switch panel

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Forum Name: General Discussion
Forum Discription: General Mobile Electronics Questions and Answers
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=120678
Printed Date: July 13, 2025 at 7:28 AM

Topic: switch panel

Posted By: sabrev45
Subject: switch panel
Date Posted: March 12, 2010 at 10:05 AM

I'm working on building a simple switch panel that consists of only two momentary switches. What I'm looking to do is wire it up so that when I hit one button, puts the current through the regular way, + to + and - to -. But I'm want to wire it up so that when I hit the other button, the two switch, so that the + is now running to the originally - side and the - is now running to the originally + side. How would I accomplish this?

Edit: this switch panel is going to be running a 12v electric motor. So I want it so that you hit one button and the motor runs normally and you hit the other and it switches polarity and runs in reverse.

Thanks,
Mike

Replies:

Posted By: KPierson
Date Posted: March 12, 2010 at 12:38 PM

It would be easier to use a DPDT three position switch (on off on).

What kind of contacts are on the switch you are using? You'll most likely have to use the switches to latch a relay that does the power switching then have the other switch break the latch and latch a relay wired the opposite way.

-------------
Kevin Pierson

Posted By: awdeclipse
Date Posted: March 12, 2010 at 2:07 PM

You could also use the DPDT switch to select direction and have a push button to run the motor as another option.

If you must have only two buttons you can do the following. You'll need 2 relays and two momentary push buttons. Don't forget fuses too! (I didn't include them in the diagram)

posted_image

Same as this diagram on the site already.

Posted By: shafferny
Date Posted: March 13, 2010 at 7:30 AM

If found this diagram on the internet. It's simple enough. Your two center pins are your ouputs, and your top and bottom pins are your inputs. By changing the polarity of the inputs from top to bottom, you change the polarity output depending on which position the switch is in.

posted_image

Posted By: anonymous1
Date Posted: March 14, 2010 at 12:19 PM

Forgive me if I'm a tad under caffeinated today . . .

It sounds to me like he wants a 3 position momentary rocker switch.

In the middle position it does nothing.

In the UP position it would engage relay 1 for forward

In the down position it would engage relay 2 for reverse

Both positions are spring loaded momentary which require applied pressure for the duration of the action

When he let's go of pressing the UP or DOWN, the action would stop at that point.

OP is this for a winch? Do you plan to make this a type of external hand-held remote?

.

Posted By: shafferny
Date Posted: March 14, 2010 at 1:50 PM

That was my understanding too.

It could be for a winch, power windows, whatever...I've been thinking about doing something similar in my Jeep Liberty to allow the rear passengers to change the radio station and volume.

Posted By: sabrev45
Date Posted: March 15, 2010 at 11:02 AM

shafferny wrote:

If found this diagram on the internet. It's simple enough. Your two center pins are your ouputs, and your top and bottom pins are your inputs. By changing the polarity of the inputs from top to bottom, you change the polarity output depending on which position the switch is in.

If I was to use a relay setup like that, will I only need to use one relay? How would you go about wiring it up?

A three way momentary rocker switch sounds like a better option right now, I'll probably go with that instead.

Posted By: awdeclipse
Date Posted: March 15, 2010 at 11:21 AM

Two relays are required for that setup.

Follow this link

The actuator wires would connect to your motor and then the momentary switches would connect to ground on one side and "alarm lock output" on the diagram, one switch for each side.

Posted By: sabrev45
Date Posted: March 15, 2010 at 11:26 AM

awdeclipse wrote:

Two relays are required for that setup.

Follow this link

The actuator wires would connect to your motor and then the momentary switches would connect to ground on one side and "alarm lock output" on the diagram, one switch for each side.

Great, thanks for the help. That seems to be exactly what I need.

Posted By: anonymous1
Date Posted: March 15, 2010 at 8:09 PM

And all the people said "yea" . . and there was much rejoicing

Posted By: howie ll
Date Posted: March 23, 2010 at 3:32 AM

A DAV/Spal 5 pole electric window switch will do this quite simply and without the need for any relays if the draw is less than 15 amps.