I have a couple of combined dimmer/fan controllers downstairs in my house. They are clearly old and were likely fitted 10-15 years before we bought this house in 2016. Well, the little knobs on the ends of the sliders finally gave up. Replacement knobs appear to be unobtanium.

Never mind, I've not been convinced that these old controls work well with dimmable LED bulbs, so I bought replacement units. First issue, they have swapped the color codes for the fan and light connections. Is that a new code thing? Fixed that soon enough, but as I was putting the escutcheon onto the enclosure, I noticed that a light in the kitchen behind me was flickering. WTH??? This enclosure has four bays, three regular switches and the light/fan controller. I knew the enclosure had two circuits in it, but I was working at the far end, so was safe. I loosened the switch related to the flickering light a little, and wiggled it. Yep, with enough movement the light goes out altogether.

OK, killed the other circuit and removed the switch related to the flickering light. OMG, I am left staring at the bare metal of a black wire. @#$%, where is that supposed to go? Discovered the switch had push in receptacles as well as screw terminals on the side. Seems that the push-in devices had gone bad, so I rearranged the wires onto the terminals. Then there was the fun of getting everything back in the enclosure and getting all the parts to line up so the escutcheon would fit. What a faff that was. Power back on, test all the lights and fans, all seems good.

At 0311 this morning, the power goes off in the house, waking me up. It wakes me up because any power interruption sends all the smoke alarms into a frenzy of little beeps. They quickly die down, but then the thought occurs, 'Oh ****, what did I screw up?' Got out of bed, went to the window and opened the blinds. Imagine my relief when I found the entire neighborhood dark. No lights, no A/Cs running. PHEW! It's not my fault! Emails from the power company show that 457 customers were hit. At 0425, power was restored, waking me from my doze with more bleeps and the computer printer in the next room restarting and going through a cleaning cycle.

Got brave and did the second piece today. Fortunately, the process was much smoother.

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Release the Kraken

Don't tell the neighbors about your wiring adventure...they might come after you with pitchforks!

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Even older, even crankier....

"When can you fix my problem."

"Discovered the switch had push in receptacles...Seems that the push-in devices had gone bad"

^^ I hate those things.

"Got brave and did the second piece today. Fortunately, the process was much smoother."

I call that the 'learning curve.'

Good job.

A “ Rule” I adopted many years ago after being around machine tool wiring. Never, Never use the push in hole in Any electrical device. Take time to measure the wire to what ever the NEC is in your area, strip insulation with the correct tool, bend small loop at end of stripped wire with needle nose pliers, loosen screw on device, slide wire around screw, close wire around screw with needle nose pliers and tighter screw. Even then thanks to crummy mfg’ering of devices they may not last very long.

When I was in college, late 70's, I lived the last 2 years off campus in a rented trailer that had been built in the 50's or 60's when they had used aluminum wiring. Having grown up across the street from a trailer park, as a kid, and having seen them go up in flames, I was keenly aware of the dangers and knew about the dangers of the aluminum wiring. Frequently, I came home to that trailer from work/classes and was greeted by that unique smell of something electrical getting hot. I would then make my way around the trailer checking outlets until I located the one(s) that were hot to the touch. The aluminum wiring had the habit of expanding/contracting resulting in the wiring getting loose under the screws and that caused more resistance/heat and if left unrepaired, those outlets could/would eventually start a fire if not repaired.
As a result of that experience, I am acutely sensitive to the smell of something electrical getting hot. Now it seems that any time I replace an outlet, switch or fixture, my imagination kicks in and I swear that I can smell something getting hot and my paranoia kicks in and I have to go around checking all the outlets, switches and fixtures.

When I went to college we lived in a trailer park that the college owned. There were around 50 identical trailers that were used for married college housing. They all had the aluminum wiring and the college would lose one or two a year due to electrical fires.

Slow learners! Color me none surprised!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

In another fit of enthusiasm, I changed an outside GFCI today. Fingers crossed.

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Release the Kraken