Light switch is stiff.

[ss]

I have a couple of wall light switches that are stiff (rocker type), is it worth or safe to spray the mechanism with say graphite lubricant or a case of just replace them.

[Tim+]

I?m not sure spraying a powdered conductor into a mains voltage switch is a smart idea...

Switches aren?t expensive. I?d just replace it.

Tim

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

I replaced one a month back. It finally got so stiff, I had to use an object that could channel the force from both hands to press it.

Wd40 is a good lubricant and an insulator. It is flammable though so dont bath the switch in it. If you can remove the switch body there is a slider that forces the contacts together, this will need cleaning/ lubrication.

Having said that , you would find it difficult to start a fire with it. In my dim and distant past one of the jolly japes after meggering apprentices was disharging a can of WD40 on a rotating commutator. We never burnt a single workshop down.

Personally I found it easier to replace as I keep a few spares around the house. They are cheap, I seem to recollect buying boxes of the things from Wickes for little more than the cost of two individual items.

I stripped the old switch to see what the problem was, it was a decent MK and I could see nothing wrong!

AB

[Bob Eager]

Switch cleaner?

[tabbypurr]

IME with wall switches the sliding plastic surfaces degrade, becoming rough. You might find a little oil in the central pivot keeps it going a while, but not forever. Obviously do not put graphite in there or anywhere else. Switch contact cleaner is no use in these cases. But the simplest option is to replace the switch. Stiff switches are a small hazad, they can sit half way sparking.

NT

[Roger Hayter]

I'd try a bit of silicone spray, but it is probably bent or worn little pieces of metal or the plastic they bear on (rather than increased friction due to dirt etc) so if it wasn't cured I'd replace it.

[Steve Walker]

Domestic light switches often have spring loaded plastic plungers for the over-centre mechanism. The tips slide on either the metal contact strip or a plastic piece pivot attached to the metal. Where they slide is lubricated with a grease at the factory and switch cleaner is likely to wash that out.

SteveW

[Archibald Tarquin Blenkinsopp]

Not quite as cheap as a squirt of silicone, but if you have to buy a can in:

AB

[harry]

WD40 Definitely not graphite.

[Brian Gaff]

Personally I'd replace them. It of course depends on whether you have one of those persons in the house who polishes everything with spray polish. that stuff gets in and gums up the works big time. No don't use Graphite, use wd40 first, and if the problem persists and they are the plastic kind its probably worn. I used to find the very old round sighed MK ones succumbed to this a lot. Brian

[Brian Gaff]

Switch cleaner is not as good as wd 40, its not a conductor thing its a mechanical thing. If you can get a tiny bit of the old sewing machine oil inside and assuming its not gummed up with polish then try that. Brian

[Harry Bloomfield]

WD40 is extremely flammable, even the waxy remnants of WD40 can be triggered to catch fire by the arc of a poor connection. Switches are not expensive, just fit new ones.

[DerbyBorn]

Steve Walker [e-mail]> wrote in news:q261q8$4dh$ [e-mail]:

+1

[whisky-dave]

Where wodneys idea of having them controlled by PIR or voice activated, you wouldn't need a olde mechanical switch then.

Next stage is thought activated.

[newshound]

+1

I do sometimes find pull switches in the bathroom getting sticky from debris from the lath and plaster ceiling. A spray plus exercise very often clears them.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Has this just happened, or was it always the case?

Certain types of switches - like say an intermediate - are stiffer than simple ones.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Not going to work with Wodney, then?

[ss]

Been that way for a while just never got round to sorting it.

[ss]

Update: Thought I would take a chance and without unscrewing from the wall just sprayed some WD40 into the rocker switch as best I could (with the circuit off) left for an hour and it is now `smoothly gliding` on and off. Will see how long it lasts.