Infernal IDIOTS!

[unixronin]

I replaced a pair of "three-way" switches today.  (Why the US calls them three-way when they're two-way, I don't know.)  I wanted to replace a three-way dimmer at the top of the stairs with a regular three-way switch because the track light it controls now has all CFLs in it, which are non-dimmable and may be damaged by dimming them.  Since people walk past it going up and down the stairs, I wanted a flat decor-type switch that nobody would scrape their shoulder on, and it then made sense to replace the other of the pair (at the bottom of the stair) to match.

Now, the switches contain a handy little wiring diagram inside the package.  The wiring diagram has pretty accurate representations of the switches, with the terminals all to proper scale and in the right places, and even the ears on the ground tag are visible.  Makes it real straightforward, you just wire everything in accordance with the diagram, right?

...Wrong.  Because if you can squint hard enough to read the little tiny, grey, sideways fine print next to the diagram, you will discover that even though the switch as represented in the diagram looks exactly like the physical switch, the arrangement of the terminals on the diagram does not match the contacts on the switch.

In other words, if you carefully and conscientiously wire the circuit exactly as shown in the wiring diagram, YOU WILL WIRE IT WRONG.

I want to know whose stupid idea it was to make a precise, accurate-looking diagram that does not reflect reality.  To all practical purposes, the wiring diagram is booby-trapped.  Fortunately, me being a careful sort when it comes to electrical wiring, the only consequence was several minutes of "WTF?" until I noticed — and managed to read — the fine print.

Comments

[robbat2.livejournal.com]

I had a lot of trouble finding one that would fit into my flood fittings. The base of most of them was too large, so they wouldn't actually make contact. Then these ones came onto the market recently, and I'm very impressed. My sole complaint is that their warmup time is the longest I've seen, nearing 30 seconds to full brightness, on a log-like curve.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've noticed that about CFL floods ... they seem to take a remarkably long time to warm up. The ones we have in our outside floodlights start out with a dull pinkish glow and take several minutes to produce usable illumination.

[n5red.livejournal.com]

Wait until the weather gets cold, it's really funny watching the bulbs as the warm up over the period of an hour of so. Or perhaps I'm just easily amused.