ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Dangerous DIY Advice

Today this DIY instruction video was brought to my attention after it made its way through the internet all the way to Germany. It tells US DIYers how easy it is to replace a switch with a new switch or dimmer.

Unfortunately I would say it contains several serious flaws. I am sure you will spot them immediately! The full video is at the bottom of the page.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/pierceaber...er-switch?utm_term=.saq7BllYO#.noDrdVVoJ

OK, check the mounting screws for voltage??
Use your voltage twister??
Electrical tape as a choice for EGC splicing??

A white and black device combo?? (Only bad taste)

Better safe than sorry. I've replaced single pole switchesthat were installed as a 3-way so one can guess where the third wire wound up at....

I can relate, Kevin. Years ago, my mother complained of being shocked in the milk house at my family's dairy farm. Turns out, some farm hands replaced a single pole grounded switch with an ungrounded three-way in a box with a false ground downstream. When the grain room light was off, the rest of the circuit downstream had a hot ground at 120V. Needless to say, I was upset.

And on top of that installing an earth wire from a box with what looks like two NM cables without any visible earth.

The only good advice on that site is the first step.

1. Go to your breaker box and turn off the switch for the light/outlet and the wall switch.

Step 2 should be to call someone who knows what they're doing.

The top termination is a little sloppy:



Voltage twister...I hope that was a typo