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View Full Version : Wavepoint T5 switch rip apart advice...


navy crf
11/27/2011, 08:42 AM
I have a 48 inch Wavepoint T5 4 bulb fixture that is coming up on two years now and it has a click switch that is the on/off control. It has been hooked up to a timer/controller for about a year now and for the last week or so the lights have flickered and the switch needs to be fiddled with and this morning they do not come on. The switch can be clicked on either side and there is no resistance of there being a connection on or off. My question is this: has anyone ripped apart one of these switches and know what is inside and how to repair it? Last night the switch was burning hot to the touch and this morning it is not working unless I jiggle it. Seems like a short or a bad connection inside the switch probably. I would probably have to cut the halves of the switch with a dremel or something as I have tried to pry them apart with a knife and it didn't budge...Any suggestions?

Misled
11/27/2011, 09:26 AM
Take a picture of the switch and show the wires going in and out.

navy crf
11/27/2011, 01:00 PM
Ripped the switch apart and actually was not that difficult to fix. there were two plastic prongs on the bottom of the switch that sat on a teeter-totter like metal piece. When you click the switch one way the teeter-totter made the connection on one side and clicking it the other way put the teeter-totter switch click the metal plate the other way to complete the connection. One of the plastic legs on the switch had broken off (size broke off was about a pencil lead size. Just flipped the plastic switch around so the broken plastic leg was not the one moving the metal teeter-totter switch from on to off and works great. If that leg breaks off though I am screwed.....not using the switch anymore due to having the light hooked up to a controller.

Misled
11/27/2011, 04:25 PM
If there's just two wires going to the switch, remove the two wires from the switch and connect the two wires together with a wire nut. Use a timer to turn it on and off.

Disconnect power before doing this.