Hi fellas. I see this thread is quite cold. I'm just a regular dude with no electrical experience whatsoever. I was in Australia recently and bought a lovely old unbranded switch that resembles a Vitreous or Crabtree.
I was flipping it on and off but the prongs were too tight and little ceramic bit that keeps you from getting electrocuted broke.
[img]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRTm0yS0RKc2ZkOGM/view[/img]
I was very sad. This switch only cost me about $8. For a brief moment, I considered throwing it away. I think that's what most people would have done. But then I began thinking of how I could salvage it. After lots of bad ideas, I decided that the best thing would be to go to pottery class and mold a new piece out clay and fire it. I made about ten duplicates, assuming that they would break or would not fit right for one reason or another.
[img]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRYVNHQ3IxX2hXMWM/view?usp=sharing[/img]
Well, the first one fit and worked great.
[img]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRQXVwcXhqVy1fUU0/view?usp=sharing[/img]
...and after all this work, and after installing it...
[img]
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxKo5yPjAYwRSjQwTlRRVmw4Z1k/view?usp=sharing[/img]
only NOW does it occur to me - is this thing even SAFE to use? I think it only has a 5amp capacity. A person at the hardware store helped me calculate that with a 60 watt lightbulb it would only create a .6 amp load. Does that sound right?
Thanks and looking forward to your replies. Hopefully my flat won't burn down in the meantime.
Cheers,
~M.
