Wall sockets and switches

cubbybear

Hello,

Need some help and info on upgrading of light switches and wall sockets. I have recently moved into a new house and the existing ones are very grubby and tired looking.

I can get a good deal from an online supplier for chrome or steel ones.

Is it a job that can be done on your own? Is it just a case of turning off the electric and unscrewing one and replacing it? (wiring it right of course) or is it a job for an electrician?

Would love to do it myself to save money on paying someone to do it

Thanks in advance

keystone

Yes its eminently DIYable. Just make sure all the screw connections are nice and tight.

Cheers

savemoney

Its very easy to do just makes sure power is off on sockets before you do and double check using a electrical item. Its not much more difficult and wiring a plug. I done several of them in my house and change from 1 gang to 2 gangs etc and change dimmers to normal light switches

cubbybear

Excellent, thanks for the replies, think I will tackle all them at the weekend, thanks again

ed110220

If it's a new house (to you) definitely double check that the sockets and switches are really off even if you've switched them off at the consumer unit.

I was almost caught out by that when moving in as the consumer unit had a switch labelled "sockets" but it turned out one socket wasn't actually on that ring main but was on a circuit labelled "water heater" instead! So of course it was still live even when the others were off...

Another tip is to use a reasonable size screwdriver for the final tightening as you can get them tighter than with an electrical screwdriver and they are less likely to come loose.

cubbybear

Thanks ed. I was planing on turning the electric completly at the mains switch to be sure. I'm doing painting and DIY at the minute and the house is gutted so I don't have to have the electric on for the freezer or fridge.

DevCoder

Can't see that anyone has mentioned it, but if you are switching to metal faceplates then it must be earthed, some light circuits dont carry an earth or have had the earth cut back.

The normal way is to put the earth into the faceplate then a flylead to the earth terminal in the backbox.

And make sure that it is connected to earth, just because there is an earth lead in the T&E doesnt mean its connected at the other end!

cubbybear

Thanks kris. Sounds complicated to me, I don't know too much about electrics. I might get an electrician to show me how to do one and I would attack the rest myself

jhe

krisdorey wrote: »

Can't see that anyone has mentioned it, but if you are switching to metal faceplates then it must be earthed, some light circuits dont carry an earth or have had the earth cut back.

The normal way is to put the earth into the faceplate then a flylead to the earth terminal in the backbox.

And make sure that it is connected to earth, just because there is an earth lead in the T&E doesnt mean its connected at the other end!

sorry to hijack your thread cubbybear but can i ask krisdorey why circuits would have the earths cut back in the 1st place,i am just curious as a house i bought had no earth wires, electricians never answered me when i ask them why.

DevCoder

Either its very early wiring when earth wasnt considered important or your house was wired in singles (ie instead of T&E , Twin and Earth, 3 separate cables are pulled through a conduit system).

So for Class II equipment (ie plastic switches, plastic lights etc) there is no real need to run an earth so you can just pull 2 x singles through.

Cutting the earth of T&E back saves on crowding an accessory such as a light pendant with cores you dont need.

All the above except the age aspect is poor workmanship in my opinion, you should always cater for what might happen (ie class 1 metal light fittings or faceplates might later be required) as opposed to making things easier for yourself at the time.

You can draw an earth single to each accessory / point required bu this should ideally follow the route of the other two conductors (line+neutral).

DevCoder

cubbybear wrote: »

Thanks kris. Sounds complicated to me, I don't know too much about electrics. I might get an electrician to show me how to do one and I would attack the rest myself

Yes, I normally happily advocate DIY but an electrician would also test the circuit for earth continuity so you can ensure its safe for metal faceplates etc (they can also test for "touch voltage" where voltage is induced into the earth by its close proximity to other voltage carrying cables) and , if their decent, would also let you watch them and explain what they are doing and why.

You might find a callout for an electrician to do all your work is cheaper then you might think and you can sleep safe in the knowledge that a test on the circuits in question has been done.

Either way you can learn how and why things are done the way they are.

If you have two (or more) way lighting (ie a hall light controlled from upstairs and downstairs) then its very important you take a photo of the connectors before you remove them and attempt to put them into the new switch. Most of the time, the switched live is not identified form the live or neutral cables and unless you then have a multimeter and a wander lead its down to guess work (which is never a good thing), again an electrician can explain how this kind of switching works if you are polite.

Have some tea and biscuits, and its amazing what electricians/plumbers etc will be happy to talk to you about.