Thank you Chris 2008 - you have just illuminated my bathroom again.
My pull cord SNAPPED above the plastic cord joiner, so I took the fitting apart only for it to explode under the spring pressure.
I had actually worked out how it went back together as it is a simple cam-follower mechanism. My problem was that the metal jobby would not stay attached to the large plastic jobby. On closer inspection I could see a perfect circle etched in the copper so deduced I was missing something. Thanks to your post I realised it was the large spring. Which I eventually found.
I do have one tip though:
When it come to threading the cord through the small hole in the small plastic jobby, the best and quickest method is to get a small length of cotton.
Make a few loops around the end of the cord and pull tight, thread the 2 ends of the cotton through the small plastic jobby and pull.
The cotton grips and compresses the cord and it pulls right through without issue.
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QUOTE: Chris 2008
ve just done mine - if yours is anything like it you'll have the following bits:
2 x spring (one thin about 2mm diameter, the other about 5 or 6 mm diameter)
2 x plastic jobbies
1 x metal jobby
The metal bit will fit onto the larger of the plastic jobbies. There should be gaps so that when you slide the metal jobby onto the plastic jobby you'll have some metal sitting almost flush with the 'lip' of the plastic. That's the bit that makes the connection between the wires and gives you light.
Now, here comes the tricky bit. Make sure you've threaded the cord through the housing (easy) and then through the smaller spring (not so easy, but if you twist as you push it helps). Then drop the larger spring over that, so both springs are sitting in the bottom of the housing.
Now add the larger plastic jobby with the attached metal bit. The metal bit should be on the bottom. The plastic jobby has teeth on it, around the outside. These should have the pointy bits facing upward (ie, away from the housing).
Now you need to add the smaller plastic jobby. This is the one that causes all the trouble, as you have to thread the cord through a really narrow opening. Spit & twist on the end of the cord only frayed it, for me. The tool that really saved the day for me was an Allen key, the smallest I had - just line up the cord and push it through. It'll take several pushes, but you should be able to get enough through that you can pull from the other side. Then, tie a knot in it to prevent it slipping back through.
Make sure that the teeth on the smaller plastic jobby are facing downwards, or toward the housing - so that they match up with the teeth on the larger plastic jobby. I had to rethread that thing at least 3 times, working that one out...
Now, in order to reassemble it, pull the string down and wrap it around your finger or hand - you want to make sure the mechanism is retracted inside the housing for fitting. I had to do this as I don't have a clue which breaker controls the lights. And I'm too good-looking to die of electric shock. But anyway, it also makes assembling it easier. Then just screw the black box with the nasty wires onto the housing, and the housing back into the ceiling, and Bob is your mother's brother - working pull-cord light switch.
So, to sum up, the assembly looks like this:
Cord knot
Small plastic jobby, teeth V
Large plastic jobby, teeth ^
Metal jobby, with raised bits in line with large plastic jobby
Large spring
Small spring
Housing
Good luck..!
Chris
July 2008
escribblings, March 2013
