I am looking for a way to switch between two states across 4 terminals.
Given 4 terminals 1, 2, 3 and 4 the switch should alternate between these two states: state 1 - terminals 1 and 2 are connected state 2 - terminals 2 and 3 are connected AND terminals 1 and 4 are connected
Any help would be greatly appreciated. An alternative would be to wire two three way switches and bind them together but I'm just curious if anyone knows of a single switch solution.
Thanks
Al
That sounds like a 'four way light switch', or a 'reversing switch' which can be made by using a DPDT switch and a few jumpers.
DPDT switch
pole 1: term 1 to C, term 2 to NO, term 4 to NC pole 2: term 3 to C, term 2 to NC
center OFF if desired
This suggests that I don't actually understand what you're trying to do. Why would "three way switches" be used when you only need two states?
Bob
For long hallways with multiply-located light switches...
Each end has a single-pole, double-throw, a "3-way" switch.
In between, each switch is double-pole, double-throw, a "4-way" switch.
Go figure ;-)
...Jim Thompson
...
Oh, right ... the electrician's "3-way". Silly me, I was thinking triple-throw (3 position).
Given that, we need to know what this switch is for. Home lighting or what?
Bob
So-called "3-way" (electrician-speak) switches are SPDT, and he needs DPDT
Here's another (equivalent) DPDT wiring (view in monospaced font)
Shown in state 1
2 4 o o | | | o o \\ ---- \\ \\ \\ o \\o o \\o | | | | | +------+ N.C. | | o o 3 1It's best to avoid connecting power across the N.O. - N.C., so the two may not be exactly equivalent.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
Well, that's electricians for you.
One of them overthrew communism in eastern Europe, but they still live in their own little world.
Yes, this will work. Thank you.
For some reason, I could diagram out a two switch solution but when I went to diagram the DPDT switch, I got hung up.
This will switch two DC power sources (batteries) between parallel and series to double the voltage.
I meant an actual three-way switch because I wanted to make sure that it was a break-before-make switch since any crossover would result in a short between the two batteries. The center OFF is ideal for this and I went out and got this kind of switch thanks to your solution.
Thanks go out to everyone. This really got me past the mental block. Thank you.
Al
Easily done with a standard DPDT switch.
S1 S2
1 O----o /o-----O 3 2 O------oNC O----o /o-----O 4
1 O------oHTH.
A googlie who bothers to acknowledge responses - Priceless! ;-)
Cheers! Rich
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