Hiding 12v wiring and rocker switches

[_Ryan_]

I am getting to the point where I need to drill the holes for my wiring through the walls before I add the inside skin and I had a couple questions.

1) How do you deal with the extra wiring, specifically the connection between the fixture in the sidewalls and roof? I can see 2 solutions, drill a larger hole than you need behind the fixture to hold the wiring, or alternatively leave the wiring a bit loose and push it back into the hole in the sidewall. I am concerned about needing to access the fixture connections in the future.

2) Concerning the rocker switches in the sidewall. My walls are 3/4" with 1/8" skins for a total of 1". The switches I ordered have a depth of 1.25" and I'll need a bit more for the connections. I can probably make a 1/2" frame on the inside wall to mount the switch which will give me the room but I am looking to avoid that. Are there any shallow switches which would properly fit my current wall design?

Cheers,
Ryan

[Dale M.]

You could always "bump out" rocker switch by adding another "layer" of material behind it or do something decorative by getting a wooden switch plate and modifying it and mount switch on its face it to give you a little extra depth....



Some can be 3/8 to 1/2 inch thick....

Dale

[S. Heisley]

I'm not certain if this will work for you or not, Ryan, but what I did was put the switches at the edge of the ceiling, next to the doors, because my ceiling area has a 1.5" depth. Normally, ceilings are deeper than walls. Because the ceilings are usually low anyway, it doesn't feel odd at all and the switches are easy to find. Use a piece of PVC pipe in the wall, as a sort of conduit, to run the wire down through, from the switch to where your light is.

[Bogo]

On the switches, I'd look thought the Digikey www://www.digikey.com/ and Mouser http://www.mouser.com/ catalogs to see if what you want is available. Be sure to select the "In Stock" check box.

Here is in stock switches at Digikey: http://www.digikey.com/product-search/e ... es?stock=1 You would likely want to look under pushbutton, rocker, toggle, and slide types. When selecting, look at the termination. Quick connect, screw terminal, and solder lug styles are likely the ones you want to deal with. PC Pin style is made for insertion onto a circuit board. Current Rating is also important. You want ones that are DC rated for your 12VDC circuits. Also look at the current rating, is it enough. You can select multiple items with control and shift while clicking on a line in a selection list. I recommend only narrowing down on one list area at a time. If you want illumination, pay attention to the illumination voltage and current type of AC or DC.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... ND/2747845 is a 20A switch with a 1" depth to the tips of the .25" quick connect blades. With flag terminals it could be mounted into a 1-3/8" deep area. Where did I find the sizes? I clicked on the "Datasheet" link on the product page. That brings up a PDF file or web page describing the product or line of products. Some times it takes a bit of decoding to figure out which options are on the Digikey product. Look at the listed manufacturer part number, and then compare it to the options in the data sheet.

http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... ND/2027285 is a 10Amp round SPST waterproof rocker switch. It uses 0.187" quick connect terminals or solder eye connections. Soldering the wires on would allow a 1" depth hole to be used. Using flag terminals would be a slight bit deeper.

This is a non insulated flag terminal for 0.25" terminals and 12AWG wire: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... -ND/456705 It is crimped onto the end of the wire, and allows the wire to be connected to a male faston connector tab with the wire sticking off to the side rather than up. Here is a similar one, but insulated: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... -ND/288012 Oops! that was the tape and reel product #, here is the cut tape product # you would want to buy: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/e ... -ND/385309 I've always found crimping flag terminals hard, but then I don't have the right crimp tools for them. They often take a different tool. The die set for that insulated one is over $4,000. I just mash them with a $20 crimper I got a Menards. I noticed in the "For Use With" section of the non insulated terminal they had various insulated boots for use with the flag terminal. A few looked to be little boots that you would first slip on the wire, then strip and crimp the wire, then slip the boot over the flag terminal to insulate it.

Digikey is a supplier to the electronics industry. As such they have many of those small electrical components that go into making products like your computer, or dishwasher. Orders under $35? are charged a $5 handling fee. Shipping is actual cost, and will be added at the time of shipment.

[_Ryan_]

Thanks for all the ideas. I guess I could install the switch above the door, but I think I want the switch on the wall. Lot's of good links, maybe I will find a switch a bit more shallow.

[DMcCam]

Hi Ryan,

Yep, this part of my build was a real mind bender too. Here's what we did. With the interior 1/8" ply laminated to the 3/4" walls, we fitted the insulation but didn't glue it then ran all the wiring in the open wall. Then we removed an area of insulation to make a void next to the switches and light fixtures to shove the connections and wires into. We made the feed holes next to these as large as possible and rounded them to have smooth edges. Then we soldered blade connectors to the wiring in the walls. The fixtures and switches got the same treatment but with very short leads. You'll want to offset the connectors to help with feeding them into the walls and minimizing the possibility of shorting. We then drilled the holes for the lights in the outer skins and attached them, same thing with the aluminum. You just shove your wiring into their recesses in the finished sandwich wall. Then match the aluminum up with the wall, drill your opening holes, apply the glue, align and roll like crazy! We used vinyl adhesive for the aluminum. We were off a 1/18" on one side but the fixtures will cover it.

We ended up using little round Radio Shack 12V rocker switches that look like the ones use by Mr. Coffee. I mounted them in 1/8" stainless steel switch-plates that were cut by water-jet. this gave me a full 1" of space to work with. By bending the rear connectors sideways, we managed to get the switches into their recesses. We used heat shrink tubing on each connection to keep them together and keep them from shorting out. Here's how they ended up looking.



I hope this helps.

All the Best,

Dave

[_Ryan_]

Thanks Dave, that information was exactly what I was looking for!

I was thinking I could try bending the the connectors. The switches were pretty cheap so if I break something no big loss.

[RandyG]

Here's some more! http://www.parts-express.com/cat/switches/77

[jdaan]

Ran into the same issue myself. Time constraints didn't allow me to find smaller switches, so I built frames for the switch panels. Panel material is scrap aluminum from the skin. Didn't really want to do it, but can't say I've had a problem with the way it looks since.

[Lgboro]

I did the same as above and built a half inch extension and made a plate. I even added an extra overhead light so I had and access point for my solar panel wiring. Probably will do the same for built 2 when I get that far along.

[_Ryan_]

Ran into the same issue myself. Time constraints didn't allow me to find smaller switches, so I built frames for the switch panels. Panel material is scrap aluminum from the skin. Didn't really want to do it, but can't say I've had a problem with the way it looks since.

Wow, this looks really good! I might have to steal this idea...

[Dale M.]

Ran into the same issue myself. Time constraints didn't allow me to find smaller switches, so I built frames for the switch panels. Panel material is scrap aluminum from the skin. Didn't really want to do it, but can't say I've had a problem with the way it looks since.

Sexy.... That is concept I was trying to convey in my earlier post....

Dale