The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution. Idealy I'd put a pull switch on the
ceiling, but access from above is a little tricky. I could chase the
cable up the wall, or put it outside the door, but a simple solution
would be to replace the current switch with a waterproof one.

Any suggestions for an appropriate device, and would it satisfy building
regs anyway?

Peter.

In uk.d-i-y, Peter wrote:
The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

I think you're being over-cautious. It's not a *bath* or a shower in
there, just a bog and basin. People using it aren't likely to present
a lower-resistance path to earth than usual, or even have particularly
wet hands when operating that switch, unless you get up to more interesting
stuff in the downstairs loo than most of us ;-)

If you want to fuss, there are cheapie "outdoor" switches available from
Screwfix and the sheds which have a transparent cover over the switching
element, and don't cost an arm and a leg. (Unlike the MK outdoor switches,
which are more seriously rainproof but weigh in at 15 quid or so!). Or
for a touch of Coronation Street sophistication, along with the three
ducks on the wall, you could put a touch-operated dimmer in; or just a
large-plate rocker switch (some designs have effectively the whole of
the plate area as the rocker), so that the already remote chance of
drips-from-fingers causing a tingle is further reduced.

Oh, and do make sure the cable to the switch has an earth, and measure
- if poss - that it really is connected to the house earth; and that the
back box (if you have a metal one) is connected to said earth. That's a
more significant - but still small - risk than the one you seem to be
concerned about.

HTH - Stefek

The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light
switch in this situation. If you insist on using a waterproof type (i.e. it
is an outside toilet with an ill-fitting door) then consider something like
Screwfix item 16450.

http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/...83903&id=16450

I really wouldn't bother, though.

Christian.

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light
switch in this situation.

Seconded. If a pull switch was needed then a kitchen would need a pull
switch as it has a sink. Only bath and shower rooms need the pull switch.

Adam-

"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
...

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light
switch in this situation.

Seconded. If a pull switch was needed then a kitchen would need a pull
switch as it has a sink. Only bath and shower rooms need the pull switch.

Adam-


Reminds me of the time I came home and my wife and two daughters were in the
downstairs cloakroom, fascinated by the fact that they were getting a belt
from the light switch. A standard plastic rocker switch. "look Dad. Touch
the switch and it makes you jump. It's even worse if you reach over and
touch the tap on the basin at the same time". That can't be I said. The
switch is made of plastic and can't give you a shock. So I tried it. Bugger
me a proper belt off a plastic switch. (Not a static shock) I even got a
meter out and measured between the plastic rocker switch and the tap. 240V.

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 20:34:28 +0100, "BillP" wrote:


"ARWadsworth" wrote in message
...

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light
switch in this situation.

Seconded. If a pull switch was needed then a kitchen would need a pull
switch as it has a sink. Only bath and shower rooms need the pull switch.

Adam-


Reminds me of the time I came home and my wife and two daughters were in the
downstairs cloakroom, fascinated by the fact that they were getting a belt
from the light switch. A standard plastic rocker switch. "look Dad. Touch
the switch and it makes you jump. It's even worse if you reach over and
touch the tap on the basin at the same time". That can't be I said. The
switch is made of plastic and can't give you a shock. So I tried it. Bugger
me a proper belt off a plastic switch. (Not a static shock) I even got a
meter out and measured between the plastic rocker switch and the tap. 240V.


Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the
light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live
onto the rocker.

--
Alan G
"The corporate life [of society] must be
subservient to the lives of the parts instead
of the lives of the parts being subservient to
the corporate life."
(Herbert Spencer)

In article ,
"ARWadsworth" writes:

"Christian McArdle" wrote in message
et...
The light switch in my downstairs toilet is just a normal rocker type.
ISTM this is somewhat dangerous due to the proximity of basin & WC, so
I'm looking for a safer solution.

Absolutely no need. It is perfectly acceptable to use a standard light
switch in this situation.

Seconded. If a pull switch was needed then a kitchen would need a pull
switch as it has a sink. Only bath and shower rooms need the pull switch.

You can still use one if you wish.

When I rewired my parents' kitchen, I made the lights over the
sink/drainer switched by a pullcord, on the basis that you are
quite likely to have wet hands when operating it.

--
Andrew Gabriel

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 21:26:30 +0100, AlanG wrote:

Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the
light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live
onto the rocker.

I thought rocker light switches were banned in bathrooms? Shouldn't it
have been a pull cord?

PoP

"AlanG" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 20:34:28 +0100, "BillP" wrote:

Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the
light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live
onto the rocker.

Hi Alan,

My wife was the problem on this one. The result was the same as your
condensation. I found out that when she cleaned the room she was wiping the
light switch with a wet cloth. The water was collecting inside the switch
and as you said resulting in tracking to live. When you operated the switch,
a film a water was wiped out on the under side of the switch and connected
your finger to llive.

Bill

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 22:00:20 +0100, PoP
wrote:

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 21:26:30 +0100, AlanG wrote:

Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the
light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live
onto the rocker.

I thought rocker light switches were banned in bathrooms? Shouldn't it
have been a pull cord?

It wasn't a bathroom.

--
Alan G
"The corporate life [of society] must be
subservient to the lives of the parts instead
of the lives of the parts being subservient to
the corporate life."
(Herbert Spencer)

On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 23:20:57 +0100, "BillP" wrote:


"AlanG" wrote in message
.. .
On Fri, 26 Sep 2003 20:34:28 +0100, "BillP" wrote:

Had that in an upstairs toilet. No washbasin just the bog and the
light switch. Condensation was the problem. Tracking from the live
onto the rocker.

Hi Alan,

My wife was the problem on this one. The result was the same as your
condensation. I found out that when she cleaned the room she was wiping the
light switch with a wet cloth. The water was collecting inside the switch
and as you said resulting in tracking to live. When you operated the switch,
a film a water was wiped out on the under side of the switch and connected
your finger to llive.


We were getting it from condensation from the hot air coming fromt he
kitchen condensing on the east corner walls of the house. The
condensation was dripping at times. Lot of years ago though before
foam insulation. I put a better ventilator in the toilet which seemed
to alleviate the problem.


--
Alan G
"The corporate life [of society] must be
subservient to the lives of the parts instead
of the lives of the parts being subservient to
the corporate life."
(Herbert Spencer)

"BillP" wrote in message
...

Reminds me of the time I came home and my wife and two daughters were in
the
downstairs cloakroom, fascinated by the fact that they were getting a belt
from the light switch. A standard plastic rocker switch. "look Dad. Touch
the switch and it makes you jump. It's even worse if you reach over and
touch the tap on the basin at the same time". That can't be I said. The
switch is made of plastic and can't give you a shock. So I tried it.
Bugger
me a proper belt off a plastic switch. (Not a static shock) I even got a
meter out and measured between the plastic rocker switch and the tap.
240V.

A similar situation occurred in my niece's house. Switch on the light in the
hall and you got a shock through the fingers from the switch.
OK, she had painted the switch in gold paint, but checking the paint and the
switch surface all proved no conductivity. After changing the light switch,
there was no further problem.
Maybe it was just a bit of damp/dirt that let the shock through when the
switch changed over, who knows?

Dave