An electrician's nightmare.

[3Ts]

The only time I've had problems with electrical switches, was due to ants. Just like was mentioned before, ants provide insulation, open up the switches and I suspect you'll find evidence of ants in every one.

 

[Diggin It]

They also secrete stuff and lay eggs. I'm guessing the switches are full of one or the other.

 

[kthompson]

tallyho8, any idea what kind of ants these are? Here fire ants will invade a building when flooded and yes ants can shut down electrical. If your wiring is in conduit you probably need to treat the inside of the conduit with an ant killer that is safe to.

 

[Jim Nelson]

My well pressure switch used to get loaded with ants and I would turn the power off and spray the inside down with WD 40. This would work for 4-6 months then had to do it again.

 

[tallyho8]

tallyho8, any idea what kind of ants these are? Here fire ants will invade a building when flooded and yes ants can shut down electrical. If your wiring is in conduit you probably need to treat the inside of the conduit with an ant killer that is safe to.

They were what we call common black ants.

 

[kenmbz]

I would second the ants- couple go in and fry, second round of ants attracted to first round of dead ants..........fried Ant paste in switch.

 

[ruffdog]

Wow, I searched "ants in switch" and found tons of articles. This is a bad problem.

Ants in Your Outlet? Here’s How to Get Rid of Them | George Brazil(R) Plumbing & Electrical | Phoenix, AZ

 

[kthompson]

They were what we call common black ants.

Thank you.

You know when the ants get between the contracts they are probably bridging the circuit. That is why all five switches went in same time frame.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I suspect the ants left their poop on the contacts. Don't bother drilling out the rivets, just carefully smash them open for verification.

 

[tallyho8]

Attached is a photo of my 5 switches that went bad the same day. The 6th switch that did not go bad is right behind these on the other side of the wall. The outlet kept working.
I could kick myself for throwing the switches away without doing an "autopsy" on them. Now I will never know for sure if the ants did it, although I now think this is the greatest possibility.