Hi,I'm a total newbie at electronics. I would like to know the best way to wire switches. Do you just take bare wire and solder it directly to the switch terminal? Or do you solder it to some type of connector and then just plug it in to the switch? I know all switches are different. But perhaps you could give me some examples of how to wire a switch, i.e. toggle or push button.Also, how would I learn which terminals on the switches should be connected to which wire -- which terminal is ground, live, etc.. Is that shown on a switch?Is there a guide on the web, i havn't been able to find one yet.ThanksAlan

Alan,I would take some isolated cable (do not use bare wire!) and solder it to the switch in one end and an appropriate connector in the other end. This makes for easy maintenance and replacement if necessary.Also would make sure I wire all switches of the same kind in the same way. If the connector has terminals 1, 2 and 3 I would see to that all the respective terminals of, lets say a toggle switches, end at the same connector terminal i.e. common switch terminal always connected to connector terminal 1 and so on.Hope it helps,

What connector? I'm a newbie, and you talk in terms i don't understand. I thought you needed a connector between the wire and the switch, no? How does a newbie figure out which terminal should be connected to which wire?ThanksALan

Hiya, I'm a newbie as well, but I hope I can help some here.I bought ribbon cables and connectors from my local electronics shop and made up a cable. These are dead easy to do, as long as you put the cable in the correct way.In the picture you will see a red cable at one side, if you buy the connectors I use they have the notch halfway down the body.Have the notch facing you and the cable so that the red line is to the left and then push down the cover and voila a cable is made.When completed it should look like the photo.Now, the other end I solder onto the switch, remembering to make sure that you use the two wires that are next to each other.Generally with switches (someone correct me if I'm wrong) it doesn't matter which way you connect the simple switches, but toggles and rotaries require a bit more care.Hope this helps.If not - feel free to ask.

Forgot the pic silly mehttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93635.jpg

thank you.. is there any chance you could show a picture of the soldered connection at the switch end? Thanks very much.Alan

Alan,Sorry if I was talking over your head. Was not my intention. :-(Here's a picture of a toggle switch. You can see the terminals where you solder your wires at the bottom of the switch. This particular switch has three positions and is used for two independent circuits, hence the six terminals (You can only see the front three plus one in the back but it's symetrical).http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/93636.jpgHope it helps,