When operating household networks to connect electrical appliances and lighting of the premises, switching switches and sockets are used. Due to natural aging, emergency conditions and excessive load, circuit breakers can fail. Therefore, the question may often arise about how to disassemble the light switch with your own hands.
Why disassemble the switch?
Most common causes are:
Therefore, disassembly is determined either by some emergency or its obsolescence. Consider the procedure for disassembling the switch.
#one. Cut off the voltage
Rice. 1: disable dual auto
The main step, before disassembling the switch, is to remove the voltage from all current-carrying elements that are involved in the power supply. As with the disassembly of sockets, the best option de-energization is to turn off the introductory machines. If your machine breaks two wires at once - both phase and zero, then after turning it off, you can immediately disassemble the switch.
Rice. 2: disable single auto If there is one machine at the input and you do not know whether it disconnects the phase wire or not, then after switching it, you must use an indicator screwdriver. Which will determine the presence or absence of potential in the network. If the potential is still on electric wire, then it is necessary to disconnect the phase on the switchboard or use dielectric gloves and goggles when disassembling the switch.
If the apartment has its own switchboard, in which the machines are not signed and you do not know the connection diagram, then turn off each circuit breaker in turn and observe the state of the light bulb when the switch is on. If the switch is broken and you do not have the opportunity to apply voltage to the light bulb, use the indicator to check the voltage in neighboring outlets, and if there are none, turn off the voltage in the apartment completely. Or use dielectric gloves.
Rice. 3: Use insulating gloves if the circuit breaker cannot be de-energized. #2 Remove the keys
In most cases, in order to disassemble modern switches, it is necessary to dismantle the keys. Since they act as a decorative panel that hides the place where the switch itself is attached to the wall or box. In some older models, dismantling the key is not required, since their attachment points are located directly on the case, and the key performs only its immediate function.
Rice. 4: modern two-gang switch
Look at the figure, here is an example of a two-gang switch. In a model with large keys that occupy a significant area of the device, you need to slightly press on one of the sides of the key, fixing it in its extreme position, and pull it towards you.
Rice. 5: pull the key towards you In some switch designs, even a small recess is provided for this, in which it is convenient to put your fingers and the keys are already removed from there.
Rice. 6: The key came off easily If you cannot pull the key with your fingers or the applied force is not enough, you can use a flat tool. To remove the key, pry it from the side with a standard screwdriver.
Rice. 7: pry the key with a screwdriver When doing this, be extremely careful, as you can easily damage the key. Of course, you can not regret the device being prepared for disposal, but in other situations, extreme caution must be exercised. If necessary, you can pry the key alternately with different parties to ensure its forward movement. As a result, you should remove all keys.
Rice. 8: keyless switch #3 Remove the lid
AT various models The lid can be fixed with:
Rice. 10: fastening with a frame Look, the frame is fixed with small latches, there are four of them in this model. In order to remove the frame, it is enough to pry off two adjacent ones, and the rest can be easily pulled out of the attachment points.
After the decorative cover and the key are dismantled, you can proceed to the removal of the mechanism body itself.
In the event that there is old lid bolted from the outside, you should start disassembling by removing these bolts.
Rice. 11: unscrew the bolts on the cover Then proceed to unscrew the case.
#4 Remove the case
The most common option in newer rocker switches is a bolt-on arrangement located at the edges of the housing that secures the entire mechanism to the box. To remove from the housing, the bolts are alternately unscrewed at the attachment points.
Rice. 12: unscrew the housing bolts The second fixation option is spring struts, which, in addition to mounting in the box, also allow you to adjust the angle of rotation of the main unit of the automatic switch. In such a situation, using a screwdriver, the spacers are loosened until the switch freely comes out of the socket. This is done by unscrewing the bolts.
Rice. 13: loosen the spacers On models with a bolted housing, you can also see these spacers, which allow you to adjust the angle of rotation. But you do not need to unscrew them in order to disassemble the device.
It should be noted that in the event of a breakdown, it is possible that the wires have burnt out from the fastening or they have become loose at the crimp points. Then the core may fall out of the box. Such a drop with the power off, although safe from the point of view of electric shock, nevertheless, the main part of the switch can be damaged by a fall. Therefore, before removing the mechanism, at the time of dismantling it is better to support it with your fingers.
After the core of the switch is pulled out of the box, it should remain hanging on the wires alone.
Rice. 14: core on wires Therefore, to disassemble it further, disconnect the wiring mount from the slats. Power wires may be different way fastening to the lamellas, because of which their shutdown will be different. The most common options are:
Rice. 15: unplug the wires It should be noted that this procedure should be done carefully so that small parts do not crumble. If your goal was to install a new double switch, the old one can simply be thrown away. And if you disassembled the device to eliminate any malfunction, then after disconnecting the wire, it must be inspected.
#6 Examine the switch
If your goal was to identify any malfunctions, carefully inspect the attachment points of the phase leads. Perhaps they will be clearly visible traces of melting or oxidation. In the presence of thermal destruction of plastic, you can immediately replace the entire switch. Places of oxidation can cause poor contact, so they must be cleaned.
Due to the fact that its cost is relatively low, it is simply impractical to perform any replacement of parts and attachment points of the case to damaged parts.
There is also the possibility that the switch remained intact, and the electrical wiring suffered from excessive overheating. In such situations, you can observe annealing of current-carrying parts, melting of insulation and other damage. These factors will indicate that it may be necessary to replace the wiring or some of its sections.
If all parts do not contain any signs of burning, then there may be no contact in the on position. To check for such a malfunction, use a multimeter and check for the presence or absence of contact. In some models, it is enough just to get to the mechanism and restore its normal operation. Therefore, it is quite possible to fix such a malfunction on your own.
Faced with the repair, each of us asks related questions. For example, how to disassemble so that it does not interfere with wallpapering? With sockets, everything seems to be clear. There you can see the head of the screw for a flat or Phillips screwdriver. Unscrewing it, we release the outlet cover. With the switch a little more difficult - the screws are not visible.
Even in the event of a circuit breaker failure, there is no need to call in expensive specialists. Even a person far from electricity can solve the problem of how to disassemble the light switch. The first step is to identify the problem node. If the switch changes position with difficulty, makes unusual sounds when turned on, or smells of burning, then it is immediately clear where the malfunction is.
If there are no obvious signs of damage, you should first check the position circuit breakers in the power panel on the Pampering of children, the vindictiveness of the neighbors or just a power surge could leave your apartment without electricity. Turn on the machine from your apartment and check the operation of the lighting. If it turned itself off again, it obviously happened, which can only occur in the switch in the rare case when it is installed directly above the current-carrying wire, and this wire is surprisingly exposed and hooked on the switch contacts. Look for other causes of the malfunction.
Before disassembling the light switch in the apartment, you should check the operability of the light bulb, its contacts and installation density. According to the experience of electricians, problems occur in lamps and lamp sockets much more often than in a switch, since the rated life of the opening and closing device is always much longer than the life of consumable lighting elements and contacts subjected to mechanical impact when replacing the lamp.
You also need to check the presence of phase current in different positions of the switch using a simple tester (indicator). AT Soviet times there were no particular differences where to embed the switch - before the load or after. However, in recent times builders are trying to install switches on the phase, leading wire. If the difference when turned on is visible on the tester, then there is no open circuit in the switch, and other reasons must be looked for.
After making sure that the problem is in the switch, you should prepare the tools and workplace. Here you may need:
Preparation of the workplace begins with ensuring the illumination of the work area without the use of connected lighting. Roughly speaking, you need to work during the day, and in dark places additionally use a flashlight or other non-volatile light source. Dust inside the electrical box can stain fabric chairs and chairs, so move them away before disassembling the light switch.
So, first of all, you need to de-energize the section of the circuit with which you are supposed to work. To do this, find stairwell vending machines related to your apartment. Recently, in the shields they sign the ownership of the differential current switches in the apartments, otherwise you should warn the neighbors in the stairwell about your intentions to turn off the current and, by joint efforts, empirically find the necessary switches. Do not turn off the electricity without notifying the neighbors if you are not sure about the ownership of the machines.
Next you need to get to the mounting screws to remove protective cover from the switch. First, remove the key, prying it in the middle with a thin blade of a knife. The decorative casing is usually attached to a plastic latch or screws; remove it with a screwdriver. On the sides of the switch there will be two fixing bolts with spacer tabs. You need to unscrew them a little to release the switch from the socket of the box.
The next step is to inspect the contacts. Most often, oxidized or simply jumped out wires from sockets and fasteners can cause a malfunction. Having tightened the wire connections properly, the switch is first checked “on weight”, without being inserted into the box.
Burnt contacts, melted insulation, and simply a lack of response to your actions indicate that it is better to replace the switch. After disconnecting the wires, in no case do not leave them hanging out of the wall just like that, even for half an hour. This is a familiar place on the wall, where households automatically put their hand to turn on the light. Wrap it up with duct tape when you go to the store. The situation is a little more difficult in large rooms with different light intensities. However, the sequence of actions on how to disassemble the lights does not differ from working with a single-key. The only caveat of the multi-key switch is that you need to mark the ends of the wires in the wall in case the element needs to be replaced. You can, of course, empirically determine the connection sequence, but this will take extra time and is not very safe.
With simple switches, it seems, everything. And how to disassemble the switch from the light? So-called dimmers, especially mechanical ones, are connected to the circuit in the same way as ordinary switches. Their dismantling is carried out in approximately the same way. First remove the rotary knob, then release decorative panel from the latch with a knife or screwdriver, then loosen the mounting tabs by unscrewing the fixing bolts on the body.
That's all. Installation is carried out in reverse order. So, we figured out how to disassemble a two-key light switch and its one-key counterpart. Everything is quite simple, and any self-taught master will cope with this work. And if you know how to disassemble the switch with light control, then you won’t put everything back together at all big problem. Remember that all connections and fasteners must be tightened properly so as not to repair the switch once again.
"- we will remove the usual key switch, of which there are enough in our apartments a large number of. Disassembly and removal may be required during repairs (for example, they decided to re-paste the wallpaper), or it simply broke down and needs to be replaced. If there are not many problems with the external options, then it’s more difficult to remove the internal ones (read -). However, everything is simple, read on for step-by-step instructions ...
For work, we need two screwdrivers. One with a flat spout (straight) and a cross. For many types of switches, only “flat” is used because there are no cross-shaped fastening screws, but for imported ones it can be exactly the opposite. So you need to have two.
2) De-energize the room
First of all, we need to turn off the electricity in the room in which you will work. Now it is easy to do this in the electrical panel - with automatic machines (as I call them - “automatic plugs”). We turn off the ones we need, if you don’t know which one goes to the room, it’s better to turn off everything at once. Otherwise, there is a chance of getting an electric shock. Look at the photo it should be exactly like that.
The lever is down, and there should be a “green square” in the slot, this indicates safety - you can work.
3) Removing keys
The main difficulty is that you need to remove the keys from the switch (if it is double) or the key (if it is single), otherwise it simply cannot be disassembled.
And there are small differences, all because the mechanisms differ in design.
The easiest way is to pull the button towards you with your fingers and squeeze it on the sides. Thus, the fasteners will “drown” and it will move away.
On some switches this will not work, the structure is different. Therefore, you need to find the connectors on the sides, “hook” them with a straight screwdriver and pull them towards you, they will move away. Just do it carefully, don't break the key.
4) Frame removal
The frames are also different. There are screw - which are attached to small screws, just unscrew and remove. The second type is those with a special fastening, peculiar latches on the sides, it should be noted that most of these switches are now (in the middle price category), for example, I have the brand LEZARD. We need to carefully (do not break), bend these plastic mounts and the frame will come off. For convenience, we remove one side, then the other, two at once will not work.
5) Unscrew the case
Any mechanism rests on the cogs on the sides, in total there can rarely be two of them four. However, most models have a so-called own mount (expansion type), it is used without bolts - then we need to loosen it. After you unscrew the mount, the switch will start to come out of the socket, we have practically dismantled it, it remains to disconnect the wires.
6) Disconnect the wires
Now, in 90% of mechanisms, electrical wiring is fixed with bolts. To turn off, just unscrew them and pull them towards you.
That's it, we're done. As you can see, it is not difficult to disassemble and remove it, the main thing is to turn off the electricity. It is also worth remembering that bare wires will be energized when you turn on the electricity. Therefore, you need to either isolate them (if you are doing repairs), or install a serviceable one (if your old one is broken).
And in conclusion, this is how the disassembled LEZARD switch looks like. The main three parts are the key, the frame and the mechanism itself. Everything is installed in reverse order.
This concludes the tutorial, I think it was useful. Read our construction blog.
Are you familiar with such a situation when, upon entering a room, you press the light switch key, but the lighting does not appear? It happened, probably, so with many, and there can be several reasons for the lack of light. Perhaps at the moment there is no voltage in the entire apartment, or the wiring is damaged, or perhaps the switch itself is not working. In the latter case, you should not immediately run to the store for a new device or call an electrician to repair it. An ordinary keyboard switch is the simplest element; any man who is more or less familiar with electricity will be able to cope with it on his own. And we will help you a little and tell you how to disassemble the light switch and determine its good or unusable condition.
Let's first make sure that the reason for the lack of light is in the switch itself.
Check if there is lighting in other rooms. If not, then look at the introductory machine, maybe you exceeded the permissible load by turning on the electric kettle, iron and microwave at the same time, and it turned off. Go out to the site, ask your neighbors if they have electricity, maybe there is no voltage in the whole house.
In the case when the light does not light up only in one room, but in all the others there is, the circle of possible causes is narrowed. Check the integrity of the bulb and the serviceability of the cartridge in lighting fixture. If everything is in order with the lamp, then there is no other way out but to remove the switch and examine its insides.
Before disassembling the light switch, immediately prepare all the tools and materials necessary for this, which may be required for repairs:
Any work in the apartment related to electricity must begin with de-energizing the work area. If you have a separate machine for each room, then turn off exactly the one from which it is powered. given room where you will remove the switch. In the case when there is one common introductory machine per apartment, turn it off and take measures so that no one can turn it back on. It will be good if it is located at the entrance to the apartment. But when the machine is located on a common area, it is better to hang a poster "Do not turn it on!" or put someone on duty.
Using an indicator screwdriver, check that there is really no voltage at the workplace. How to do it right? First check the working condition of the indicator screwdriver in an area that is known to be energized, for example, in a switchboard on the site. When in contact with the phase wire, the indicator window lit up, which means that the screwdriver is working. Now go back to the room and check the absence of voltage in the junction box by touching the mains wires. The indicator screwdriver does not glow, which means that everything is in order, you have secured the working area and you can safely remove the switch from the wall.
And now for the details on how to remove the switch:
This video shows how a single-key is disassembled:
and a two-button switch:
When disassembling the switch, remember the sequence of actions. If everything is in order with the switching device itself (it has not melted and is ready for further operation), it will need to be assembled in the reverse order. In the event that damage to the switch itself is found (for example, the contact part is melted), and do not try to restore anything, immediately go to the store for a new device.
Elements home electrical wiring sooner or later it has to be replaced or repaired. To do this efficiently, and most importantly, safely for your life, you need to know how the main points of work are performed: how to remove a switch, a socket from the wall, how to disassemble them and find out which part in their device does not work correctly or even failed.
Has the light gone out in your house, garage or shed? Before you take a screwdriver, you need to find out possible cause. There may be several of them, it will not be difficult to identify them:
If at home there are spare electrical accessories and a few screwdrivers, then you can immediately proceed to the implementation repair work. The difficulty lies only in correctly detecting the attachment points and not damaging appearance switch when removed from the wall.
The fact is that the reason for the inactivity of the on / off mechanism can be easily eliminated by home methods, and replacement is not required, then it will be possible to put the repaired switch back in place. And given that manufacturers are now paying great attention to the design of their products, all screws, clips and other fasteners are usually hidden under the frame. Therefore, when dismantling, not knowing detailed device fittings, you can easily damage the keys or the frame, and this will significantly degrade the external data.
When performing any work with electrical wiring, first of all, you need to turn off the electricity on the shield, de-energizing the repair site. You should also stock up on a special screwdriver-indicator, with which you can check if everything is disabled.
The procedure for dismantling will be as follows:
After that, you can proceed to dismantle the mechanism itself and unscrew the bolts that secure the wiring.
When all preparatory work completed, you need to disassemble the light switch and carefully examine it. If the contacts are oxidized, they must be cleaned. Oxidation can also interfere with the passage electric current, so if there is heavy pollution contacts, then, most likely, that is why the mechanism did not work. After cleaning, you need to connect all the wires, mount the device back into the hole in the wall and fix the frame and keys in place. To test its operation, electricity is supplied.
If the contacts of the switch are melted, this indicates that a short circuit has occurred, as a result of which the mechanism has overheated and deformed. In this case, only replacement will help, such a switch is no longer subject to repair. In order for the new device to fit, you need to take the old one with you to the store, then there will be no problems with choosing accessories.
In addition, loosening of the wire contacts on the terminals is possible. If outwardly everything looks fine, you should try to unscrew the wiring from the attachment points and screw it on again, tightening the screws tightly. If the check revealed that this is not the case, then it is worth checking the quality of the wiring with a special device - a multimeter.
