Test and Replace a Switch + Grades of Switches with 2020 NEC 404.9 Ungrounded Switches

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[joedillon]

Sparkman is the best! Please share his work to others! Please also hit the like button since that tells YouTube to share it with others too.

[lanceleavitt]

Staying informed on 2020 codes is very helpful. Thanks for looking that up for us.

[ivonnecastro]

love how clear you explain everything... now I need to go change mine :)

[apackwestbound]

Funny story, I discovered I enjoyed electricity when I had hired an electrician to rewire a bathroom remodel we had going on. The electrician was a nice enough guy but hardly ever showed up when he said he would be there so our job was plagued by delays. One day he and his apprentice got into a big fight and the apprentice was terminated/quit sometime over the lunch break and never came back. I ended up crawling under the house to "help" the electrician because I just wanted the job done. To my surprise I enjoyed the work and eventually applied and got my apprentice card from our State Labor & Industry with the intention of becoming a licensed electrician. I took several "continuing education" classes but could not get anybody to hire me part time necessary to gain the required hours prior to taking the licensing test, as my primary career kept me too busy and was too lucrative to quit and become a full time apprentice (age was also a factor). So I am here watching these videos to increase my knowledge, see stuff that I haven't personally run into yet, boost confidence and get some knowledge of the NEC. Thank you Bill!

[jeffreybutler]

Just found your videos. You explanations are great for us homeowners who are not tradesmen. Thank you!

[luvdady]

glad your back, love these neat videos its always nice to see someone not a condescending jerk but just having a discussion on a peer type level

[rickbraden]

Great. I needed the explanation about the screw less cover plate. Never knew that.

[paulwhite]

Just found you again! So glad to have you back Bill - I was NOT happy when you got hacked because you provide very useful videos and they way you show folks technical detail is excellent, very thorough and professional. Thank you

[mbergtberg]

Welcome back Bill. Great video as always.

[trafficsignal]

I had a boss that had his own way to find a breaker. He would short out the switch, receptacle, etc. and find the tripped breaker. He was a great guy; he spent his early years born and raised in Cuba and they used some interesting methods there. I should clarify, he did that as a technician. Once promoted he quit doing it, usually.

[MarkLawry]

Thanks for that information about non-metalic wallplate or screwless.

[patrickkelley]

Very good video, thank you. And thanks for always referring to code and with an explanation.

[Pallidus_Rider]

I really enjoy watching your videos. I have used them to replace outlets and switches in my Dad's old house located on the Central Coast of California.
Now, all my outlets are GFCI with appropriate labels for no ground.
I think I will now change out the switches to Federal grade, as noted in the video. 👍

[kcufv]

Might want to re-run that check with the meter - it was testing DC voltage, not AC. Ideally, there should always be 0VDC on an AC circuit, that indicates there's not any rectification happening upstream, which could indicate a bad connection.

[thornmountain]

My house was built in 1992 and had Leviton switches with no ground screw. I replaced them all with Pass/Seymour premium switches.

[tkjazzer]

Does the metal tab (L-shaped) going to the grounding screw ever not fit in an old metal box. Can I bend it out of the way?

[Sirusdark]

But... I love seeing and hearing sparks when slowly using residential ones!

[dienekes]

I'm going to have to try the Ideal circuit breaker finder. I've tried a few others and haven't found one that was very good yet. A couple have proven to be completely useless. I think they were too sensitive, so they kept giving me false positives, which is effectively useless.

[michaelc]

Hi Bill,

I always learn something new with your videos.

Thanks for the video

[Krankie_V]

My manufactured home was built 8n 1997 with the absolute cheapest crap available. I moved in in 2020, and half of the switches were busted. Still working as in the lights still turned on and off, but the plastic body of the switch was busted and the switch felt really mushy. I went through and replaced every single switch with commercial grade. I did the same with all the receptacles later. Several of those were cracked and falling apart also.