Single board w/ relay and AC/DC converter to switch mains?

Thread Starter

summersab

Joined Apr 8, 2010
161
I have a drinking fountain which I have wired up to turn on and off with a foot pedal. The pedal is a simple mono plug piano pedal that is wired up to the switches behind the paddle buttons of the drinking fountain. However, there's one thing I didn't exactly think about - the paddle button switches are 110V AC. So, I now have a pedal switch with 110V running through it sitting on the floor. That's . . . a little unsafe, I'd think.

I know I could easily get a relay, a AC/DC wall wart, and create a little low-voltage switch to make this safe and functional. However, I wondered if there's a ~$10 single board turnkey solution out there which would do what I need - pinouts for mains, a transformer/AC/DC converter to step the voltage down to something safe, and a relay which switches on the low-voltage to control the 110V. Is there something out there like that? Probably a better question: is there a better way to solve my problem which I haven't considered?

Thanks!
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
If you were to construct the foot pedal properly with the H.V AC in mind, it should be OK, but you would need to use proper cabling SOJ etc, and recognized strain relief and use a ground wire for any metallic component.
A Micro switch could be used for the foot pedal switch.
Max.
 

Thread Starter

summersab

Joined Apr 8, 2010
161
If you were to construct the foot pedal properly with the H.V AC in mind, it should be OK, but you would need to use proper cabling SOJ etc, and recognized strain relief and use a ground wire for any metallic component.
A Micro switch could be used for the foot pedal switch.
Max.
I'm not sure if I'm following you correctly. I am using HVAC wire inside to go from the switch to the mono plug. I'm using a foot switch that came pre-wired with a mono plug. Still, it's a 110V loop going through the foot pedal. In the simplest terms, I wired the foot switch in parallel with the micro switch inside the drinking fountain. The micro switch uses 110V. So, there's now 110V sitting on the floor. I'm not sure that's very safe.

Let me know if I need to draw a diagram.
 

MaxHeadRoom

Joined Jul 18, 2013
28,617
I gathered that from your other post, my point was there is nothing wrong with AC Mains fed F.S's. as long as the proper precautions are taken and it is constructed with this in mind, including earth ground precautions, if required.
Max.
.
 
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