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| Joined: | Wed Aug 31st, 2011 |
| Location: | Shreveport, Louisiana USA |
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Andrew wrote: But if the fan was on, wouldn't the switch handle be live? Not a great thing to try to turn the fan off when you're cold from just getting out of the tub.
Andrew, certainly, having a conductive metal handle connected to the AC power would never be allowed today. Even back then, it was dangerous.
Our AC power has a hot (black wire), a neutral (white wire),and ground (green). Neutral is connected to ground in your home breaker box or out on the pole. This keeps neutral close enough to 0 volts as to not be dangerous. However, you won't see me touching it. If it were my fan, I would make sure the neutral got connected to the switch. Also, I would paint the switch handle with clear electrical lacquer. This will give it several thousand volts of insulation.
When the fan is on, the switch handle would still be close to 0 volts. The stator coil would see the full 110 volts.
The handle on the key is insulated. Once the cover is on and you insert the key (part that sticks out you turn) you're safe from being shocked. The originals had some type of Bakelite on them. The reason you see them just brass is because the insulating material became brittle and disentegrated at some point in its life. It is perfectly fine to hook the hot to the switch.