DPDT 3-Position Switch On-Off-Charge Wiring

[_ADAM_]

Hey tician. I'm looking at this one - 30 amp 12VDC DPT 3-Position On-Off-On:

http://www.gamainc.com/site/epage/130301_941.htm

My plan is to connect a male/male deans-style on a short wire to each "row" of the DPDT. Then connect one male deans to the battery, one to the charge cable, and one to main output (a Y harness where one goes to a BEC and RPi, other straight to Dynamixel power bus).

I like this setup because it's clean and modular, can easily take things apart and change them out if I want.

I want easy acces for charging without disconnecting anything, and I don't want the charge cable on the same circuit as main power. Balance connector will also be easily accessible.

I understanding everyone looks at this kind of stuff a little differently, and this setup makes sense to me.

[tician]

Should work fine although there may be hiccups/reboots during switching if supplying external power to the BEC and RPi upstream of the battery switch. Definitely verify the terminals of the switch before powering everything up. Center pair should be the 'common' lines and be connected to battery, but the switch drawing does not state that explicitly.

[_ADAM_]

I would not switch it off unless I shutdown linux first, if that's what you mean.

If you're saying it might not boot cleanly from cold, then that's something I'd need to look at. I'm also looking at maybe using the MoPi power board... not sure though, will prototype without it first.

There will be a momentary button that executes a shutdown sequence. Or I can do it from putty when I'm at my desk.

[jwatte]

You want the connection to the charger and to the bot to be female, just like a battery connector, and you want the connector to the battery to be male, to mate with the battery.
The reason for this will become obvious once you start playing around with hooking up diferent pieces.
Specifically, you'll want to be able to plug the battery straight into the bot without the switch, as well as with the switch.
You also want to be able to plug the charger into the switch, as well as straight into the battery.

[_ADAM_]

Agree J on M/F comments, that's exactly how I have it drawn up (pen and paper, how I design everything).

Waiting on some parts, but I'll start a bot-specific thread and post pics of everything when it's ready.