Small amount of water in bathroom pull cord switch

twopenny

Is it possible that you went away having had bath, showers before locking up and there's been a temperature change?
Here I was sunbathing one day and putting the heating and winter quilt on the next with torrential rain.
Being a simple soul id stuff the hole with a paper towel and some tissue in base of llight fittin and see which got wet.

joe90mitch

twopenny said:

Is it possible that you went away having had bath, showers before locking up and there's been a temperature change?
Here I was sunbathing one day and putting the heating and winter quilt on the next with torrential rain.
Being a simple soul id stuff the hole with a paper towel and some tissue in base of llight fittin and see which got wet.

What a great idea, the kind of simple but completely logical test that I love to come up with myself and am annoyed when I don't. I'm just putting the new switch on now so I'll lay a small piece of loo roll in the bottom and push a piece into the hole also, I'll then periodically take it down and see if either get wet.

Bendy_House

When you can look at it again, use a hoover to fully clear around the hole so hopefully you can discount that area being damp.

It's possible that the ceiling below has been overboarded, leaving the old plaster and lath in place, but equally likely the plaster on the lath is a good half-inch or more thick and that's all there is.

You should be able to pass a thin summat up through the hole to confirm the overall thickness, or even the cable itself if there's enough movement in it - push it through as far as it'll go, mark the above and below of the ceiling on the outer sleeve, pull it back down and see what thickness of ceiling you have. Anything much over, ooh, 20mm-ish would suggest there's an extra p'board layer, with the remote possibility of water somehow being present in the sandwich, tho' I don't know how...

A real mystery so far.

joe90mitch

Bendy_House said:

When you can look at it again, use a hoover to fully clear around the hole so hopefully you can discount that area being damp.

It's possible that the ceiling below has been overboarded, leaving the old plaster and lath in place, but equally likely the plaster on the lath is a good half-inch or more thick and that's all there is.

You should be able to pass a thin summat up through the hole to confirm the overall thickness, or even the cable itself if there's enough movement in it - push it through as far as it'll go, mark the above and below of the ceiling on the outer sleeve, pull it back down and see what thickness of ceiling you have. Anything much over, ooh, 20mm-ish would suggest there's an extra p'board layer, with the remote possibility of water somehow being present in the sandwich, tho' I don't know how...

A real mystery so far.

I am probably as confused as you... But at the same time I don't think I've explained the ceiling very well .

When I lift the floorboards, just beneath the joists I can see the laths. Then, about a foot beneath I you can see the top of the ceiling beneath. I can't easily reach through the laths as not many are broken and I'm not sure whether it's a good idea for me to break more for access?

Maybe the below accidental photo taken earlier makes a bit more sebse. At the top are the laths. Then you can see the wall extend beneath, funky old wallpaper included, then maybe around 6-12 inches beneath you can just about make out the ceiling below, well you can mainly see bits of plaster sat on it at the bottom right. The photo I took earlier was from me dangling my phone in that gap where one lath is missing 
If it reoccurs am I ok to saw a couple more laths out so I can reach down and do a tidy up (like you said vacuuming sounds sensible).

fenwick458

looks like the laths are the original ceiling height, and the ceiling was lowered more recently. to be honest if you don't see any evidence of water ingress from above, then it's condensation. it's hardly likely water is getting right through the old laths without leaving a trace and then disappearing down the hole into the switch, odds of that are one in a million.
I can sometimes take apart IP66 sealed boxes that were sealed in a factory somewhere and the seals look absolutely perfect, yet a teaspoon of water droplets is present when they are opened up 10 or so years later on site(in a rapidly changing environment, regarding heat and humidity). I've always assumed it never got past the seal, and there are no holes in the enclosure, so it just has to be condensation

Bendy_House

joe90mitch said:

Bendy_House said:

When you can look at it again, use a hoover to fully clear around the hole so hopefully you can discount that area being damp.

It's possible that the ceiling below has been overboarded, leaving the old plaster and lath in place, but equally likely the plaster on the lath is a good half-inch or more thick and that's all there is.

You should be able to pass a thin summat up through the hole to confirm the overall thickness, or even the cable itself if there's enough movement in it - push it through as far as it'll go, mark the above and below of the ceiling on the outer sleeve, pull it back down and see what thickness of ceiling you have. Anything much over, ooh, 20mm-ish would suggest there's an extra p'board layer, with the remote possibility of water somehow being present in the sandwich, tho' I don't know how...

A real mystery so far.

I am probably as confused as you... But at the same time I don't think I've explained the ceiling very well .

When I lift the floorboards, just beneath the joists I can see the laths. Then, about a foot beneath I you can see the top of the ceiling beneath. I can't easily reach through the laths as not many are broken and I'm not sure whether it's a good idea for me to break more for access?

Maybe the below accidental photo taken earlier makes a bit more sebse. At the top are the laths. Then you can see the wall extend beneath, funky old wallpaper included, then maybe around 6-12 inches beneath you can just about make out the ceiling below, well you can mainly see bits of plaster sat on it at the bottom right. The photo I took earlier was from me dangling my phone in that gap where one lath is missing 
If it reoccurs am I ok to saw a couple more laths out so I can reach down and do a tidy up (like you said vacuuming sounds sensible).

Ah! Yes, absolutely fine to cut away a few more laths - these are redundant now (do it carefully, tho', so you don't get clumps of plaster falling off. Or, has the plaster largely been removed from it, leaving just bare lath?).

The only way you can be certain it isn't from above is to get to the real ceiling where the cable comes through.

Bendy_House

fenwick458 said:

looks like the laths are the original ceiling height, and the ceiling was lowered more recently. to be honest if you don't see any evidence of water ingress from above, then it's condensation. it's hardly likely water is getting right through the old laths without leaving a trace and then disappearing down the hole into the switch, odds of that are one in a million.
I can sometimes take apart IP66 sealed boxes that were sealed in a factory somewhere and the seals look absolutely perfect, yet a teaspoon of water droplets is present when they are opened up 10 or so years later on site(in a rapidly changing environment, regarding heat and humidity). I've always assumed it never got past the seal, and there are no holes in the enclosure, so it just has to be condensation

Unless it's a 100% seal which can also withstand changes in pressure, many fittings will allow this to happen as the air warms and cools around it. Warms up, air inside fitting expands and seeps out, cools down at night, inside pressure drops, cold damp air gets sucked in. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

Eldi_Dos

Bendy_House said:

fenwick458 said:

looks like the laths are the original ceiling height, and the ceiling was lowered more recently. to be honest if you don't see any evidence of water ingress from above, then it's condensation. it's hardly likely water is getting right through the old laths without leaving a trace and then disappearing down the hole into the switch, odds of that are one in a million.
I can sometimes take apart IP66 sealed boxes that were sealed in a factory somewhere and the seals look absolutely perfect, yet a teaspoon of water droplets is present when they are opened up 10 or so years later on site(in a rapidly changing environment, regarding heat and humidity). I've always assumed it never got past the seal, and there are no holes in the enclosure, so it just has to be condensation

Unless it's a 100% seal which can also withstand changes in pressure, many fittings will allow this to happen as the air warms and cools around it. Warms up, air inside fitting expands and seeps out, cools down at night, inside pressure drops, cold damp air gets sucked in. Lather, rinse, repeat. 

I suppose the barometric pressure at the time the units are sealed would have a influence on this as well.