.
If there are two of them, a wire from each lamp to zero, and the other two, to two free ones.

Connect 2 wires out of 3 together. That's all.
But if you think the third wire is the ground wire, then just remove it and don't use it.

And so, usually, there are 2 wires to the lamps (for example, 1 wire to 2 lamps, the other to the remaining 3, if there are 5 lamps in the chandelier) and 1 common wire

In general, you turn on 2 switches, wait a couple of minutes, then turn one off.
You run to the bottom, the one that is on is the switch on, the one that is hot is the second switch and the one that is cold is the 3rd switch, respectively.

By the way, why in Humor?

You turn on 2 switches, wait a couple of minutes, then turn one off.
You run into another room, the one that is on is the switch on, the one that is hot is the second switch, and the one that is cold is the 3rd switch.