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By JamesBryan
#198330
Hi, i tried to get a usable answer on a different forum but so far what ive got is "do this thing you dont know how to do that we arent going to answer in a way that is at all usefull to you" and im hoping someone here can give me an answer i can use. i am upgrading a TRON legacy deluxe disc and i am using two arduino pro trinkets and a three position slider switch. i want the middle (im calling it position 2) to be "off, position one, the left, will power ONLY the inner "C" ring for a carry and display mode while position 3, the right side, will power up BOTH boards so the inner "C" ring and the blade will both light up for an "active" mode. i was told to use a diode, which i understand how they work, but i have no clue how to wire it in. the switch has two groups of four contact pins. the way i see it is i can wire one board to the first position and then both boards to the second set of pins but i need to know if that would work, or how it is to wire a diode into this
#198337
If your switch is like most of the 4-pin 3 position slide switches, it works like this: (check with an ohmmeter to be sure)
Code: Select all
Left
o-o o o
o-o o o

Center
o o-o o
o o-o o

Right
o o o-o
o o o-o
So connect it like this
Code: Select all
  + + B
o o o o
o o o o
R + + R
where B is the power going to the blade trinket, R is the power to the ring trinket, + is the positive terminal of the battery, The negative of the battery connects to the negative of both trinkets.

The bottom set of contacts turn the ring on in both left and right position. The top set turns the blade on only in the right position. In the center position, neither will have power, so they will be off.

/mike
By JamesBryan
#198341
thank you very much for actually explaining things a little better although i am still a little confused. im doing this project so i can actually learn electronics. it was a panel at dragoncon some time ago that sparkfun ran that got me interested (either you guys ran the panel or you were mentioned, i cant remember specifically) i realize i should have mentioned a few factors. i am using a separate battery for each of the trinkets that will be attached to a charger addon. the charger add on is where the power switch is wired to.
20180215_224404.jpg
this is what im working with, the larger blue and red wires are the switch wires and based on the schematic do not appear to be polarized as such.
adafruit_products_backpack.png
assuming the same colour convention i chose in my example picture, which pins would i wire the blue wires to and which pins would i wire the red wires to? based on your answer im guessing a diode is not included in this. the horizontal line between the red and blue wires is where i cut the trace as instructed in the tutorial for the charger add on on how to add a switch.
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By JamesBryan
#198342
i THINK i understand what you are talking about. i apologize for how sloppy it is but i hope i have differentiated things as clearly as needed, but is this about what it is you were suggesting?
diagram.jpg
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#198347
Yes, that would work. The top row of pins are not connected to the bottom row so they can be used to control two independent circuits. Because of this, we don't need to add any diodes to the circuit.

The switch is not polarized; for this use, it doesn't matter which gets the red wire and which the blue.

The diode would be needed if you were using an SPDT (single pole, double throw, center off) switch instead of this one. I have added an attachment that shows how this would be done for future reference. Since I haven't found the exact schematic for your charger board, it may be the red wire that the switch connects to in this diagram instead of the blue...

/mike
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