Thursday, September 22, 2011

What I learned about switches and triggers

In preparing for the fiberglassing stage, I found that my trigger was loose. Not just a little loose...tragically loose. It needed to be replaced.

Since the construction of the trigger mechanism, I surfed a few electronics sites and learned that what I made was a "DPDT momentary pushbutton switch" out of two SPST toggles and some springs. Cute, but inefficient and prone to failure. What I needed to do was order a DPDT momentary pushbutton and wire it in.

Armed with this new revelation, I just ordered one of these:
Next I plan to make a new trigger mechanism-- a much simpler, sturdier one that uses this switch to control the LEDs.

3 Months left until my New Years' Resolution expires...hope I can finish this gun in time.