Zen
and the art of installing a light switch
It
all comes down to a willingness to stand back, take a good look,
and have a little confidence in yourself.
When
you were in high school or college, you probably read a book called
“Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig.
In case you didn’t, it’s about a guy who rides his motorcycle
across the country. As things break on his motorcycle and he fixes
them, he learns that the pleasure of a job well done, no matter how
small, is in the doing – not necessarily in the rush to completion.
Which
brings us to Zen and the Art of Wiring a Light Switch. Of all
the problems The Hardware Guys see on any given day, this is the one
they say customers find most frustrating.
Mike
Frentz says this particular situation requires The Hardware Guys to be
on best behavior, because they don’t want customers to feel foolish.
To avoid a potentially awkward situation, they engage in a delicate
discourse that eventually leads to either self-discovery on the part
of the customer, who attains enlightenment (so to speak), or to the
customer saying something we won’t print here and thumbing the
“Electrician” listings in The Yellow Pages.
Of
all the things in your house, Mike Frentz says light switches –
particularly the popular three-way switches – baffle the heck out of
do-it-yourselfers. That’s because unlike a regular switch that is
either on or off, a three way involves connecting not only to a light,
but to another switch. A good example would be a switch at the base of
your stairway, with a light and another switch at the top of the
stairway.
If
Mike knows that, he’ll draw a diagram for you, explaining exactly
what to do, and in what order.
One
thing to remember is, on three-way switches,
the common screw – which is the most important of the three – can
be in different places from switch to switch, depending on where the
manufacturer put them. The common screw is always the odd-colored screw
( black or copper colored). It doesn’t matter where it is. Mike says not to
fall into the trap of thinking “well, it was in the lower left on
the old switch, so it must be in the lower left on the new switch.”
Morale
of the story
Wiring a switch isn’t hard. Actually, wiring a switch
incorrectly is harder and you’ll know when you’ve done because it
just won’t work. Rely on your own powers of observation, go with the
common screw on the new switch wherever it is, and follow Mike’s
diagram. He’s had people call him elated with the success they had.
There’s no reason that can’t be you.
