Switch

[davidwpack]

Anyone ever tried pushbutton switches such as these for on/off, standby? The specs seem like they'd be fine for guitar amps. They look kinda cool. Just wondering. http://www.adafruit.com/product/916

[Auke Jolman]

Hi David,

I never tried them. Looking at the technical specifications, I would be hesitant to use them for DC-switching. The are only rated at 250 V DC @ 3 A.

[davidwpack]

Yeah but unless I'm looking at the wrong data, the Carling switches I normally use are rated for 250 V @ 1A.

[Auke Jolman]

I see that too.

Maybe some real experts chime in.

[Colas LeGrippa]

I never checked the data sheet before using a switch. I have plenty of switches in my drawers that I use for switching triode-pentode, standby, on/off
and so on, without looking at the specs......Perhaps i oughta do to do it. I guess a cheap switch won't tolerate 500V for a long period, bu at the same time, if the current is really low what harm could do such voltage to a switch ????


Colas Coca

[Colas LeGrippa]

250V seems a standard for switches. I think that if a switch is rated for 250V at 1 A , it could handle 1000V at 250 mA, 2000V at 125mA etc.
The power of all the above mentioned switches is 250W and I think this is how we gotta calculate it.

[sluckey]

I think that if a switch is rated for 250V at 1 A , it could handle 1000V at 250 mA, 2000V at 125mA etc.

No, no, no, no, no.