Ridge vent and an attic fan that you say runs all night long when it's hot. More insanity. That attic fan is almost certainly short circuiting air, possibly making things worse than having no fan at all. It pulls air in through the ridge vent and pumps it right back outside, instead of air coming up from the soffits and out the ridge, flowing through the attic, you have air coming in at the ridge vent defeating that and going right back out via the fan. And the thermostat is set too low.
It's not reliable. It is in the center and off NOW. That's all I meant.
The ones I've seen are not switch failures, but balancing the switch at the point where the spring forces are equal.
BTW, I could duplicate the situation here, although it took a few tries to get one of the switches in the middle position that it's not supposed to be in.
On 9/17/2019 10:39 AM, trader_4 wrote: ...
+23.456
. Not possible on a properly functioning "snap action" switch. Perhaps on a "silent" switch - but even then I'd be questioning how long the switch was going to last. Snap action switches generally outlast the silent type significantly.(they don't arc)
Absolutes don't exist. There is less of an arc because the time where the contacts are ALMOST touching is less. In the same way, there MUST be a balance point between the springs (switch halfway between positions), just like any other balance point. This balance point can be very small and nearly impossible to get the switch into, but it DOES exist. This is a consequence of the switch being "break before make" as most are.
Typically a snap switch will stay made on one side until it reaches that tipping point to flip the other way. Hence the term snap switch. The contacts are not directly connected to the handle of the switch. There is a toggle mechanism in between. I suppose you could have one with a defective toggle but that would be in the trash at my house.
You buy yourself a box of good "snap action " switches and sit down and try to get one into that ambigouous state. In about 2 years you MIGHT have one worn out to the point you can get it there - but I doubt it. Then you can start on the second one in the box - - - - - Not saying it's absolutely impossible - but it's about as close as damn is to swearing - - - -
Correct - and generally whenthe toggle DOES fail it just stays in one position or the other. On the other hand, I can take virtually any silent 3 way toggle switch and get it to sit in the off-off position virtually any time I want
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