Hi. I am hoping you can help. I know very little about electronics but I am working on a project that has a control panel that has 8 arcade style pushbuttons. It is my goal for this panel to work with 2 consoles - console A and console B. As an experiment I wired one of the buttons to a DPDT switch, and then to console A and B. This was successful in that I was able to hit the switch and everything worked as expected for that particular button. So I know I could use 7 more DPDT switches to achieve my goal. But that seems a bit messy and cumbersome.
It will never be the case that I would want some of the switches on A and some on B. It would always be either all A or all B. So that got me wondering is there a single switch I could use that would be able to handle this? All 8 buttons go into the switch and all 8 can get switched from A to B. If there is not one that can handle 8, is there one that could handle more than one and still eliminate the number of switches needed? Or even a DIY solution.
Thank you.
It sounds like you are wanting a master switch that would toggle control of the other switches from A to B console or vis versa.
We may have something that would work.
However we would need to know the voltage and current ratings these will be seeing.
After taking a quick look it maybe that the master switch will be a set of relays to accommodate the change over of all the control from one to the other. Then a normal switch to control the relay set.
I’m sorry but I don’t even know that. Below is a description/link of the switch I am currently using. I don’t think I need a master to control the 8 switches. Really just one switch that would function as if 8 of these switches were somehow banded together. Basically, is there a way to replace 8 DPDT switches with 1 larger switch.
I do apologize if I am not being clear.
QTEATAK 2Pcs DPDT 6 Pins 3 Position ON/Off/ON Black Rocker Toggle Switch for Car and Boat AC 20A/125V 16A/250V KCD2
I see, Then using the set of relays may still work.
As I did not see a good option that would be 16PDT.
(examples) These would work However the MOQ on some of these is 2 units.
Power Relays, Over 2 Amps | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey
R10-E1X8-115V Is a 8PDT relay
R10-E1X8-115V TE Connectivity Potter & Brumfield Relays | Relays | DigiKey Marketplace
Example for switches with the 8PDT
Push button options.
Pushbutton Switches | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey
Toggle 68AT22-1-ND
68AT22-1 Honeywell Sensing and Productivity Solutions | Switches | DigiKey
With the relay given you would connect the coils in parallel and run them off the same switch.
Then these would toggle all 16poles at the same time.
Hi @emailjreich ,
Can you explain what are the consoles A and B? Are they game consoles or something custom built? Do you have a chance to inspect how the button inputs are wired inside the consoles?
It may be possible that the buttons do not have to be “floating”, instead they may have a common reference potential connected to one terminal of each button, in which case you’d be fine with 8PDT if the reference is ground, or 9PDT if the reference is something else (like +3.3V).
One “easy” solution is to use a VGA switch box, like
Cheers, heke
If you are simply trying to switch 8 SPST arcade pushbutton switches all at once between one of two consoles, look for an 8 pole 2 position rotary switch.
I’m not sure any switch manufacturers make that switch type any more. If you do find one I suspect it will cost $50.00US or more in singles. Centralab used to have a build you own system that let you configure any pole/position combination but sometimes the result was a >$100.00 switch.
The 8PDT rotaries are made. However the MOQs for most are 10units with one being undefined with not listed lead time.
The ones I found are from Grayhill.
Rotary Switches | Electronic Components Distributor DigiKey