Found in industries that depends totally on electricity to run their business, many manufacturing concerns have a standby generator ready in case there is a blackout so they will not suffer any losses due to the blackouts. In order to keep the factory running smoothly without any downtime, the generator must be hooked to the main supplies coming from the electrical authorities so in cases of emergencies, power can be transferred smoothly from the generator to the usual electrical system with any danger of clashes between the supplies coming from the authorities with the supply coming from the generators. This [...] Read more »
What Is A Pressure Switch
Pressure Switch is a switch that acts to regulate pressure. It can be water pressure or air pressure. In all air compressors there is a pressure switch to act as a cut off when the air compressor has reached it’s desired working pressure. The switch does not look like a normal switch and to the eyes of a layman, they may will not know one when they see one. It is cylindrical in shape and most of the time there will be two electrical terminals and a threaded end so they can be tightly screwed on to the air compressor’s [...] Read more »
What Is A Photocell Sensor Switch
The photocell sensor switch is fast gaining on the wide usage of the time switch in cases where lights must be ON during night times. It is very widely used in public lighting systems nowadays. The photocell sensor switch works by using light sensitive cells somewhat similar to the solar cells. These cells are very sensitive to light and when there is light, the cell strips will expand enabling the strip to open two terminals akin to our normal switches. When it gets dark, it contracts to it’s normal length thereby closing the circuit again. With this capability it is [...] Read more »
What Is A Dimmer Switch
A dimmer switch is a switch that comes with a current regulator built in. It can only work with the normal incandescent bulbs that uses the tungsten filaments to light up when it gets heated up. A dimmer switch is easily distinguishable by a knob that allows you to dim or brighten up the light bulb. The most suitable place to use this switch is the family hall where the there are wall lights or chandeliers installed. It is also perfect for the bedroom. Many restaurants, pubs and lounges uses these kind of switch to make their places cosier. The [...] Read more »
The Advantage Of Using A 2 Way Switch
A two way switch as the name suggests, works both ways. As mentioned in my previous article, two way switches works in pairs. You have to have two, two way switches to make it work the way it is meant to work. Lets imagine the stairway or our house. When we retire for the night, and make our way to the bedroom at the upper floor, we normally will switch off the stairway lights to save on a little bit of electricity. If we have a normal switch at the bottom of the stairway, we will not be able to [...] Read more »
Wiring Up A Two Gang Switch
To install the wrings of any switches, be it a one gang or a two gang switch, we have to understand first how a electrical circuit works. The electrical current we use in our house is called alternating current or AC. This means the current flows continuously alternating from point A to point B in a continuous loop. Once this loop is broken and the flow of current is disrupted at any point of the loop, the circuit stops to work. We can imagine the flow of current like a rubber band. It must be a continuous. Now the purpose [...] Read more »
Differentiate The Kind Of Switch
When walking into an electrical outlet wanting to buy a switch, make sure you know what kind of switch you are looking for. Enough have been said about one gang or two gang switch. One mistake that many makes when buying a switch is they did not specify what kind of switch they want and the sales assistant did not get proper clarification from the customer. Most of the time they only realize they bought a switch that is not suitable when the electricians comes and find that they bought the wrong kind of switch. The most common switches we [...] Read more »
Terminate a two gang switch
Remember that a 2 gang switch is just like any other one gang switch. The only difference is they are 2 switches bundled together side by side and each of the switches are in fact just like any one gang switch. If anyone knows how to terminate a one gang switch, they should have no problem terminating a 2 gang switch or a three gang switch for that matter. As previously discussed, the terminals of switches are indicated by the signs, L1 and L2 where L1 denotes the incoming current and L2 denotes the outgoing. The incoming mean the wire [...] Read more »