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I bought several of the switches from an
electronics firm and paid the $6. the failures I experienced were pure
mechanical, they simply fell apart. I have been very happy with my
electric flaps switch. I made an aluminum extension, a long slender
wedge, drilled a hole in the end, and pro-sealed it on the regular DPDT
switch. it is much easier on the thumb having the mechanical
advantage.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 10:04
AM
Subject: [FlyRotary] Mini switches (was:
Engine start)
At 10:12 AM 9/18/2004, you wrote:
FWIW - I
have had every mini switch in my plane(-6A) eventually fail by 1000
hrs. I now use these big honkin switches and have no more
problems. I suspect that the switch that comes with the autopilot is
quitting now, but it will be tough to debug or replace.
Big,
"Click Clack" style toggle switches seem to take more abuse than the sexy
little mini toggles. If you have the room, or are switching a substantial
load, big toggles are generally the better choice. Regardless, don't buy
cheesy Radio Shack switches of any
sort.
Like
nearly everything else, you can get low-quality mini switches and high-quality
mini switches. The high-quality mini switches cost more than $6 each. I
buy switches from Digikey <http://www.digikey.com> When selecting a switch, be sure that it is rated
for DC. The environmentally-sealed switches are nice.
:^)
Also,
what often kills a switch is the "kick back" from and inductive load like a
relay or a motor. It is good practice to put a "snubber" across the motor or
relay coil. The snubber consists of a diode and resistor in series (sometimes
a capacitor is added.) Often folks just use the diode alone. You place a
reverse-biased diode across a motor to catch the inductive kickback when you
open the switch that supplies the power. This greatly reduces the arc across
the switch when you open
it.
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