Replacing very old light switches

[PoppyLane]

Hi
I have painted the house but realise that the old light switches look dirty and dated. I would like to replace the light switch panels only and not the box as it will mean messing up the paintwork. My friend says that a whole box will have to be installed as the sizing is no longer the same and new switches screws are measured slightly different to the ones I have. The house was built in the 60's. I'd be very grateful for an opinion. Thanks. PL

 

[EFLImpudence]

I don't think things have changed much since the sixties (although we did think it would) as far as switches are concerned.

Difficult to tell what you have from here, though.

 

[Iggifer]

my house was built in the 50s and until recently I still had an original box (house was rewired in the 90s but they left one original box for some reason(

No issues with changing faceplates for modern equivalent, sizing is all the same, I think you have to go a bit further back to find odd sized boxes, for which you can get adapters for anyway

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Hi
I have painted the house but realise that the old light switches look dirty and dated.

If you painted the walls, I hope you took the switches off, not just painted round them.

Before you change any, read the Wiki articles on lighting, so that you know how they are wired, and how they are labelled - this is particularly important for 2-way and 2-gang switches.

And don't remove any wires without making a note of exactly where they went.

Will you be sticking with plastic switches?

 

[Iggifer]

If you painted the walls, I hope you took the switches off, not just painted round them.

I HATE it when people do that, they invariably get more paint on the switch than the wall too and it's me that looks bad when the switch doesn't come off perfectly

That being said, I was asked to change one recently that was literally flush with the newly plastered wall, it was an old Volex beast so not exactly a slimline switch, so a nice thick coat of plaster round it. I politely declined to do it

 

[PoppyLane]

Hi
I have painted the house but realise that the old light switches look dirty and dated.

If you painted the walls, I hope you took the switches off, not just painted round them.

Before you change any, read the Wiki articles on lighting, so that you know how they are wired, and how they are labelled - this is particularly important for 2-way and 2-gang switches.

And don't remove any wires without making a note of exactly where they went.

Will you be sticking with plastic switches?

Yes, I'll be sticking with plastic switches.

 

[JohnW2]

No issues with changing faceplates for modern equivalent, sizing is all the same, I think you have to go a bit further back to find odd sized boxes, for which you can get adapters for anyway

... but remember to keep and use the old screws, which are likely to be BA rather than metric!

Kind Regards, John

 

[PoppyLane]

No issues with changing faceplates for modern equivalent, sizing is all the same, I think you have to go a bit further back to find odd sized boxes, for which you can get adapters for anyway

... but remember to keep and use the old screws, which are likely to be BA rather than metric!

Kind Regards, John

UPDATE: All switches have been successfully replaced - we used the old screws which was an invaluable piece of advice, as, indeed was all the advice from you all. Many thanks to you all for your helpful responses. PL

 

[JohnW2]

... but remember to keep and use the old screws, which are likely to be BA rather than metric!

UPDATE: All switches have been successfully replaced - we used the old screws which was an invaluable piece of advice, as, indeed was all the advice from you all. Many thanks to you all for your helpful responses. PL

You're welcome. Glad it's all worked out!

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

Remember to keep the new screws.

If you get a 3.5 mm re-threader tool (very cheap from electrical wholesalers) you can easily re-thread the holes and fit the new screws.

 

[333rocky333]

I recall The old thread was larger so dont think threadings an option

 

[JohnW2]

Remember to keep the new screws. If you get a 3.5 mm re-threader tool (very cheap from electrical wholesalers) you can easily re-thread the holes and fit the new screws.

I recall The old thread was larger so dont think threadings an option

Indeed, 4BA is fractionally larger than M3.5 (about 3.6mm IIRC). So, if it's a surface box (with threaded inserts), attempting to re-thread as M3.5 would not really be on (even if it seemed to work, screws may well not be very secure). If it's a metal box with a 'lug', one could distort (squeeze) the lug first and then tap M3.5, but that would, again, be somewhat iffy.

The OP has used the old screws. If he really wanted to change to 'shiny new' ones, I imagine that if he looked around (eBay?) it's probably still possible to find suitable 4BA screws.

Kind Regards, John

 

[sparkwright]

Missed that. Going by most old imperial boxes, have been able to re-thread successfully to accept new 3.5 mm screws, but if the holes are larger then of course it can't be done.

 

[JohnW2]

Missed that. Going by most old imperial boxes, have been able to re-thread successfully to accept new 3.5 mm screws, but if the holes are larger then of course it can't be done.

I dare say that it can be 'done', but you'd probably be threading only into the 'tips' of the 4BA thread, hence pretty tenuous/iffy.

Kind Regards, John