In this video we're going to replace this faulty light switch. This one will
not actually switch on now very easily you can press it as hard as you
like and it won't switch on you have to actually press it up and press it in at
the same time before you can switch it on. Obviously that is not ideal I can
switch it on but the kids are actually struggling switching that on. So we're
going to replace this I'm going to go down now and isolate, and you should notice
that the fan in the bathroom will switch off. I'm now at the consumer
unit I'm going to find the circuit breaker for the upstairs lights, switch that off
and then I'm going to fit the lock off device. I'm just going to lock that off
so that nobody can claim my insurance money. This actual light switch has been
painted around so before we go removing it we've got to actually cut around it
using a sharp knife.
Now that we've done that we can now remove the two retaining screws then we
can carefully pull the switch forwards. Before we touch any of the wires
at the back we do need to ensure that they are completely dead. We're going to
do that using this GS 38 approved voltage tester. This one actually has a
self test function so we're going to press the auto test you can see that is
working we're then going to check that the leads are working by measuring the
resistance. So I'm going to touch both of the probes together and then press the
ohms button so you can see that the leads are working. We will now check this is
working again. So I'm going probe between the top and the bottom terminal and the
machine is not illuminating at all which proves that it is isolated correctly. On
some back boxes you do have a earthing terminal if you do have an earthing
terminal you can put that on the earthing terminal and then you can probe
the two terminals to ensure that it is completely dead. Unfortunately this
actual circuit doesn't actually have an earthing terminal so that's one test
that we can't do. If you don't have one of these you can use a neon screwdriver or
something but the important thing is to check to ensure that it is isolated
before you go touching any of the terminals. Now we just need to confirm
that the tester is still working so I'm going to press the auto test function
and I'm also going to test the continuity of the leads by pressing that
button and touching the two probes together. So you can see that the tester
is still working so it is now safe to continue. If you have more than two wires
it's a good idea to label them up and draw a diagram to show exactly where
they came from and then you put them back in the exact same place. This one is
very simple we just need to undo the com terminal pull that wire out and
then undo the L1 terminal at the bottom.
You then need to get a like-for-like replacement that is actually a one gang
one way switch which are very difficult to find now normally you find a one gang 2 way
which can be used instead so in that case you would just use the com
and any of the two terminals at the bottom. I couldn't actually get a direct like for like
replacement so in this example I'm going to use one of these which is an
intermediate switch and you'll see that has four terminals on the back there.
These can be used for 1 way switching, 2 way switching or 3 way switching.
To use it for one more switching you only need to use any terminal from
the top and any terminal from the bottom. I'm just going to put the red wire into
L1 and then the black wire into one of the terminals at the bottom which is
going in the L2 terminal. If you're doing a like-for-like replacement you can
simply put it in the terminals that you took it out off. Before I put the switch
back I am going to attempt to reconnect the earth wire this is going to be quite
difficult because it has been snipped off really short but I'm going to try
and cut away some of the insulation and then we can at least try to get an earth
wire on there to the back box. So I've simply got a piece of copper
wire and a terminal connector so that is the tiny little bit of earth wire
which I am trying to connect to, so that is now onto the copper wire I just need
to tighten up that screw.
I didn't have a lot of luck with the screw terminal but I have found one of
these which is a splice line connector these are very useful hopefully we'll be
able to push this onto the earth wire. Luckily that has just about got on there
so we are very lucky there, I can now push the earth wire into that part and if you
have one of these test screwdrivers they are very useful it will tell you whether
or not it is connected to earth. I can now touch that and touch the end of the
screwdriver and you can see that the earth wire is obviously connected at the
other end. So now all I need to do is cut a piece of green and yellow
sleeving, push that onto the bare wire and then I want to terminate that into the
earthing terminal at the back of the box there. So now that is earthed and that will
make it a little bit easier if we ever come to change the switch at the front
there for a metal switch. In the UK it's common for a switch like that to be in
the off position when it is up like that when it's in the position like that that
is the on position. Sometimes you'll put a switch on and it
will be the wrong way around so the only thing you can actually do is flip the
switch upside down and that will rectify the problem.
Another thing before you put the light switch back you should always try to
pull the wires out of the terminals and if you can pull them out that means
that you've not terminated them correctly in the first place. It's always
a good idea to check because the last thing you want is one of those wires coming out.
I'm now going to wrap some insulation
tape around the black wire that will notify people that the wire is going to
be live at some point. We can now carefully push that back into the back
box ensuring we don't trap any of the wires and then we can carefully replace the
screws.
It's important when you tighten up the screws that you do not over tighten them
the last thing you want to do is crack the switch. So that's how to replace
a damaged light switch. It is a very simple and easy job the
important thing is ensuring that you isolate it correctly. Now we've done the
work we can unlock the padlock, we can then remove the lock off device and then I can
switch the circuits back on. I hope you've enjoyed watching this video if
you have and you haven't done so already please subscribe to the channel. In a
future video we're going to cover how to fix squeaking floorboards.