Amerigo Vespucci by DanielD - OcCre - 1:100

[Bill97]

No Daniel not long at all. I really appreciate you taking the time to explain what I need. The switch is the last component of the electrical part of this future project I think I need. So a quick check of my understanding is the power brick you recommended (which I bought) will produce 12v to the voltage regulators you recommended (which I bought) using the included adapter. I will then individual adjust the output voltage on each regulator to match the required voltage of the LED’s on that circuit. All the LEDs on a circuit should have matching power requirements.  From the voltage regulators I will add in the on/off switch followed by the two wires leading to the LEDs each protected by the resistors you recommended (which I bought)?  I think I got it.  Would a basic 2 pin switch like this work. My limited experience with electric switches has been a simple two screw light switch in my house where the switch was used to interrupt the power. It looks like something like thus would just be wired in the load line. 

 

https://a.co/d/5aVQvSq

Edited 12 hours ago by Bill97

[DanielD]

Bill, this will work just fine…but they are 20mm in diameter. That’s fairly large. One problem with using automotive switches is that are generally large. The  ones I chose are still large at 16mm, but that is a trade off for using something that is readily available.

 

One slight change to your description on the circuit above, and I’m sorry I didn’t put this into the schematic I drew last week. The switches should go on the red wire just after the battery or power source and the other side of the switch to a regulator. The black or negative wire should not be connected to the switch. This way, when the switch is off, there is no power going to the regulator and thus the LEDs are off. When you turn the switch on, the closed position, the circuit connects the two terminals and power is sent to the regulator and LEDs turn on. Hope this helps.

[Bill97]

Perfect Daniel. I think this old brain might just have this. Does my edit of the schematic look correct?

Edited 10 hours ago by Bill97

[DanielD]

38 minutes ago, Bill97 said:

Perfect Daniel. I think this old brain might just have this. Does my edit of the schematic look correct?

While technically this will work, the standard in the industry is to use the red wire for the positive side of the circuit and the black wire for the negative or ground side. Opposite what you have shown with your colors. Also, the reason we put the switch on the positive side of the battery is to cut off electrical flow into the rest of the circuit to preventing being shocked when working on a system. In our case, we are only dealing with 12 volts and very minimal amperage, so even if you touched something you won’t be shocked. However, it’s best to learn the correct way so that future projects are done without risk.  Hope this helps.

[Bill97]

Oh OK. Daniel I was misreading this section of your instructions:

 

The switches should go on the red wire just after the battery or power source and the other side of the switch to a regulator. The black or negative wire should not be connected to the switch. 

 

I was curious about that but was taking your instructions as being accurate.  Thanks for correcting me. I will edit the schematic again for your thumbs up. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Bill97

[DanielD]

Bill, here is an updated schematic.