Why Is My Electrical Switch Hot?

Welcome to this episode of Check A Pro Radio! Today, we have Luke Strange from Cool Hand Electric, our resident electrical expert, to answer a crucial question: why is my electrical switch hot?

Luke delves into the common causes of hot switches, including issues with poor connections, dirt, and partially turned switches. He explains how these problems can lead to dangerous heat build-up and even micro arcing. Luke also shares an alarming example of a switch that melted due to a bad connection.

Additionally, Luke discusses the benefits of switching to LED lights, which draw less power and are safer compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. He highlights the safety and energy-saving advantages of LEDs over older lighting technologies.

Tune in for valuable insights and practical advice from Luke Strange on keeping your home electrically safe. For more information, check the show notes for Luke's contact details.

 

For More Information visit them at www.coolhandelectric.com or call them at 469-874-0198

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Cool hand Luke that's what I like to call him hey
Luke how are you Luke strange from Cool Hand Electric he
is our expert here on the Check A Pro Radio Show today hey I got a question
for you are you ready yes sir all right it's about being hot I know we're in
Texas but it's not about that heat it's about switches um why can an electrical switch be hot lot.

(00:27):
Gotcha. Um, there's a few reasons.
Um, so if you're, if it, if you're running a lot of power, okay,
it could be a lot of current going through it. So maybe you have can lights.
We'd see that a lot of can lights or living room lights.
Um, that's a pretty common thing. Maybe some of those fans with,
with a lot of power and bulbs on them.

(00:48):
Um, what happens is if it's not making a good connection, actually,
hang on one second, I got it.
So this in here, for example, so you have power coming into one side, okay?
And then it's going to go through the switch and it's going to go to the other side of the switch.

(01:10):
So similar to anything trying to make a good connection, you turn the switch
on, it's going to be like this.
Well, if the switch is getting, let's say it's kind of loose or there's dirt,
or if you have a kid that kind of halfway turns it on, but not all the way,
it will be, it'll be kind of in the almost closed position, almost a good connection.

(01:32):
And it's similar to, you know, like a stick weld. It's similar to trying to
make a connection, but it's having a hard time having a good connection.
And that, that's going to build up heat. so and then
it it'll have little what we call micro arcing little tiny looks going on and
then and then a lot of times like oh and you kick it on but if that happens

(01:52):
over the course of you know a year or so it can make a really bad connection
and i got one for you here check this out this one's a doozy look at that oh
that melted there that's black,
Yeah. Look at that. Oh my God. Isn't that gnarly? That is. That got really hot. Well, like a weld.
Yeah. Just kept on turning them on. It just. Yeah.

(02:16):
I think they had, it was an older, older couple. They had bad hearing.
They couldn't hear it buzzing like that.
And so they just saw the lights are going, you know, lights flickering and,
and they, what is going on?
So finally the flickering actually had, had them call us out.
And this was, I mean, this is pretty extreme, but most of the time you can hear

(02:37):
it pretty quick. Most people will say, hey, that's not good.
And they'll call out, but we rarely see it that bad.
But still, if those type of connections, if it's hot enough to melt that,
I mean, that's some dangerous crap going on there.
So it just starts with a little, it could be a kid or anyone else not closing
the connection all the way.

(02:58):
And it's just kind of almost all the way up. you know seven
eighths right it just needs one eighth a little bit more and
it's just not making a great connection it's kind of sparking
a little bit and over time it just doesn't make a good connection gets
those hot spots and then if you have a lot of can lights especially
if you don't have those um like the led type of
bulbs they don't pull as much power but the the regular can

(03:20):
lights um even the cfls the
little curly q looking ones those ones still pull a
decent amount of of power so if you have a living room and
um you know six to
eight can lights in there that's a lot of power going through a tiny little
switch that doesn't make a good connection and that can get pretty hot
i don't know does that is that useful you know absolutely um you know often

(03:42):
no more than 500 watts on that on that switch you want it to be less that's
that's what I've heard that's what you often see maybe on a switch too for a
warning you know no more than some like five at 100 watts Well,
the good news is today is you can get rid of those ones that draw a lot,
which is the incandescent light, the one that Edison created originally.

(04:04):
And if you go with an LED, like you said, it doesn't draw that much.
Right. Yeah. They're a good upgrade. They don't pull as much power on the circuit.
So it's definitely good for safety reasons as well as obviously you're going
to save a little bit of electricity.
Oh, absolutely. And that's a conversation we should have in the near future.
The advantage today of LED, for instance, versus the traditional,

(04:31):
we'll call it old-fashioned, the Edison technology,
which is the filament, which was great for 100 years, really.
But they get hot, they don't last as long, and they use more energy.
And you know early on these CFLs.

(04:56):
Okay idea I never liked
the light from them I never liked the product at all
the yellowish tone buzzing sound yeah but
with the leds coming in now and now they've been perfecting them i'm starting
to like them but for the longest time you couldn't get me off of the old edison
technology um really yeah yeah because because of the warm light that only an

(05:20):
incandescent light could do at the time.
But today, there's all kinds of things that can be done.
Well, Luke, as always, thank you so much for joining me here today on Check A Pro Radio.
I appreciate it. If you'd like
to contact Luke, all of his contact information are in the show notes.
Thanks, buddy. Appreciate you. Have a good one.