Fun With Electricity, Part I

Church conveys many benefits: forgiveness, communion, fellowship, and a chance to experience the Divine each week.  It also might be a place to find a really understanding electrician.

Dave has been part of our Sunday evening men's group and, until switching congregations this summer, a regular member of our church.  Over the course of the last few years I've come to know and trust him, and so when we needed some electrical work done around the house a couple of years ago, he was there--on time, professional, and did a fine job for us.  We've since had him back for some attic fans and other projects.  So when the light over the kitchen sink failed to work a couple of weeks ago, I knew just what to do.

That's right...tried to fix it myself.

You see, I had done so a year or so ago; the light had failed to work, so I replaced the socket unit in the recessed light.  Hm, that wasn't it.  So I replaced the 20+-year-old light switch in the wall by the sink: bingo.  That did it, we were back in the light business, and I knew I had both the switch and the light unit good to go for years to come.

Until one day I couldn't get the @!#$%^ thing to come on.

Oh, you have GOT to be kidding me, I thought.  The switch is new, the socket is new....  And then I began wondering, had I done something wrong a year ago?  Maybe left something just barely connected, and now it's come apart?  I shut off (what I thought was) the breaker for the kitchen light and began taking apart the switch assembly, when a light buzzing sensation in my hand told me perhaps I hadn't quite found the right breaker after all.  I killed more power to the house, and tried again--and lo and behold, one of the wires to the back of the switch unit was in, but not as far in as its companion was.  Aha, I thought, found you.  I connected it even tighter, then buttoned up the switch assembly and restarted the power.

And still nothing.

Oh, come on, I thought....  I know electricity isn't my thing, but this is perhaps the simplest circuit possible--how could I have screwed this up?  But, in my inexperience with circuitry (see also the poorer grades in the electricity units in any of my physics courses), I figured there had to be something in the wall, or maybe wrong with the switch or socket, either of which I wasn't going to be able to identify, let alone fix.

Time to call in Dave.

(To be continued.)