I have a switch in bathroom that lights up my 25w florescent bulb. For years I've used the up toggle switch to turn it on and down to turn it off. Now, for the past week or so, its doing the reverse. It won't turn on unless it turn it down. Is this possible? Its really complicated to get at the switch cause its embedded into a large medicine chest, and an old one at that...came with the house.
Sounds like you have a 3-way switch. Is there another switch somewhere that controls the light? Maybe inside the medicine cabinet. Look at your switch. Does it say "on" or "off" on it? If you don't, most likely its a 3 way switch.
It sounds like someone flipped a 3-way switch someplace else in the house and didn't notice it.
Think back...do you recall walking into the bathroom and saying "Who left the damn light on?"
If so, then someone turned it on with the other 3 way switch and didn't realize it. Find that switch, switch it the other way and you'll be back to your usual up-down operation - until the next time somebody toggles the other switch.
Possible it's a 3way, but doesn't sound very likely, since he says the switch is part of the medicine cabinet. On the other hand, the only other explanation I can think of is if it's one of the toggle switches that fits into a round hole in the medicine cabinet, maybe someone rotated the switch around 180degs.
either that, or someone's a practical joker in the family.
i once (back in the days of dumb crt terminals) cracked the case open, turned the crt display tube upside down, closed it up, and placed it back on a cow-orkers desk.
Sounds like you have a 3way switch and someone accidentally found and flipped the one at the other end.
DerbyDad03 wrote in news:bfa23a78-74c5-428c-84e3- snipped-for-privacy@f25g2000yqc.googlegroups.com:
If it were a 3-way, it would NOT have the ON & OFF molded into it.
umm...did I imply that it did or did you reply to the wrong post?
you were hiding behind the filing cabinet? duh, to say that i didn't turn the crt upside down is pretty stupid unless you were. and you weren't. considering that 2 others in my office were there when i did this, you look pretty stupid making that statement.
fyi, it was a televideo 955
He may have just turned the CRT upside down with the yoke attached to it. That would have inverted the image just fine.
Nowadays it's easier to just use a prank software program like this one:
Somebody reversed your hot and neutral. Look outside around the circuit breaker box for tampering, foot-prints, etc. Can you fashion a rudimentary lathe?
Sounds like the switch is failing - not unusual for cheaply made switches in corrosion-prone areas like a bathroom. I predict it will work for a while longer and then fail, perhaps on, perhaps off, and maybe with a little sputtering. I find that clamp lamps with a rotating knob switch to fail in much the same way. Heat, moisture and age are all factors.
It's not very likely to be a hidden three-way switch because it's in a bathroom. I don't think I've ever seen a three-way switch in a bathroom - ever. Nor is it likely to be gremlins rotating it 180 degrees just to mess with you.
When you hear hoofbeats, think horses and not zebras. The most likely explanation is just typical cheap manufacturing coupled with a harsh environment.
-- Bobby G.
I've seen LOTs of 3 way switches in bathrooms. Mostly in on-suites - but any bathroom with 2 doors.
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That won't change switch behavior of when contacts open/closed...all it would do would be to break on neutral side of circuit instead of hot side.
If it hasn't been geometrically changed in orientation, the only alternative is that somehow the mechanical internals have worn to the point they're somehow operating backwards of before...
I'd suggest as someone else that a new switch is in your future sooner as opposed to later.
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Well maybe the ground and neutral was reversed. Or the bulb has a left-hand thread.
I know: the fixture is upside-down!
You may laugh, but when I was a cop I made a call where a person or persons unknown broke into the complainant's house and replaced ALL his furniture with other furniture that looked exactly like his original furniture!
To this day, the episode remains a whodunit!
I think it's unlikely to have a three way toggle switch on the side of a 25 year old medicine chest. My vote is mechanical failure within the switch. And that the switch is soon to fail.
Was alcohol, marijuana, or toggle switches involved?
If yer gonna steal from Steven Wright, at least credit him.
You are likely correct, with it being a light duty bat handle switch (round or "D" hole mount)
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