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Common appliance switches include (left to right): rocker, toggle, slide, and contact (tamper) switch.
Toggle switch inside a Blender.
Variable-speed switch from a Food Mixer.
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Appliance switches vary in complexity and functions. Switches operate by making contact with the conductor of an electrical circuit. When an appliance is plugged in, it's connected to an electrical circuit in your home. Power runs through the wires of the circuit to the appliance. When the appliance's ON-OFF switch is turned ON, electricity flows through the switch to operate the appliance. There are several common types of switches: push button, toggle, rocker, slide, throw switch, etc.
Other appliance controls are also switches. Rheostats, thermostats, solenoids, and timers, for example, are all types of switches. These components operate inside appliances to turn on motors, open and close valves, control heating elements, and turn on different parts of the appliance during different cycles, such as the rinse and spin cycles of a washing machine.
To test and service an appliance switch:
- Unplug the appliance and disassemble enough to access the switch. Disconnect one lead from the switch.
- Set the multimeter on RX1 scale. Clip probes to the switch terminals or leads. Turn the switch on (for multi-speed switches, press one switch at a time and note each reading). Zero ohms means the switch is OK. High or fluctuating ohms means the switch is broken or dirty.
- Clean any switch contacts with a small file or with electrical contact cleaner. Contacts should make firm connection when the switch is ON. If they don't, replace the switch rather than repair it.
- Use electrical contact cleaner to clean less accessible switch contacts. In order to work cleaner into the switch, operate the control buttons as you spray the cleaner into apertures. Don't overspray.
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