by ericmark »
Sat Apr 01, 2023 10:03 pm
Mr White is likely correct, I am very aware people will give it a go, so I am reluctant to say get an electrician to do it for you, as that often means people stop asking rather than they get some one to do it for them.
As a retired electrician I lost access to the test equipment I would have borrowed from work, also my son in same trade has the test equipment I did have, so I am very aware of the cost problem.
A reasonable clamp on ammeter costs around £35 or more, I say clamp on as measuring current with non contact is safer, less likely to have a short and ionise the atmosphere.
The insulation tester again minimum price seems to be around £35.
Odd could not find a cheap low ohm meter (should use at least 200 mA on the test) neither can I find a cheap loop impedance tester, or a RCD tester, to get them looking at £350 plus.
But this means to get the basic tools costs around the £70 mark, and for £70 you can likely get an electrician to do the job for you.
We see the Chinese smart switches a lot, where unlike the traditional British switch, the multi gang switch has a single live feed, however my British smart switch [attachment=0]light_switch.jpg[/attachment] is not much better, it has three terminals line in, line out, and S. And the S terminal is not 230 volt it is a sensing or trigger wire.
So we have to read the instructions carefully, there is no longer a standard wiring diagram.
Out of 5 smart switches, I have just 2 still working, they have not stud the test of time, they were OK for a couple of years, then they started to fail, so today I use smart bulbs, not saying they last longer than smart switches, but they are far easier to change.
So I walk to bottom of stairs, and say hey google turn on landing lights, and they come on, why mess around with switches?
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