? bout toggle switches

[BDT in Minnesota]

Reggie,,,,Spike hit the nail on the head with the automotive toggle switches....If you want good switches that are bullet proof, go to your local truck shop or automotive supply store and get the switches like we use in our Peterbilt dashboards....DPDT, SPDT, DPST, you name it you will find it there....Don't buy the cheap plastic crap, buy the good ones....You will see some with a 35 amp rating at 12 volt.....and lighter ones that will work fine for train layouts....20 amp rated switches should be plenty heavy......Anouther nice thing, you can choose between a long or short lever...

BDT       

[Dave Connolly]

  A little more expense and you can use relays to turn the power on and off to track to sidings or blocks. Again an automotive one meant for big wires works best. These can be activated with the various mini toggles as only small wires are needed to activate the coil on the relay. A lot easier to solder 22 gauge wires on these than 14. The track power passes through the relays contacts. The toggle only activates it. No track power goes through it. You will need a cheap 12v dc transformer to power the relays.

 A little more work but the relays can be placed right under the siding it's powering. This eliminates long runs of track power from the control panel. I've found this works well when running DCS by eliminating long wire runs from the terminal strip and the contacts on the relay pass the DCS signal fine.

[spikejones52002]

The voltage rating on a switch is the diaelectric or flash over for the insulation.

The current rating is for the contacts carrying capability.

Radio Shack will sell you anything they can.

Automotive accessory switches was the best advise.

[lionelsoni]

Miniature and smaller switches are usually meant to be soldered to, using wire or by inserting them into printed wiring boards.  You would have difficulty soldering anything close to 14 AWG.  Standard-sized toggle switches can be had with either solder terminals or screw terminals, and some with Fast-on tabs.

[chuck]

what do the professionals use to attach their wires to these mini toggles. i hope its not soldering as i really dont want to do this unless its last resorts.

Unfortunately that's how you have to attach most of the smaller swithes, toggle or otherwise.  Screw terminals or push in's are usually only found on the larger switches like the ones for house wiring (aka ones meant for 12-14 gauge Romex).

The switches you have should work fine.  I'd go with the ones with the larger terminals to make wiring easier. 

[thatboy37]

 You also should examine the toggle for more than just current rating. Most opperators run at least 16 gauge wire and many 14. How the wires connect to the toggle is important as well. Some of the smaller toggles really aren't designed to handle wire of this size. I find the best toggles are usually at an automotive store such as NAPA. Good quality metal toggles with screws that will hold a large gauge wire secure. I've seen some at Home Depot as well in the Gardner Bender line.

 

i have the gardner bender spst toggle rated at 3A @ 240VAC/ 6A @ 120VAC are these strong enough, or do i need to get bigger ones. i also have radio shack spst mini toggle rated 10A @ 125VAC, 6A @ 250VAC. what i dont like about these they look like they will be hard to get wire attached to them. what do the professionals use to attach their wires to these mini toggles. i hope its not soldering as i really dont want to do this unless its last resorts.

 

 

[chuck]

Bob, point taken.  We will rarely see currents over 10 amps on most toy train usages.  If you can find high voltage and reasonably high current switches, they probably will work fine in a low voltage high current application.

[lionelsoni]

Chuck, while the current and voltage ratings are generally inversely related, it is going to far to say that they are inversely proportional.  This would imply, for example, that your example switch could carry 720 amperes at 1 volt.  What is certain is that the current rating at toy-train voltages is at least as great as at 120 volts.  You might be able to double it; but I would hesitate to go any farther.

[Dave Connolly]

 You also should examine the toggle for more than just current rating. Most opperators run at least 16 gauge wire and many 14. How the wires connect to the toggle is important as well. Some of the smaller toggles really aren't designed to handle wire of this size. I find the best toggles are usually at an automotive store such as NAPA. Good quality metal toggles with screws that will hold a large gauge wire secure. I've seen some at Home Depot as well in the Gardner Bender line.

[thatboy37]

they will be extra power shut off switches for the 4 mainlines i will be running, the yard, and the round house. so i will turn the zw's on get them to the right voltage. then hit the toggle switches to release the power to the tracks, yard, and round house. hope you understand what i'm trying to do.

i have these ones from radio shack that are rated at 10A at 125VAC, but these things are small compared to the ones that are rated 3A at 240VAC that i got from home depot which should i use or will these smaller ones work just as good as the big ones that have less amp rating but more volt rating. i have installed some on my panel but dont want to go any further until i can get the right ones to get the job done

[chuck]

Reg, what are you powering?  Is this line voltage (aka 120 volts) or stepped down (aka 18 volts)?  The device needs to be able to handle the current and as long as you don't overstep the dialectric properties it should be OK.  6 amps at 120 volts is approximately 720 VA (volt amps).  If you knock the voltage down further from 120 to 20 volts, the current rating should go up to 36 amps.

[thatboy37]

are these toggle switches strong enough to handle what i'm doing with my control panel. they are rated at: 3 A 240 V AC / 6 A 120 V AC. you told me on my post that they need to be at least 10/ 120. i'm thinking that what i have might be to small for the job. could you guys help me before i move any further. thanks in advance.