| By Greg Vanden Berge
Be extremely careful replacing a light switch if
you are not going to shut down the electrical power. You will be
replacing the light switch at a risk to your health if you do not make
sure absolutely sure, positively absolutely sure that there is no
electricity going to the light switch you are going to replace.
Replacing a light switch is not a real difficult
task. If you have a fear of electricity go to the main breaker in your
house and shut the whole house down. Before you do this make sure all
of your computers and electronic equipment that could get damaged is
turned off.
Power down all of your electrical components before
you shut any power off.
I was working on a house and the homeowner went to
shut the the breaker off in the panel that went to the outdoor plug I
was replacing. A few minutes later I heard him in the house a little
irritated. It seemed he left his computer on while he shut the breaker
off that was also supplying electricity to his computer.
Needless to say he could not reboot the computer
properly and had to call a friend over to get the computer running
again.
Before you remove the light switch turn the light
switch on and off to make sure the light is no longer coming on. This
will be a good sign that the power is off. One more thing I think might
be important here to say. The light should have been working before you
turned the breaker on or off. If the light was not working, try
replacing the light bulb.
If you replace the light bulb and the light still
isn't working you could actually have a burnt out switch, some wiring
problems or a burnout electrical breaker in the panel.
Step one: Use a flat head screwdriver to unscrew
the electrical light switch cover. After you remove the light cover you
will see the upper and lower screws holding the light switch itself to
the electrical box.
Step two: loosen the two screws holding the light
switch to the electrical box and remove the light switch. The light
switch should have two wires attached to the back of it. If you see any
burnt wiring or melted plastic proceed with caution. When I say proceed
with caution this would be a good time to purchase an electrical tester
before you proceed.
Use the electrical tester to make double sure the
electric is off. If you can’t figure out how to use the electrical
tester HIRE AN ELECTRICIAN,
Step three: remove the electrical wires coming out
of the old light switch and installed the old wires in to the new light
switch.
Step four: install the new light switch in to the
electrical box and reinstall the old light switch plate cover.
How is that for simple?
Use extreme caution when doing any electrical
work. If you see any thing that could be a possible problem do not
attempt to replace the light switch yourself. This would be a good time
to hire an electrician to fix any electrical problems.
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