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SVreX wrote:Are they touch switches, or spring loaded rocker switches?
They are not touch switches as in the thermo-magnetic-finger sensing new style. You lightly touch push them. They move in ever so slightly but do not rock. Its the same movement to either turn a light on or off. To me they feel like a momentary contact style push switch. Thats why I am trying to figure out how they work, and if I can swap them with the standard new style up/down switch.
Thanks Paul
I've learned something today
paulmpetrun wrote:SVreX wrote:Are they touch switches, or spring loaded rocker switches?
They are not touch switches as in the thermo-magnetic-finger sensing new style. You lightly touch push them. They move in ever so slightly but do not rock. Its the same movement to either turn a light on or off. To me they feel like a momentary contact style push switch. Thats why I am trying to figure out how they work, and if I can swap them with the standard new style up/down switch.
Thanks Paul
I think you have a system similar to the one I worked on. If so, you can't switch them to standard switches. Standard switches are not momentary contact- they maintain a completed circuit until opened.
I think yours are activating a relay, and need to be released once they have made contact.
This may be a little tough to diagnose on the internet. An electrician may be the ticket. Even if just for an hour for advice.
BTW- the one system I saw like this was also in PA. It was a fairly sophisticated system for it's day.
Now that I think about it, my fathers 12v."Delco" system was about 65-70 yrs ago. Hmm.
my grandparent's house had this type of system.. it was built in 1960 or so by a doctor and it had all sorts of weird "space age" things like this. my grandparent's bought the house in the late 60's for something like $45k which was as much as my parents paid for a much smaller house on a slightly smaller lot 15 years later...
anyways, it was kind of cool that you could have switches at each entrance to a room- and each room had at least 2 entrances, which was really cool when i was a kid- but by the late 80's, the switches were getting worn out and the relays that were mounted up in the attic were starting to fail. he had a hell of a time finding anyone that even knew what he was talking about when he'd call around to electricians looking for help with the relays or power supplies or whatever, but there was one electrical supply house in LaCrosse, WI that knew what he had was able to get him what he needed.. that was a 4 hour drive, but luckily my uncle lived in LaCrosse and i'd sometimes get to go on a weekend excursion with my grandpa to get the switch or relay that he needed.. also, the squirrels that always seemed to get into the attic loved to chew on the low voltage wires- they got to live to do it repeatedly since there wasn't enough juice in the wires to be fatal... my grandpa sold the house in 1991, but i actually almost bought it at the end of 2001 and all the light switches still worked as of that time..
Here's a link to a short discussion about low voltage switching.
There are a few good links in there.
Hope it helps!
In reply to foxtrapper & SVreX:
Thanks very much, I searched for hours and couldn't find anything.
I did get a signed contract to buy the house, so it seems I will get to learn alot more about the wiring as I redo it.
Thanks again Paul
