Can I Put An Led In A Dpdt Switch?

[thomasteven]

I was wondering if there was any way I can wire an LED into my wah pedal, with the DPDT switch used for true bypass in my VOX wah pedal. Or do I have to buy the 3PDT switch and use that?

[lovekraft]

Go to Geofex and find the Millenium Bypass -it will work with your DPDT switch.

[thomasteven]

I can't find what your talking about.

[lovekraft]

Yeah, that pesky reading stuff!

Opening page, center frame, third link from the top (upper middle of the screen when the page opens):

The Millenium C(ontinues) - a highly adaptable, cheap, easy to work Millenium Bypass

Pressing Ctrl+f to search,and typing in millenium brings up the following (still on the opening page, mind you):

Millenium 2 Bypass extensions

And finally, clicking on Search GEO (left frame) and typing in millenium gets you this (and more, but I'll let you look for yourself):

The Millenium Bypass

Hell, typing "Millenium bypass" into Google gets you 3 pages worth!! Where did you look?

[monkey69962000]

what i think he wanted was a light in the switch, like the knob is lit up. If not than look at the millenium bypass. If its what am talking about, go to a car parts store like AutoZone or electronics stores like Radio Shack. They have Dpdt switches that light up.

[thomasteven]

No monkey69962000, I am planning on putting an LED indicator light on my wah pedal to tell me when the wah is engaged.

Thanks a lot LK, the only thing that I got from those articles, was that I CAN'T put an LED indicator in with only a DPDT switch. Am I right?

Edited January 23, 2005 by thomasteven

[monkey69962000]

um, well i think the light up switches do indicate if its on or not. Just trying to help.

[lovekraft]

No, the whole point of the Millenium is to allow you to use a DPDT and still have an indicator LED. You simply build the Millenium circuit and rewire your DPDT switch to use it. Actually, you don't need the fancy Millenium circuit (although it's more reliable) - you can do it with one bipolar transistor:

Joe Davisson's LED Trick

It uses the same switching setup, so you can hook up your Millenium board right where the transistor circuit hooks up in Joe's schematic. Take careful note of the switch wiring, and it should be a piece of cake.

[thomasteven]

Thaks a lot for your help LK. No can you explain to me what a 2N3904 transistor is?

[Paul Marossy]

can you explain to me what a 2N3904 transistor is?

It's an NPN silicon transistor. Most of the transistors made in the U.S. are called a 2N____. The numbers after the "2N" tell you what it is. You find data sheets online for most transistors.

If you don't want to mess with the Millenium Bypass, you can get 3PDT switches for $6.25 + .35 cents shipping per each switch here: http://www.diystompboxes.com/cart/

Minimum order is two - that's what it would cost you to buy one Carling DPDT switch.

[lovekraft]

Look, I've never been inside one of those Vox wahs, but if you've got enough room, it's going to be a lot easier for somebody at your skill level to use the 3PDT switch that Paul recommended. I don't mean to sound insulting, but if you don't know what a 2N3904 is, the chances of you getting the Millenium board, or Joe's trick, for that matter, to work without a lot of grief are pretty slim ( no slam, just a reality check). With the 3PDT, all you do is wire an LED and a 1K 1/4 watt resistor in series (watch the LED polarity - they tend to self-destruct when you reverse-bias them) and use the 3rd set of contacts to switch the power to it in the ON position, like this:

http://www.diystompboxes.com/beginner/circswled.jpg

It's cheap, easy, and hard to screw up - that's my idea of a great project!

[thomasteven]

I know how very little about scematics and the names and stuff like that. But I know how to solder using "diagrams". I don't take your post as insulting LK, but I was just wndering if there was a simple way to wire up an LED to a regular double pole, double throw switch. I thank you for your help. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to that Millenium board.

[Paul Marossy]

if you don't know what a 2N3904 is, the chances of you getting the Millenium board, or Joe's trick, for that matter, to work without a lot of grief are pretty slim ( no slam, just a reality check).

That's why I suggested the 3PDT switch. It's just a lot easier to do.

[silvertonessuckbutigotone]

in schematics is a Q2N3904 the same as a 2N3904?

[lovekraft]

Q is usually the designator for a transistor, like R for resistor or C for capacitor.

[silvertonessuckbutigotone]

thats what I had guessed but after a while of thought I didn't want to put my money on a guess.

[ansil]

you have to have use a tpdt or the milenium style circuit for truebypass however if you want to not worry about true bypass then you can get away with using a dpdt