Yellowing of switch cover plates

I was wondering if anyone has had issues with yellowing of switch covers over the years? Built my place about 10 years ago and for the past 4 have rented it out. In those 4 years all the C-bus switch cover plates (C2000 series) and all the power point and data point cover plates have gone yellow, but not the actual main part of the mechanisms thankfully (except the RJ45 modules which too have yellowed), so to fix is just a simple matter of changing cover plates and replacing some RJ45's.

I Went to my local electrical shop the other day to buy replacements plates and got into a conversation with the guy running it and he had never heard of yellowing on Clipsal plates, but said it was common on HPM.

So it got me thinking is this a common thing or has maybe one of my tenants been smoking a bit too much in the house (which I doubt actually as there no smoke smell and the ceilings clean). Also why would the plates yellow but not the rest of the plastic. Are they made of the same plastic?

 

Hi Ashley.

Are the plates yellowing where there is direct sunlight or is it everywhere?
I have had the same problem with old switches and think it is just a reaction to ambient light, maybe a different type of UV stabiliser was used to others that have lasted.

Just swap them over or get me to replace them with DLT's or saturn switches

Have a great day.

 

I have had some jobs where the covers have gone a yellow colour. But only on the C2000, and SC2000, but not series 2000. The worst ones are where their is a fair bit of sunlight coming through the windows which have no blinds on them.

 

The yellowing is all over the house, but is less noticeable in the toilet and garage which don't get too much light.

Anyway have already replaced the covers, in fact the discussion I had with the shop when I brought them is what triggered me to ask, as two shops were both surprised that a Clipsal plate had yellowed.

Thanks for the offer to come replace with Saturn, but alas that is something I can do myself, and indeed have already done so in the living area's of the house. Hopefuly they won't yellow.

Thanks everyone else for your replies, interesting to see.

 

It depends on several things. The amount of direct sunlight, the cleaning products and the number of components in the formulation which are either volatile or UV sensitive.