From: Glenn Shaw (mpmutt@mtaofnj.us)
Date: Fri Apr 16 2004 - 09:36:38 PDT
Hi
Just an FYI re. the new style switch. It is selling to the govt for
comparable pricing compared with the old mechanical switch which is now
made in Asia. It is 180.00 in qty of 1 from the manufacturer and far
less in contract quantities. The highest price source for it is Ebay.
Although the design had some growing pains it is solid now and made in
USA. It is reverse polarity protected and is certified by the DOD as
being protected from very high voltage pulses.(EMP to be exact for those
that are aware of EMP protection in modern military electronics.) It is
a good product in many ways including alerting the vehicle driver that
he has left his lights on, helping to prevent dead batteries. If you
don't like them there will be plenty of the old switches around for the
next who knows how long.
Later
Glenn
-----Original Message-----
From: Bjorn Brandstedt [mailto:super_deuce@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2004 8:02 AM
To: Military Vehicles Mailing List
Subject: Re: [MV] [MVlist] Re: new light switch available - it can't
just turn on the lights -
Actually, the new switch, with its surface mounted components is
probably a
lot less costly to manufacture than the original precision machined,
silver
plated contact one.
Perhaps the worst condition one can impose on vehicle electronics is the
"load dump". This occurs when the generator/alternator is charging an
almost
discharged battery and the connections come loose (never disconnect the
battery cables when the engine is running!).
A load dump can produce voltage spikes in excess of 125 volts for a few
milliseconds, enough to kill any unprotected/low voltage transistor.
Special electronic components called varistors, are used to protect
sensitive electronics. Does the new switch have one of these (cost less
than
50 cents/ea in quantities)?
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