Changing a timer switch with Dad

"Hey, do you want to get electrocuted," I yelled up the stairs.

Slightly interested, Kid 3 came down the stairs. I knew how to lure in an 11 year old.

"Let's do some electrical work. You always get electrocuted when you do electrical work."

I had to swap out the timer for the whole house fan.  It hasn't worked all summer and since summer is almost over (I actually hope it sticks around for a while), I really needed to get it changed.  It would  be a simple job, pull out the old one, wire cap the new one in and BOOM, the whole house fan would be on a timer.

He had a slight look of chagrin. "Okay, we can do it together, and it's best to turn off the electricity when you do electrical work."

So, he and I went out to the garage, I turned off the furnace circuit and he verified it (team work!) was off and we got started.  He removed the old face plate and loosened the switch from the box. I showed him to check for any contacts before pulling out the switch, but he pulled it out.

I removed the old wire caps and showed him how to put on new ones.  He got the wires spliced together and then screwed everything back in again.

Now we have a working timer on the whole house fan and he knows a bit about electrical work.

And I didn't even make a shock sound as he touched some bare piece of metal.