Long handled light switches?

[Mike Hartigan]

We recently bought some decorative switchplates that are rather on the thick side. The standard toggle switches barely clear the front of the switchplate making it vary difficult to turn the lights on (the switchplate is thinner above the switch, so turning the lights off is not as big a deal). I've shopped all the traditional sources

- HD, Lowes, local HW store, etc. - looking for switches with longer handles. No luck. I've also asked for suggestions from some of the more knowledgeable from these stores and have come up empty.

How is such a problem typically dealt with? I've seen such switchplates available for years, so it's reasonable to assume that there is a solution to this. Anyone care to share?

Thanks, Mike

[bumtracks]

have a link to this switch plate ? Some of the push on/off turn knob dimmers, the knob sticks way out there and usually will twist down to no light. GE used to make a lighted handle mercury switch with a handle that stuck out a little too far so you could see its glow better in the dark.

[Jeff Wisnia]

Your dilemma has been well covered on the web for several years now. Try:

I've encountered a few of those "thick plates" in peoples houses, and had to work a little to flip the switch. My thoughts always were something like, "If this were MY house, I'd fix it." I feel the same way when I hear squeeking door hinges that nobody ever thinks to take a minute to oil. I often wonder why I was born to have unimportant things like that peeve me when so much of the rest of the world doesn't even notice them.

If I was faced with that switch lever problem and really couldn't find a "proper" switch, I'd drill the end of the switch lever, set in a small heated self threading screw and, build up a lever extension around the screw head with moldable epoxy.

When the epoxy cured I'd file and sand it to shape, then refinish the whole lever with a couple of coats of spray enamel in an appropriate color.

'Course I get a kick out of that kind of "turd gilding" and am fortunate to have the time available for them. It would probably take less than an hour overall time to do that sort of thing to several new switches.

HTH,

Jeff

[mark]

Is it the switch that's the problem? Or is the box too far back in the sheetrock? They make extenders to bring them out flush, if that's the case.

[pray4surf]

Try: : :

:

I had trouble with the URL, but wanted to chime in with a suggestion to check out handicap/ADA sources...

Rick

[bumtracks]

[e-mail].. wrote in...

How long does a tiny url last >?

[pray4surf]

: > Try: : > : : > :

> : : How long does a tiny url last >?

Hopefully longer than 10 hours :-)

Interesting that their website

makes no mention of duration.

Here is a tinyurl I created for another post approx 20 hours ago.

It still functions.

Rick

[willshak]

I just dug out a message from my 'News Sent' folder dated September 9,

2002, that had a tinyurl link and it went right to the page I linked to back then.

[J T]

The home page says in the first paragraph: never expires.

[Jeff Wisnia]

The "tinyurl" I put in my post still works for me......

For those may not have been able to get it to work (perhaps the "tinyurl" server was down or overloaded}, the URL I linked to was really:

I was trying to hide my "badgag" until it popped up on the reader's browser.

Jeff

[Mike Hartigan]

The switch is as tight as it can get against the back of the switchplate. The problem is the thickness of the switchplate or the length of the switch, depending on whether your company sells switchplates or switches ;-) As I said, the fact that thick decorative switchplates have been available for so long suggests that there is a simple solution. I just don't know what it is. One suggestion was to replace the switch with a knob-type dimmer.

-Mike

[SJF]

So, the tinyurl does not expire. But the referenced page may. Also, some referenced pages may not be directly accessible, requiring they be reached through a home page and its menus.

[willshak]

My point was that my 2 year old tinyurl link went to the URL that was originally specified. Whether that old linked page had changed, or the old URL is now 404, doesn't change the fact that the tinyurl is still pointing to the same URL that it did back then. There are probably hundreds of thousands of direct URL links out there that don't work anymore, either. Since I changed ISPs, I know that there are many of my old ISP URL links floating around in cyberspace.

[Michael A. Ball]

Until you find a real solution, you could heat and force a short piece of small, clear, plastic hose over the lever.

Michael

When I die, I want to go where dogs go!