Do I need to replace 1950s/60s light switches

sm171

Hi there,
I've recently bought a house with really nice Bakelite light switches. Obviously the house will need to be rewired etc. Just wondering if these will need to be replaced? It would be a shame to get rid of them. I like to keep things original where possible. Could they be upgraded or is there any company that does this?
Thanks.

meercat

Best advice is to replace them
They won’t fit the new switch boxes any way. There are new(retro) switches available. I can’t link them though

sm171

meercat wrote: »

Best advice is to replace them
They won’t fit the new switch boxes any way. There are new(retro) switches available. I can’t link them though

Thanks. I really don't want to replace them.  I've looked at retro websites but they don't seem to have these switches. They seem rare enough. All the sites are in the UK. Surely there are some Irish companies doing this?

Risteard81

As above get ones which meet modern standards. You can certainly get that effect/style with them. (You will almost certainly pay through the nose for it though.)

I absolutely wouldn't entertain reusing the old ones.

Iderown

How about installing a 12V transformer to power the existing lighting circuit. You would need some form of adapters to allow 12V LEDs to be connected to the ceiling wiring.
What do the professionals think about this?

Dardania

I don't know, it may be possible to keep these, as long as they are in good mechanical shape. Modern lighting tends to have far less current draw than what these were designed for - and the fact that they are bakelite (non conductive) is good.

The important thing to check is what way the contacts inside are e.g. are the surfaces that make the circuit clean? and does the switch mechanically click solidly, or is it quite a soft click (so are the springs old, which leads to a potential for electrical arcing). You would need to take off the switches from the wall, safely (so isolate power at the consumer unit etc.) and strip down the switch. If the strip down reveals the interior is cracked, that's a sign you need to change the switches.

An interesting video that goes into how to check this on modern switches, and shows the problem if it isn't right is this: https://youtu.be/F0XqMZFZG90?t=5m

The next issues is will your electrician be happy to certify the works with these there? I did the above cleaning and checking with the switches in my own house, from the 90s, when I bought it.

salmocab

Can’t see any electrician wanting to get involved in those to be honest. They smell of heartache. Personally I’d just point blank refuse to reuse them, it’s unlikely they would be up to modern standards anyway.

sm171

Well lets ask the question - any electricians up for a challenge?

P.S. you would probably get a whole house rewiring job out of it. Its in Dublin 5