How to Open a Light Switch

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Part of the video series: Basic Home Electrical Repairs

Basic Electrical Tools: Part 2

How to Shut Off a Circuit Breake...

How to Wire a Light Switch

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Summary: Learn how to open a light switch panel in this free online do it yourself home improvement video on basic electrical work.

Views: 1,464 | Tags: home, repair, diy, electrical, basic, improvment, electrician, residential, home improvement

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About the Expert

Danny Herb Danny Herb is a professional electrician in the Los Angeles area who works in both residential and commercial fields. read more

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Video Transcript

How to Open a Light Switch

So what we're going to do is we're going to take off the cover plate and just kind of check around the switch to kind of see what's going on in there first before we take it out and replace it. Now, you can kind of see inside there to see what's going on. See what the wires look like, if they're old, if they're raddy, if they've got char on them. Maybe they've had some arcing going on, arching is when it sparks up real big. I've seen a lot of people use an electric screwdriver or something on these, it's not a good idea. Because the metal that they use on these screws are very soft. There is a hot wire coming into the switch and there's a hot wire going out to the switch. They only become hot when you turn the switch on or off. When you don't have a ground wire and you're working on a switch and you don't have a neutral wire cause it's just two hot wires, then there's not a real way to check it. So you have to check from where it's getting its power from.