From the reading I've done already, I still don't fully grasp switches and which one I should choose for my project.

I want to activate a 3V and a 6V circuit simultaneously and have them maintained until I touch the switch again to turn these circuits both off.

It would be preferable to have as small a switch as possible, and mounting through a round (drilled) hole.

If you also know of a reliable vendor that would be great.....

Thanks,
Wolf

 

DPST?
Do you have a diagram of what you are trying to build?

 

You need a DPST switch, which could be either a push button or toggle type.
You also need to consider how much current you will be switching.
There's some here.

 

Ahhh, switches. Seems so simple but the devil lies in the details. Your application seems simple enough where you probably do not have to worry about voltage or current limitations.

By "touch the switch" and "small as possible" you probably want an on/off push button. Most will mount thru a round hole, and are a much lower profile than any toggle switch would be.

Switches are designated by the number of poles or separate circuits they switch, and how many throws or positions each can switch into. For two separate voltages you want a double pole switch. Since they are just going on and off a single pole is fine, though you may find that only a double pole is available. That is fine to use.

So either a double pole single throw (DPST) or a double pole double throw (DPDT) switch will work for you.

I have two go to places for parts, that being Digikey for best quality of a known part, or EBay when I am more concerned with cost and can bare not being able to get that exact same part again in the furure.

 

Assuming common ground you simply need one pole...
Without a schematic or more detailed information a guaranteed answer cannot be provided

Your safest bet is a double pole.. One pole for each circuit

 

Assuming common ground you simply need one pole...

But with just one pole, even with the switch off, the two circuits will still be connected in series between +3V and +6V and the voltage across the 3V circuit would be reversed.

 

But with just one pole, even with the switch off, the two circuits will still be connected in series between +3V and +6V and the voltage across the 3V circuit would be reversed.

Quite untrue when assuming a common ground.

 

Your switch should look a little like the below image:


There are other ways but this is a common method rather than using a SPST to switch common. That said and as mentioned the devil is in the details. While you fail to mention how much current you plan to switch I assume very small low current. Cherry Switch makes a wide range of miniature switched (Toggle Type). You don't mention how you want the switch to be actuated? Toggle Switch, Lever Actuated, Push Button, Rotary or what? Like they said, the devil is in the details. Got any details?

Ron

 

Quite untrue when assuming a common ground.

??
Show me how you can switch a common ground to the supply without reverse voltage being applied across the 3V circuit through the 6V circuit from the common ground connection, as AH stated.

 

Quite untrue when assuming a common ground.

Go on then, show us a circuit switching a 3V and 6V circuit using a single pole switch which disconnects the circuits from the power supplies.

 

Carl and Albert I will get back to you on that. Maybe a few years from now. I figure by then you guys may forget.

No we can't switch the common. While it can look appetizing on paper it simply will not work.

Now if I used a SPST switch to switch the common of a DPST relay then it would work.

We now resume our regular programming....

Ron

 

??
Show me how you can switch a common ground to the supply without reverse voltage being applied across the 3V circuit through the 6V circuit from the common ground connection, as AH stated.

Oops, misread both posts.

You are of course correct.

 

Thank You all for the responses..... I should have come here sooner.

The switch I'm looking for will be attached to protrude from a plastic model spaceship project I have going. I would really like a low profile (and small form) push button switch for appearance sake.

The 3V and 6V circuits are both powered by separate battery packs. I need the 6V solely to power a small PCB chaser I built, while the 3V circuit just powers led's used for interior lighting. Both of these circuits are specific however to just the hanger deck on my space cruiser...... So until the hanger doors are open neither circuit needs to be actuated. But when the hanger interior is visible, I don't want to hit more than one switch.

Sorry my original query wasn't so descriptive as this..... I'll have to work on that. :b

 

Here's an idea. You could make the switching automatic with two SPDT reed switches mounted inside by the door and a magnet mounted on the door.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_switch

 

Here's an idea. You could make the switching automatic with two SPDT reed switches mounted inside by the door and a magnet mounted on the door.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed_switch

That's a cool switch I was completely ignorant of..... but still, I don't have the real estate to add much of anything inside this small model kit.

At one point I was determined to make the doors opening each a switch of sorts (2 doors completing a connection as each was slid open), but I failed thus far with a design I would be confident in lasting..... let alone working.

 

You can look at small DPST slide switches, number of manufacturers but C&K comes to mind one of yur doors would slide the switch. There are cam type lever switches and push button types. This becomes a matter of you looking at switch designs and how they activate and what would work best or fit into your project. Nobody here can see or visualize what you have exactly and the dimensions.

Ron

 

I don't have the real estate to add much of anything inside this small model kit.

These switches are available in very small sizes - 12mm long, 2.5mm diameter.

 

These switches are available in very small sizes - 12mm long, 2.5mm diameter.

Now that I think about this more, this is actually a very clever suggestion Mr. Hall...... I think I can make this happen.

 

To make you suggestion happen Mr. Hall, I can cut thin strips of rubberized magnet material we all have on our refrigerators and glue them under the sliding doors. These strips would only be about .1" wide x 2.5" long. The stroke of each sliding door is slightly under 1", so I would then need to determine the correct switch to mount near the end point of the door action which would not be activated by the magnetic field when the doors are in the closed position.

I have no clue how to determine the magnetic force at play here, or what sensitivity rating on the switch I would be looking for. Do you think you can get me "in the ball park" with testing some switches?

Thanks,
Wolf

 

To make you suggestion happen Mr. Hall, I can cut thin strips of rubberized magnet material we all have on our refrigerators and glue them under the sliding doors. These strips would only be about .1" wide x 2.5" long. The stroke of each sliding door is slightly under 1", so I would then need to determine the correct switch to mount near the end point of the door action which would not be activated by the magnetic field when the doors are in the closed position.

I have no clue how to determine the magnetic force at play here, or what sensitivity rating on the switch I would be looking for. Do you think you can get me "in the ball park" with testing some switches?

Would be much easier to go to any home improvement or hardware store and buy some Magnetic Door and Window sensors. This way everything comes neatly packaged and ready to easily mount. Here in the US any Home Depot, Lowes or True Value Hardware should have them in stock. If the factory packaging is too large just bust the reed switches out of the plastic housing, likewise the magnets.

Ron