Toggle Switch Wiring Question

[zarko]

I have a question on the toggle switch wiring. I bought the radio shack 3 (on/off/on) post toggle switches (275-654)http://www.radioshack.com/product/index ... Id=2062515 and had some questions on the wiring.

Let me know if I have this correct.

Pump 1

Off post on toggle switch - wire goes to BCS-460 Out 0

Auto post on toggle switch - wire goes to positive input side of SSR

Manual post on toggle switch - wire goes to 25A Output side of SSR


(SSR is a Crydom D2425)


Is this correct?

[gbrewer]

Zarko,

I deleted your other post at the bottom of the control panel thread since it was double posted and fits better under this knew thread you started.


What are you trying to accomplish with your toggle switch as far as voltage? Are you running this as a low voltage to trip the low voltage side of your relay or are you trying to fire up the 120volt side of the relay? In order to trip the low voltage side, you might need an extra part.

I run a three way toggle switch with my system and it is 120 volts. I have an "OVERRIDE", "OFF", and "AUTOMATIC". All wires coming into my switch are impacting the HOT side of the circuit and nothing directly from the BCS460.

[zarko]

thanks for getting back to me on this topic.

This is what I want to do and here is the equipment that I have:

I want to control (2) March pumps and (2 or 3) burners and I am using (3) Honeywell valves to do this. I want to put 3 way toggle switches in the middle of the SSRs and BCS so I can have an Auto/Off/Manual switch for each process.

Current Setup

I setup my control box with (1) internal GFCI outlet for the BCS460 and (2) external outlets that I intend to plug in the (2) pumps and (2 or 3) Honeywell valves. I wired the BCS 460 to the (3) temperture probes that I have connected them to inputs ( temp 0,1,2) and grounded the all of the probes.

I ran the Outputs 0,1,2,3 to (4) separate middle legs of the toggle switches then I ran a wire from one of the (On) side then to the Crydom 2425 SSRs on the input positive side and grounded each of the outlets the BCS ports. After that I ran one wire from the other (On) side of the toggle switch to the output side (240V) of the SSR.

I have 3 separate lines coming into to the control box for power. The first feed goes directly to the internal outlet which the BCS460 is plugged into. I am having trouble with the second power setup. The second feed I have split with one positive wire going to the SSR output side and wire capped with to a positive wire that goes to the hot side of the GFCI. I then have the negative wire going to the gfci and then out to a capped back to the negative wire on my lead. The ground wire at the outlet and then coming out and wire capped to the lead ground. The third lead and outlet are setup the same way.

I am so confused and fell bad asking all of these questions. Thanks so much for your help.

[gbrewer]

I am going to make a standard disclaimer here.. Electricity can kill or injure. Consult a professional electrician. I am going to explain briefly on how I wired my override switch and will explain it as one single circuit. There are many options here. Again.. I am explaining how "I" did it and not telling you how to do it.

I will explain my basic pump circuit. My system is much more comlex than explained but I will keep it simple. All of my circuits are protected by GFCI and are grounded.

One outlet controls the pump. The pump it plugged into the outlet. It is normally control from the BCS460 which I conside the "ON" state. If I move the 3-way switch to the center, everything is off. If I move the switch to the "Override" position, it is controlled manually and independent of the BCS460.

The main power cord comes into an outlet box. The neutral wire (white) is wired to the electrical outlet which is installed in the outlet box. The ground wire is grounded to the outlet (and metal box). The hot wire (black) alone is ran up a piece of conduit to my control panel. Inside the control panel is a relay and a 3-way switch. This hot wire (black) is connected to the center of the 3-way switch. The relay consists of two post for the 120v voltage (output) side. We will call these "post #1" and "post #2". From the "ON" side of the 3-way switch, I ran a wire to post #1. (again, we are dealing with the 120v side of this circuit) From the "Over-ride (or manual) side of the 3-way switch, I have ran a wire to post #2. From post #2, I ran a wire back through the conduit to the outlet. This wire is secured to the hot side of the outlet.

Two wires are ran from the BCS460. One is orange and one is striped orange. The orange one is ran from the the bcs460 at out 0 and connected to the relay on the low voltage + side. The striped orange one is ran from the BCS460 GND to the relay on the low voltage - side.

[JonW]

Here's a little diagram on using the On/Off/Auto switch to switch power to the SSR.
I prefer it this way as then you are only running the high voltage to the SSR and all other switching is low voltage.

On-Off-Auto2.jpg (25.52 KiB) Viewed 14919 times

[gbrewer]

Nice work Jon. Your approach appears a bit safer since it is low voltage to the switch. It only requires the additional +5v DC as well.

[zarko]

thanks for all of your help. I got my cotrol panel up and running.

[BCS Portland]

That low voltage solution does look to be a safer way to go. I'm no electrician, so take this FWIW - if the BCS craps out for some reason, will you still be able to run anything? Wouldn't you potentially be stuck without pumps, etc.??

[JonW]

You could grab any DC wall wort you have laying around and attach it to the 5V and Ground leads and you'd be in business to control everything manually. If you're already wiring switches how I put on the diagram, then you've already tied all the 5V (manual input side) and ground leads together. Because of this, you only have to hook two wires to it from the wall wart and all of your switches would be working for manual operation. Also, the wall wort doesn't have to be 5V since the SSR's can take 5-30 V DC.

If you are putting a bunch of manual control switches in the front of a control panel, wiring them low voltage will be much easier (and safer). You can use smaller switches that are rated for less current and the wire to hook it all up will be much smaller, flexible and easier to work with. Because the SSR's are doing all the high voltage switching, I cannot see any reason you would want to run additional switches with high voltage.

[BCS Portland]

You could grab any DC wall wort you have laying around and attach it to the 5V and Ground leads and you'd be in business to control everything manually. If you're already wiring switches how I put on the diagram, then you've already tied all the 5V (manual input side) and ground leads together. Because of this, you only have to hook two wires to it from the wall wart and all of your switches would be working for manual operation. Also, the wall wort doesn't have to be 5V since the SSR's can take 5-30 V DC.

If you are putting a bunch of manual control switches in the front of a control panel, wiring them low voltage will be much easier (and safer). You can use smaller switches that are rated for less current and the wire to hook it all up will be much smaller, flexible and easier to work with. Because the SSR's are doing all the high voltage switching, I cannot see any reason you would want to run additional switches with high voltage.

If I ever rewire, I will most likely take your advice, sounds good. I'd just put a mini jack into the panel so you can plug the wall wort right in!!!