Manufacturing switch panels

[Kristal]

With my boat a hundred miles away until spring 2007, I'm starting to think about all the jobs I can do whilst at home in London, and I'm keen to start on a pet project of mine (part of the rewiring plans) - remodelling Crystal's chart table and replacing her single, inadequate switch panel with several more elegant ones.

I will get the panels professionally printed and drilled for switches, fuse holders and LEDs. My question is this: is it feasible to use that breadboard stuff you can buy in Maplins to mount behind the panel and take care of connections for the above components? Will it handle 12V okay? I am planning to use 12v LEDs (built-in resistor) to cut down on components.

Cheers,

/<

 

[Evadne]

Veroboard will handle the volts with ease but be careful about how much current you put through it. As a rule of thumb, (assuming 1 oz copper conductor 0.1" wide,) I'd say that 3 Amps is OK, more than 5 amps will get warm and 10A will probably make it curl up and smoke. I would use the tracks to hold teminal pins soldered in place and run a decent thickness of wire between the pins using soldered joints. If you want a real belt and braces approach, use the same thickness as you are going to use for the rest of the wiring.

 

[Kristal]

That sounds eminently sensible to me - good thick wire and some heatshrink over the pins once they have been heavily soldered.

I'm hoping to keep the current loading low on each circuit by giving each application a dedicated switch. Another rather stupid question, but I have forgotten everything I learned in one year of an electronic engineering course: if I wired the switch, fuse and LED for each circuit - say, for the steaming light - presumably the LED would then not light in the event of the fuse blowing, or bulb going (even though in practice I intend to use LED clusters for nav lights), or cable/joint problem...? I know it sounds simple, but I never underestimate the ability of things to behave to a level I cannot understand in electrical installations!!

/<

 

[Danny]

[ QUOTE ]
presumably the LED would then not light in the event of the fuse blowing, or bulb going <

[/ QUOTE ] If you have the LED after the fuse and switch then it will not light if the fuse blows but it will still light if the bulb blows.

If you are thinking of DIY LED clusters for nav lights then be aware that this probably won't work if you're modifying a tricolour type of light. These require a very thin light source (just a vertical wire in the bulb) otherwise the colours merge and appear white when viewed from anywhere near head on.

 

[rogerthebodger]

I have made several switch panels for both my old yacht and my new Lavranus using ingraved perspex panels and miniature circuit breakers like this
I used the single pole version and mounted then with DIN rail from the back of the panel

I have some photos at home that I could email to you next week if you like
These combine fuse and switch in one

 

[misterg]

I would steer clear of veroboard for this application (assuming that's what you mean):

1) It's usually made of a SRBP type material which doesn't like damp atmospheres long term (it tends to expand & curls up, stressing the copper tracks).

2) The tracks are bare copper, and will corrode rapidly in a marine environment. (I assume you are using tinned copper wire for the rest...)

3) Even with solder pins, the tracks have a habit of breaking over time when you have heavy wires attached

4) I bow to your superior knowlege of its current carrying capacity, but *personally* I wouldn't use it to carry more than a few 100 ma withou doubling up tracks, etc. (tracks are < 0.1" wide, due to spaces, and have regular 0.7mm holes in them - sorry about the mixed units, but that's how it goes!)

My suggestion would be to mount all the components and use "point to point" wiring.

I found this from screwfix useful as a busbar - the screws will take a ring crimp terminal & tighten down on the top of the block.

I used screw terminal strips like this from RS to make the connections from the wiring to the switch panel (takes a "fork" crimp terminal).

I also recommend the heatshrink sleeving with adhesive inside it - guaranteed seal!

Andy

 

[Kristal]

Having now done a bit more design work, I don't think I need to use Veroboard, and I was wondering about the corrosion speed. Tinned copper wire will be the way forward, I think. I am also going to give some thought to the little circuit breaks, too, I hadn't thought of it before! /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif Most convenient.

Some photos of your installation would be lovely, when I commit my design to paper in a clear and concise manner, I will post the plans.

Thanks for the assistance on this.

/<