The loops are made before putting the wire in the screw. There are many different ways of doing it. I'd say a needle nose pliers would be the easiest for a DIYer.
Why the screws are on the side is just how they do it. Every SP switch made in the last many years is the same, but I Have seen many different combinations and configurations.
--- In DoIt_Yourself@yahoogroups.com, subprong <subprong@...> wrote:
>
> Thank you for all of the responses. Everyone was pretty much right on.
> The fabric sheathing was covering a black (plastic or rubber) sheathing
> which was covering the wiring. The black part was basically crumbling off.
> The fabric was unbraiding as well. There was no ground wire.
>
> Not for this particular wire but yes there is metal tube housing for some
> of the wiring in that area.
>
> I took the switch off and taped near the loop where the wire was exposed.
> I also noticed that I could see bare wiring on one of the wires further
> back in the box because of split sheathing. I tried my best to tape that
> as well. Unfortunately all tape jobs were not very good as it was hard to
> get to the back portion and that portion was at a deep bend in the wire and
> the tape did not want to hold well (also tricking trying to wrap tape
> tightly enough without stripping the existing sheathing around it). It was
> also hard to get a good and stable wrap near the loops because relooping
> the wire onto the switch started messing up the tape job. Hopefully it was
> all good enough.
>
> The entire task was tricky because the wire was so stiff. The loops were
> near impossible to (uncurl) loosen and (curl) tighten to match the screw.
> Also I was trying to do this without moving the entire wires much as I
> didn't want to mess up the old sheathings anymore more than they already
> were. Plus at one point (as Ron noted) I got this sinking feeling that if
> I messed with one of the wires anymore that it would simply snap in half at
> a bend.
>
> I'm going to go back in there one more time simply to place a strip of tape
> on the screws as was suggested. After that I'm leaving it alone! For now,
> the switch seems to work. I kept the light on for awhile just to make sure
> nothing weird was going to happen (I don't know if that is actually a
> relevant test for the future though).
>
> A couple of questions just out of curiosity. Is there such a tool that
> will wrap or uncoil wiring around the screws? Something that will not
> interfere with the screw itself. Also, the old switch had the screws at
> the top and on the front of the switch. Why do all current switches have
> them at the sides? I've never wired the old version but doing the side
> version was a bit of a pain...but maybe that was more because of the
> restrictions of wire movement. Thank you.
>
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