For commercial applications of all kinds, switching 12 Volts is probably the most common bus voltage used with our sealed, waterproof limit switches. While CPI’s line of waterproof switches is rated to operate from 5V to 28V, 12 Volt applications are certainly the sweet-spot for most of our customers and so it bears discussion of exactly how our offering is unique amongst most of the 12V switches you will find during your average Google search.

Serious 12 Volt Switch Flexibility

CPI has been making and improving our line of waterproof switches right here in the USA for over 75 years, so we’ve learned a few things about what makes a switch keep on working reliably, long after other 12V Switches have failed. To understand flexibility within the CPI product line you need to understand a few basic things about our approach.

1. CPI switching or sensing solutions start with one of our sealed Pendant Switches which can be hand operated, or mounted to a panel, a printed circuit board, or any piece of metal using one of our standard mounting brackets.  On these you can specify things like endurance rating, button height, button force, normally open/closed, spst or spdt, current rating, electromechanical endurance desired (standard rating is over 100,000 cycles at 12V, 5A, more than enough for most.) CPI pendant switches inside our mounting brackets are still a very small assembly for something that is so durable and high performing allowing us to be designed into tight spots where other high durability waterproof switches don’t fit.

2. You can also mix most of our 12 volt switches with actuator brackets. These still allow you to mount the switch to something but they also provide a lever, simulated roller, roller, or other mechanical actuator which can be moved to provide the switch button depression/release.  The combination of switch type + mounting bracket + wiring = a fully specified mechanically actuated switch assembly.

Examples of our Switches in 12V applications

As an example, imagine one of our switches mounted on the back of a dump truck in a “Dump Body Detect” application. For this we have in the past used our E1092 simulated roller bracket with our B9112 momentary switch. When the dump body is raised the switch is mechanically depressed by the gear assembly and sets off an audible alarm and a red light in the cab and may affect the ability of the truck to move, until the bed is lowered again. 

We produce this solution with a long lead length and custom termination to allow the manufacturer to easily fit our parts into their assembly process. These stainless steel brackets mated with any of our B-Series switches, are highly durable and designed to remain operational in all kinds of weather and vibration profiles.

Other examples of our switches in 12Volt applications include:

• Neutral safety detection
• Operator presence detection (Dead man’s seat)
• Outrigger deployment/retraction confirmation
• Hatch open/closed detection
• Truck Hood open/closed detection
• Hydraulic position detection
• Anti two block applications for Cranes
• Bilge pump manual operation
• Power On/Off on watercraft
• Fork lift and Scissor lift alarms

And so many more. If you have a 12V switch application you’d like to discuss, please call our engineering team today and make sure to visit https://cpi-nj.com/12v-waterproof-switches/

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/cpi-12-volt-switches-an-enduring-legacy/

With a summer of record temperatures and unprecedented drought, the thoughts of many turn to irrigation systems and how to deploy them in a changing environmental landscape.

Irrigation systems have evolved as key components of maintaining farm crops, preserving green spaces not to mention your lawn and commercial venue’s like your local country club or golf course.

Like everything else, these irrigation systems have become more and more computerized and complex. Today they include computerized control systems, pumping stations, 2 wire systems, automated sprinkler bypass capability and even weather stations.  The goal always being to provide the perfect amount of hydration, using the least amount of water. This is a problem computer systems were born to solve.

It’s also a problem CPI waterproof switches were born to help with.

CPI Switch use in Commercial Sprinkler Systems

Lets take the example of a Golf course, a place whose very existence relies on fareways and green’s being… well, green! Modern versions of these systems typically distribute water through multiple lines with the ability to shut off segments and bypass individual sprinkler heads automatically or manually at strategically placed underground junction stations. Because of their size and the need for maximum reliability under wet, outdoor conditions these systems demand a certain toughness and durability in their components

There could hardly be a better application for a completely water sealed, intensely reliable, and electronically versatile waterproof switch like CPI’s. In a recent design-in completed by a major golf course designer, our switches were chosen for exactly these reasons.

“Local sprinkler head bypass is just one of the functions our switches were selected for.” Notes Pete Gagliardi, CPI’s application engineer on this project. “Our K1005 maintained rocker switch was perfect for this.” You can think of the function of our switches here like those Christmas tree lights where the string keeps working even if one bulb burns out. By activating bypass the sprinkler system keeps all other heads going with out wasting water.

Belonging to a class of switches commonly called “pendant switches,” the CPI switches can be activated by hand or mechanically actuated by one of our many mounting brackets. Since the switch is in a box that is typically buried in the ground, it can be specified with sealed connectors and even a standard stainless steel mounting bracket (E1057) for mounting at the box. The K1005 can switch either DC to 28 volts or 120VAC and is specifically designed for long electromechanical endurance up to 100,000 cycles.

Another sprinkler system application involves cover closed detection. Whether it is an inground electrical box or an outdoor panel, a switch like our E1092 is a simulated roller assembly that fits any of our momentary or maintained closure series switches and can be mounted between the cover and the box to provide a warning lamp closure to alert a technician that the enclosure is not sealed.

Whatever the application, if the place might get wet, CPI is your best bet. Call an application engineer today.

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/cpi-helping-irrigate-a-drier-world/