MK Logic Plus vs Hager Sollysta - which one should I choose?

Alla Musica · Dec 26, 2023

nostos156 said:
I'm not a fan of the rockers on the Click stuff tbh - far too square edged. Makes it feel very 80s.

These are what I've installed back home in China over the 5 years of studying in the UK, and I find British switches truly a piece of wonder! Only a shame that any bigger plates wouldn't fit in my country...

I do find the Varilight dimmer faceplates a bit archaic too (like the Click Polar as you said) but I really like it that way, although still a slight mismatch with the Click Mode switch.

The MK Logic+ such is a serious mismatch with the Bull* emergency switch (in this case used just as a keyed switch to a ceiling lamp). I might replace it with a Schneider Pieno one which comes with a similar profile to the MK.

The Hager Sollysta was intended as just a souvenir but was finally installed to replace my failed MK Logic+.

The Click Polar and the BG Nexus are my souvenirs.

[ElectriciansForums.net] MK Logic Plus vs Hager Sollysta - which one should I choose?

nostos156 · Dec 26, 2023

I've heard that you can take out the dimmer modules in the Hager dimmer switches so you can put in the varilight one to get around the archaic look factor.

Alla Musica · Dec 26, 2023

nostos156 said:
I've heard that you can take out the dimmer modules in the Hager dimmer switches so you can put in the varilight one to get around the archaic look factor.

Sorry - I'm slightly confused - I don't have Hager dimmers here at all??

nostos156 · Dec 26, 2023

Alla Musica said:
Sorry - I'm slightly confused - I don't have Hager dimmers here at all??

I was just adding that in as another pro to the Hager Sollysta line, if someone doesn't like the look of the varilights - you can still use the electronics in the hager.

Alla Musica · Dec 26, 2023

nostos156 said:
I was just adding that in as another pro to the Hager Sollysta line, if someone doesn't like the look of the varilights - you can still use the electronics in the hager.

Ah I see - that sounds interesting. Do Sollysta dimmers dim LEDs well?

Alla Musica · Dec 27, 2023

Mike Johnson said:
Shouldn't all the terminal screws be tightened to the correct torque in accordance with the manufacturers instructions using the correct bladed terminal screwdriver?

Sadly the instructions just haven't make it clear!

Alla Musica · Dec 27, 2023

I've recently been interested in Crabtree Capital -

Has anyone been using Crabtree please - and how do they fare?

nicebutdim · Dec 27, 2023

Alla Musica said:
I've recently been interested in Crabtree Capital -

Has anyone been using Crabtree please - and how do they fare?

Quality is good, but Capital has been on the market for years and isn't exactly modern in appearance.

Crabtree have a newer range named instinct which looks much nicer and has an excellent terminal layout, but I haven't used it and can not comment on quality.

Alla Musica · Dec 27, 2023

nicebutdim said:
Quality is good, but Capital has been on the market for years and isn't exactly modern in appearance.

Crabtree have a newer range named instinct which looks much nicer and has an excellent terminal layout, but I haven't used it and can not comment on quality.

Thanks again - I do agree the Capital line looks un-modern!

Alla Musica · Jan 3, 2024

nicebutdim said:
Scolmore Click is manufactured in the UK

I doubted this earlier - and I actually emailed them yesterday and was just told that the Mode and Polar ranges were made in China... But I hope this doesn't matter at all since almost everyone out on the forum has given it a thumbs-up after years of use

Ric2013 · Jan 3, 2024

FWIW, my house had a lot of wiring work undertaken around 15 years ago. It wasn't a total rewire so there are a lot of very legacy faceplates still in use. Around 50% are probably 1990s or older, with the new faceplates being MK Logic Plus for the sockets and MK, Marbo, or Crabtree for other fittings.

Most of the MK Sentry consumer unit was installed around 20 years ago and most of that unit and its modules were retained in the work that took place 15 years ago.

Failures:

buzzing switch on a nearly-new MK Logic Plus 2-way lightswitch after a few months

the plastic broke on the fulcrum of a very old Ashley 2-way lightswitch

a month ago, an MK SP RCBO 30mA type AC that was serving the 1st-floor light circuit since it was installed new 15 years ago tripped and wouldn't stay untripped even with the load disconnected (there was no obvious fault on the circuit and none that I am aware of).

So of the 3 items to require replacement, 2 were modern MK, one was ancient Ashley, and they all related to the lighting circuits. My home installation is more MK than any other brand, but it has struck me as odd that I had two failures with modern MK and none with the older stuff.

Alla Musica · Jan 3, 2024

Ric2013 said:
buzzing switch on a nearly-new MK Logic Plus 2-way lightswitch after a few months

That is very scary to me - how many watts did each gang take?

pc1966 · Jan 3, 2024

Ric2013 said:
buzzing switch on a nearly-new MK Logic Plus 2-way lightswitch after a few months

Common on dimmers due to the choke used to suppress noise, but on a simple switch a worry!

Either contacts not closing properly, or a loose wire?

Ric2013 · Jan 3, 2024

Alla Musica said:
That is very scary to me - how many watts did each gang take?

At the time, between 28W and 40W lamps were fitted.

Ric2013 · Jan 3, 2024

pc1966 said:
Common on dimmers due to the choke used to suppress noise, but on a simple switch a worry!

Either contacts not closing properly, or a loos wire?

It wasn't a loose wire, so either a dodgy contact or plaster dust had got in. I had a broken faceplate that had got dropped before installation and swapped out the switch insert and no problem since then.