Question about rotary switches. (before I solder them)

[FUZZZZzzzz]

Hi! I'm building a meatball clone with the very cool meat sphere pcb from musicpcb. The documentation asks for 4 times 3 pole 4 throw rotary switches. The ones I got in the mail are unfortunately 4 times 4 pole 4 throw switches. Can I just cut of the 4th lug (D) so it fits in the pcb or are those rotary switches totally different internally?

http://static1.squarespace.com/static/54696a3ee4b05a85cbfe56e5/t/552da76fe4b0a0d7241d2da9/1429055343405/Meat-Sphere-build-PDF-updated.pdf

[slacker]

Do you mean 4 pole 3 throw switches? If so then no you can't use them they're different internally.

[FUZZZZzzzz]

Thanks for the input.. I think I'd rather wait for the new order. Those rotary switches are a pain to desolder.

[duck_arse]

can you point us to a picture or link to the (wrong) part you have in hand? please?

[FUZZZZzzzz]

I ordered these by mistake:
http://www.taydaelectronics.com/rotary-switch-3-pole-4-position-alpha-sr2612f.html

however you can adjust the ring for more positions.. so I thought I could maybe cut off lug D and use it anyways. I don't much about the internal switching differences between the two so I've come to my happy place for guidance

[peterg]

Looks like you ordered the right part - 3 pole 4 throw. What you probably got was 4 pole 3 throw switches. Test them with your multi meter.

[slacker]

Yeah sounds like they've sent you the wrong part.

3 pole 4 throw are connected like this, so you've got three individual switch with four positions.

Pole A goes to throw 1, 2, 3 or 4
Pole B goes to throw 5, 6, 7 or 8
Pole C goes to throw 9, 10, 11 or 12

4 pole 3 throw are connected like this, so you've got four individual switches with three positions.

Pole A goes to throw 1, 2 or 3
Pole B goes to throw 4 ,5 or 6
Pole C goes to throw 7 , 8 or 9
Pole D goes to throw 10, 11 or 12

Looking a the Meat Sphere schematic again it looks like all the switches only have three settings so you could use either type of switch if you use off board wiring.
In fact, the range and HP/BP/LP switches only use 1 pole of the switch and they only have three settings so if they use pole A I think you could use either sort of switch if you cut off pole D and solder them to the PCB. I would check very carefully before trying this tough, you wouldn't want to have to unsolder them if it doesn't work, probably easier to use the right sort of switch.

[PEPPER!]

Ahhh Tayda, guess that legal weed is taking a toll on your Colorado shipping warehouse!  If you want to have them soldered into the pcb you gotta wait for the right part -



You could wire up the switches you have and mount them elsewhere in the enclosure but that's a lot of soldering and you will lose a lot of space.

[PRR]

> The ones I got in the mail are ....4 pole 4 throw switches.

Count again. I'll go out on a limb and say you will not find a 4P4T (16 outside pins) switch for a dollar.

You have 12 pins around the outside, right? And you say you have _4_ pins in the center? That must be 4P3T.

_3_ pin in center with 12 outside would be 3P4T.

2 pin in center with 12 outside would be 2P6T.

If you have a 4-throw in hand, you can use it as 2 3 or 4 throw by blocking the excess positions (they often give you a dingus for that). But a 3-throw (2 or 3) can't be made into a 4-throw any simple way. Conceptually you move the wipers around and bust-out the 3-throw stop. But this often ends with a bunch of teeny bits of brass in the carpet.