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Panel Switches

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emuyshondt

Well Known Member
I'm looking for some switches to control various things in the plane. I need some switches that can carry 20A. I like these, but they only carry 6A. I also found these, but the paddle is too big. I'd like the first kind with larger current handling ability. Has anybody run across anything similar?
 
emuyshondt said:
I'm looking for some switches to control various things in the plane. I need some switches that can carry 20A. I like these, but they only carry 6A. I also found these, but the paddle is too big. I'd like the first kind with larger current handling ability. Has anybody run across anything similar?
Click to expand...

Can you get the smaller switches that look like you want, and have them control a relay that can handle the electrical load that you need?
 
Second choice

I really like the switches with the long paddles, but I'd never be able to use them. It appears they only come in the SPST variety, and my panel uses several different varieties such as SPST, SPDT, DPDT, DPDT on-off-mom, etc.

In my opinion, all the switches should match for aestetics, but you may disagree.:p
 
The switch your looking at is rated at 6 amps @ 125 volts AC. I don't know what the rating would be for 12 volt DC. Maybe someone can help.
 
20A switches will be big and will probably take a lot of force to switch. I agree with the recommendation to use a regular switch to control a relay. You can mount the relay close to whatever you are switching to save on heavy wire as well.
 
Hello Henry,

Good looking switches...

Don't know how far along on your RV-7 electrical you are, but the Vertical Power VP-X series of microprocessor controlled Electronic Circuit Breakers only require a few milliamps to ground a processor input to activate a circuit. Use any switch you want with this system.

You might already be familiar with Vertical Power, but if not, have a look here.
http://verticalpower.com/VPX.html

pk
 
I am using the ones in this thread (Post #11). They are 20A DPDT lighted rockers. I actually ran wires to both halves for redundancy. That previous thread mentions where you can get them.
 
rv9aviator said:
The switch your looking at is rated at 6 amps @ 125 volts AC. I don't know what the rating would be for 12 volt DC. Maybe someone can help.
Click to expand...

Also, keep in mind that illuminated switches designed for 125 VAC will not "illuminate" with 12VDC.
 
We liked this fancy switch and that fancy switch. But couldn't find any of the "nice" looking switches that could handle the OFF-fuel pump-prime and the OFF-wig wag-landing functions. Didn't want all fancy and two toggles. Didn't want any relays to fail. went with plane old fashion near fail proof toggle switches...
http://www.bandc.biz/toggleswitch-doublepole.aspx

Put them in otherwise unusable space across the top of the panel...
3855422092_ae0aa9a1f4.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the suggestions. That Honeywell switch looks nice.

It might be best to use relays for those circuits that need a lot of current. I would prefer to have all switches look the same and the relay could be activated by whatever I use for the other circuits.

The Vertical Power system looks interesting. Have people generally had good experience with it? It seems like just another thing that could break and then your whole electrical system is compromised.
 
We like the Vertical Power concept, very reliable …. Installing the VP-X Pro (in the 7A here) which has two processors and two power supplies so essentially two VP-X systems in one box, belts & suspenders !

If you’re interested, spend some time on the Vertical Power website, check out the comparison charts, read their forums, check out the installation manual… very nice product. http://verticalpower.com/VPX.html


VP Quote….. “A typical mechanical circuit breaker has a mean time between failure (MTBF) of 17,000 hours. A single electronic circuit breaker has an MTBF of about 1,000,000 hours. Further, a mechanical switch is rated for about 30,000 cycles. Our ECBs are rated for 2 billion cycles. As you can see, modern solid-state components offer significantly higher reliability”.

pk
 
emuyshondt said:
I would prefer to have all switches look the same....
Click to expand...

A common look for all the switches makes it that much easier to flip the wrong one, especially if they are all in a common grouping like a row of switches.

But if you have one here and another a foot away over there, that's harder to mistake. Not impossible, unfortunately, as I've verified by pulling the mixture instead of prop control on my Cessna a few times. Same shape, different color, different location but not far enough apart.

So be careful....
Dave
 
Try these

I used these switches in my RV-7A from Ray Allen company and love them.
http://www.rayallencompany.com/products/switches.html
They have a face plate that you can arrange and decals to insert to make a professional looking panel. I believe they are suitable for up to 15 amps through the switch though above that for the few uses you may require I would wire in a relay set-up to carry the load instead of the switch.


Cheers, Greg:)
 
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