Any Electricians Here ?

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Mar 30, 2015
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Lake Havasu City, Arizona
No biggy, but I have a bum light switch that needs replacing. First one I've ever come across... Ever. I'll turn on the light and it either won't go on at all. Or else I'll get a dull glow, (LED bulb). Then I'll flip it off, then on again and it's fine. I tried a couple of different bulbs, and it's not that. It doesn't spark, arc, or get warm. It just "sometimes" doesn't work. My house is 30 years old, and I've already had to replace a couple of electrical plugs. (Vacuum cleaner plugs falling out, etc.).

Naturally the whole house has cheap, builder grade receptacles, 69 cents each at Home Depot, (the price was still on one of them). I replaced them with hospital grade, and used the screw terminals. They just used the push in holes.

Should I just go by price, (more is better), or is there something else I should be looking for in regards to a quality switch? It's in a double switch box, 2 separate switches. One for the light, and one for the ceiling fan. I'd like to get a lighted one that glows when it's off. But I want quality over features. I was told to stay out of Lowe's and Home Depot, and go to an electrical supply house. Naturally I'll take the old one with me so I don't get one that's too wide, etc. Any suggestions?
 
Master Electrician here.
I'm finding that the 'economy' (cheapness) of the past, that did work fine, is failing after years of fluorescent and now LED bulbs.
You know how the laptop supply will 'pop' on plug in? Same thing in the newer bulbs, and the, say 70's to 90's switches are just not up to it, long term. (Incandescent would have been fine for a long time - not nearly the same arc.)
I would suggest (and do) buy a level up on switches for bulbs - maybe $2 at HD. It will be a bit wider, but fit.
I will suggest a 'permanent' hospital grade solution is probably not necessary.
The old switches will get burnt, replaced, mid grade will cover now, and improvements in bulbs are to come.

I would also suggest - as you add LED fixtures - add the dimmers, and set it (inside) for, say 80% to 95% by the external slider.
You get a softstart, the low end is high enough to prevent blinking, and never quite running at full brightness extends life.
 
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Does it only act up when the switch is messed with?

It’s not unreasonable for a switch to fail at 30 years old. They can fail at anytime.

We use Leviton at work. Somewhat hard to find locally at the moment.
 
I bought my house 41 years ago, and still have some of the same switches. They are the Leviton brand. They might have been considered cheap when they were installed. But they were built to last, at least back then.,,,
 
Does it only act up when the switch is messed with?

I'm not sure what you mean by, "messed with"? If you mean when it's turned on, yes. Once the light is up and running, it's fine. So it's not the bulb or the wiring. It's the switch on the right that's "ON". You can see they're both Leviton. That really doesn't matter, because Leviton makes a crap grade to compete with everyone else's crap grade. (GM produced both the Vega and the Corvette at the same time).

These are cheap, 3 decade old switches, that have more than likely come to the end of their service life. I have plenty of room inside the box for something a bit more substantial. So that's what I'll look for. I will most likely replace both of them, as long as I'll have both the cover and the circuit off.

J2pGTJt.jpg
 
My Dad told me years ago to only buy Leviton plugs and switches. He also said Moen or Delta plumbing only. Has worked out good for me getting that fatherly advise.
 
No biggy, but I have a bum light switch that needs replacing. First one I've ever come across... Ever. I'll turn on the light and it either won't go on at all. Or else I'll get a dull glow, (LED bulb). Then I'll flip it off, then on again and it's fine. I tried a couple of different bulbs, and it's not that. It doesn't spark, arc, or get warm. It just "sometimes" doesn't work. My house is 30 years old, and I've already had to replace a couple of electrical plugs. (Vacuum cleaner plugs falling out, etc.).

Naturally the whole house has cheap, builder grade receptacles, 69 cents each at Home Depot, (the price was still on one of them). I replaced them with hospital grade, and used the screw terminals. They just used the push in holes.

Should I just go by price, (more is better), or is there something else I should be looking for in regards to a quality switch? It's in a double switch box, 2 separate switches. One for the light, and one for the ceiling fan. I'd like to get a lighted one that glows when it's off. But I want quality over features. I was told to stay out of Lowe's and Home Depot, and go to an electrical supply house. Naturally I'll take the old one with me so I don't get one that's too wide, etc. Any suggestions?
Good move to use the screw terminals rather than the push-ins!
 
Pick up a 50 cent outlet and a $3 one and look at the metal frame that holds the actual plastic part of the outlet. Its way a different design.

The push-in (spring loaded) way of wiring the cheap outlets is terrible. But there are holes on the back of many quality outlets you can slide in a wire, but it gets clamped down tight with a screw. I like and prefer those over a wire under a plain screw.
 
Pick up a 50 cent outlet and a $3 one and look at the metal frame that holds the actual plastic part of the outlet. Its way a different design.
I am slowly replacing the outlets (and switches) in our house and all of the kitchen counter outlets are commercial-grade. I also put commercial-grade outlets in a few other locations, primarily ones that will be plugged into and unplugged (for vacuum cleaner, for example). Outlets behind the TV or couch or wherever that typically have something plugged and almost never touched are standard outlets. Anyway, as you say, you can see the substantial difference in construction. The cheapo outlets I replaced along the kitchen counter literally fell apart (not all of them, but a few did) from poor construction plus frequent use. Here's two pictures but I had 1-2 that were worse - .

There's no need to spend $5-10 per outlet for hospital-grade either, just get commercial-grade for $3-4.

only buy Leviton plugs and switches
While the Leviton name still exists and I will buy their stuff, who knows what it is anymore. I used to work at an electrical supply house and we sold Leviton, primarily for residential, or Hubbell for commercial, industrial, and hospital spec. I still remember things like CR15 or CR20 for Hubbell 15 or 20 amp standard outlets... 🤷‍♂️
 
While the Leviton name still exists and I will buy their stuff, who knows what it is anymore. I used to work at an electrical supply house and we sold Leviton, primarily for residential, or Hubbell for commercial, industrial, and hospital spec. I still remember things like CR15 or CR20 for Hubbell 15 or 20 amp standard outlets... 🤷‍♂️
Leviton is fine, just buy their better grades. I had a plumber tell me he bought 2 Moen faucets. One from Home Depot, the other from a commercial plumbing supply house. Both had the same model number, but the one from the plumbing supply weighed about a pound more. In appearance both were identical, but had far different guts.
 
I'm not sure what you mean by, "messed with"? If you mean when it's turned on, yes. Once the light is up and running, it's fine. So it's not the bulb or the wiring. It's the switch on the right that's "ON". You can see they're both Leviton. That really doesn't matter, because Leviton makes a crap grade to compete with everyone else's crap grade. (GM produced both the Vega and the Corvette at the same time).

These are cheap, 3 decade old switches, that have more than likely come to the end of their service life. I have plenty of room inside the box for something a bit more substantial. So that's what I'll look for. I will most likely replace both of them, as long as I'll have both the cover and the circuit off.

J2pGTJt.jpg
I was curious if it only acted up when switched on and off or if it would sometimes flicker while it was on for a while.
 
I was curious if it only acted up when switched on and off or if it would sometimes flicker while it was on for a while.

No, no flickering of any kind. The problem only occurs at startup. Turn the switch "ON" normally and nothing. Or else just a very soft glow within the LED bulb itself. Turn it "OFF", then back to the "ON" position, and it lights up normally, and stays lit.

I removed the bulb and placed it in a lamp in another room, and it functions completely normally. So I'm pretty confident it's in the circuit. The only culprit can be the switch itself. At least it's a cheap and easy enough place to start. I can't imagine what, if anything could possibly be wrong with any wiring.
 
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