Well that was surprising

[SeaCat]

Here in Florida it gets a bit humid from time to time. (About 360 days out of 365.) Enough so that Mold is our State Flower. (On the other hand our state bird is the Mosquito.)

This mold sometimes causes surprising problems. Recently I ran into one of them and today I spent several hours fixing it.

Every one of the wall switches in my place had become corroded, two of them to the point where they were no longer worked. I have now replaced every single one of them and when I checked the old ones I was surprised at just how bad they were. Every one of them was corroded and in every one of them the corrosion was causing enough resistance that I'm sure they were heating up. (Not a good thing believe me.)

Now to say I was surprised would be an understatement. I have never seen a wall switch that was in daily use corroded inside like these were.

I suppose I'm going to have to add checking my wall switches every year to my safety checks.

Cat

 

[Weird Harold]

Here in Florida it gets a bit humid from time to time. (About 360 days out of 365.) Enough so that Mold is our State Flower. (On the other hand our state bird is the Mosquito.)

This mold sometimes causes surprising problems. Recently I ran into one of them and today I spent several hours fixing it.

Every one of the wall switches in my place had become corroded, two of them to the point where they were no longer worked. I have now replaced every single one of them and when I checked the old ones I was surprised at just how bad they were. Every one of them was corroded and in every one of them the corrosion was causing enough resistance that I'm sure they were heating up. (Not a good thing believe me.)

Now to say I was surprised would be an understatement. I have never seen a wall switch that was in daily use corroded inside like these were.

I suppose I'm going to have to add checking my wall switches every year to my safety checks.

Cat

If your wall switches were corroded, so are your outlets -- probably.

 

[OzoneRed]

If your wall switches were corroded, so are your outlets -- probably.

And the lighting fixtures?

There's something odd about this situation. Surely not everyone in Florida, and other hot and humid regions, is facing this problem. Consider talking to a professional electrician, to see if this is a common problem, and if anything can be done to prevent it.

 

[Nightwork1]

Beware of mold! I spent much of New Year's weekend helping to dig-out a house which had been partially filled with mud. Mud and water had been in this house for ~10 days. What I didn't know at the time is there was a lot of black mold in the house. A couple of days later I ended-up with a very stubborn bacterial infection. First it was in my throat, then moved into my lungs. It took three different types of antibiotics before the Dr's finally found one which got rid of the infection. I'm in my early 30's, very physically active and normally pretty healthy and that mold knocked-me on my ass!

NW

 

[Weird Harold]

And the lighting fixtures?

There's something odd about this situation. Surely not everyone in Florida, and other hot and humid regions, is facing this problem. Consider talking to a professional electrician, to see if this is a common problem, and if anything can be done to prevent it.

Probably not the lighting fixtures -- at least those that still have incandescent bulbs -- because the waste heat from the bulb should keep them dry(er).

And, yes, everyone in humid climates should worry about corrosion of electrical fixtures -- and mold and mildew.