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| I have a lighted wall switch that has a flicker. Its a standard toggle wall switch, a very ordinary switch.
It has started to flicker. I thought the bulb in the switch was neon and would last almost forever. Does anyone know what the flicker means? is the switch (light in it) going bad? Or is it an indication of some other issue like a loose connection? I'm concerned about safety. Our house is 100 years old. Its been rewired, but you just never know what the possibilities are. Thanks |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by ronnatalie (My Page) on Tue, Dec 14, 10 at 5:46
| It could be the neon bulb inside is dying or you've change the load. The internal light in that thing is designed to be connected to a resistive load like a incandescent lamp. If you've put a CF or something else odd on the switch now, it may be causing the neon to not light consistently. It's unlikely to be a safety issue either way. |
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| Neon lamps don't last forever. If it's 10-15 years old, it's probably just starting to fail. An interesting characteristic of neon lamps is that as they degrade, often they'll glow steadily again as long as you're shining a light on them. (Makes them kind of useless, I know. :) |
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- Posted by LarryInIowa (My Page) on Tue, Dec 14, 10 at 20:44
| Thanks for the replies. I think I'll install a new switch and see what happens. |
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| Before replacing the switch you should see what it is controlling. If CFLs have replaced incandescent in the fixtures switched the neon light cannot get any current to glow. |
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