How to Repair Fix Replace Electrical Light Switch Easy and Cheap

How to Put In a New Electric Power Switch 

By TurtleDog

 

Hi! Give your electrician the day off and do some basic electrical work at your home yourself. Replacing switches is not very hard to do, the most important part is following the first three critical safety steps. Power in the house is very deadly so you want to be safe. The rest is easy. Please read on to learn how to Repair Fix Replace Electrical Light Switch Easy and Cheap

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. • 1
     
     

     Take two working functioning lamps with working bulbs and plug them into an outlet that the switch you want to replace controls. In other words, be sure the switch actually turns the power on and off to that outlet. Switch the electrical light switch place to the on position. Turn both lamps on and be sure the bulbs go on. Read on, it'll make more sense... If neither lamp goes on in the first place, read step 2 and the follow the step three advise of turning off all power in the house.
   • 2
     
     

     Go to your breaker board (that panel with all the switches on it, probably located in your closet or basement). The one shown is very, very small. Yours may have many more switches.
   • 3
     
     

     Turn off one switch at a time until both lamps go out. (Note: If you are replacing an electrical switch that isn't working and, hense, you aren't getting power in the lamps when you turn them on in step one, turn off all power in the house, by turning all switches on the board off. It is better to be safe than dead :-O
   • 4
     
     

     Once you are absolutely sure there is no electric going to the light switch. Then unscrew the plate covering the switch.
   • 5
     
     

     Remove the plate
   • 6
     
     

     After removing the plate, there will be a screw above and below the light switch. Remove those screws completely.
   • 7
     
     

     Pull out the electrical switch from the wall a couple inches. You'll see a screw in both sides of the switch and wires from the wall screwed into both sides. Make a very clear note as to which wire is in each screw. Remember which wire goes to the screw on the left and right. I like to make a very clear note or diagram or even lightly applying masking tape in order to remember. Then unscrew the screws
   • 8
     
     

     Either unscrew the screw all the way, or if you can unscrew it part way and remove the wire, that is even better. Do this for both sides of the switch.
   • 9
     
     

     Now, just do everything in reverse. Screw the wires sticking out of the wall into the new outlet. Be sure to use your notes and get all of the wires into the same screw positions on the new light switch as they were on the old one.
   • 10
     Press the electrical switch back into the wall and screw the two screws above and below the switch back in
   • 11
     Replace the electric switch plate
   • 12
     Plug a lamp into the outlet the switch controls (or leave the two lamps you plugged in above) and turn the power back onto the room. Or if you needed to turn off the whole house, turn the whole house back on. Everything should go back on just fine.
   • 13
     Sit back and admire your work.
     
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