EC12 control devices

[Rob Guyatt]

I don't use a switch myself these days. A few years ago I experimented with a sealed switch. See link below. I sail in salt water. I used the switch deck mounted without any protection and after 6 months cut it open and found it to be pristine inside.

http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=ST0554&CATID=28&form=CAT&SUBCATID=448

Rob

[greerdr]

Now that's a switch mate!
A frequent culprit in gear failure down here is the switch.

R.C.Greer

[Rob Guyatt]

Hi Bob,
Yes I agree. The switch is a common problem.

It might be of interest to you all that of all the repairs I do for my own products, 90%+ is due to wiring. And 99.9% of the wiring faults are black wire corrosion. The servo lead is most common wiring fault. The power leads not quite so often. Main reason for that is the strand size. The strands are much finer in the servo lead and so black wire corrosion goes to the core of each strand much quicker than in the thicker strands of the power leads. It's often the case that the power leads do have black wire corrosion but it is often not severe enough to restrict current. In such a case it's not a problem unless you want to replace a connector or switch when it'll be difficult if not impossible to re-solder the wire.

For the servo lead to fail due to black wire corrosion, 99% of the time the water gets to it from the connector end. But where does the connector reside?? In the Rx. So for water to get into the connector it is getting into the Rx. That's not good. It's expensive when the Rx fails.

I've often regretted not supplying my products with a connector and switch when I started all those years ago. I could have set the standard for battery connectors so that most were using the same setup. I see all sorts of combinations now.

Had a fried winch returned the other day. Turns out the new owner of this boat assumed that the previous owner used the same polarity as the new owner (Deans Ultra Plugs). He found out the expensive way that his battery and the new winch were not compatible. [:o)] Up in smoke went the winch. [xx(] Bugga!!! [:(]


Rob