Wiring my switches

#1

Well, not the switches themselves, but the LEDs used to illuminate the button.

I’m going to use two of these as NO buttons to activate the ‘Pause’ workflow on my Shapeoko XXL, and wonder if any electrical ‘whizzo’ could give me an idea what size power supply cables I would need, as it’s not clear from the item description.

The single, illuminating LED appears to be rated at 12V, but the description doesn’t seem to indicate what the power consumption would be. I’m assuming (dodgy ground here!) that it won’t be much and a cable like this would be adequate?

The switches will only be illuminated when the machine’s running and will be powered by a plug-in transformer, like this.

Thank you.

#2

Peter:

I have used Cat5 network cables for wiring these types of switches. That is 24 gauge wire. Network cables work well because they have four pair of wires available in case you are wiring up more than one switch but are small enough even if you only need one pair of wires.

Bill

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#3

The LEDs should be < 50mA so the current capacity is not an issue.

Given some of the ‘fun’ people have with EMI however you might want to consider the Cat5 twisted pair Bill mentions or even shielded twisted pair as TP is inherently much less prone to interference.

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#4

Well, I never thought to use Cat5 network cable!

Could I also use this to wire the NO switches for the ‘Pause’ workflow too?

Of course, I’ll have to undo everything I’ve done with them, but it would be nice to have a single cable doing everything :+1:

Thanks, guys

#5

Peter:

I used Cat5 network cable for my Pause/Resume button as well as my E-Stop which employs a 24 volt safety relay.

I picked up an 800 foot roll of Cat5 cable for $10.00 at a garage sale several years ago so it is my ‘go to’ solution )

Bill

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#6

If you can’t find a cheap box somewhere there are electrical factors where it’s about £0.55 per metre;

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/CACAT5E.html

If you want shielded twisted pair I never found a source by the meter cheaper than buying STP patch cables on eBay and chopping the connectors off.

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