Ok so maybe not literally “float” your boat but in the world of recreational watercraft or commercial boats, CPI’s line of waterproof switches have been a reliable, go-to solution over the years for many critical applications.

While there are many manufacturers out there making so called “marine” switches, these are usually designed for a very specific application, a very specific subassembly on a watercraft or boat, and have a very specific form factor. CPI switches tend to find a home when something a bit custom is needed, or space is limited, or existing switch solutions are not reliable or waterproof enough, or all of the above. In some cases, a CPI solution is even cheaper than an OEM part solution since OEM’s command a premium on replacement parts for their equipment. This price differential is even more pronounced for design-ins that result in CPI production quantity pricing.

Recreational Watercraft, Boats, and CPI Waterproof Switches.

The list of marine applications CPI switches have been used on is long and ever growing. Maybe it’s best to list them by type of craft or accessory:

Power Boats – With panel mount options in addition to the many bracket/mechanical actuator options, our switches get called upon to do many tasks all over the boat.

• Engine Start/Stop and Kill switches – Depending on the electrical design, either our momentary switches or our maintained contact switches can be used. We have seem them mounted in a panel or even velcro’d to an outboard engine for emergency kill functions. Reliable Start/Stop for any boat function where switch is exposed to a potentially wet or vibrational environment.
• Horn and Light Activation Switches – Something Like our K1005 maintained contact rocker switch is perfect for this, or the K5111 for an even more robust implementation suitable for commercial workboats.

Sailboats – Where space is at a premium, CPI switches offer incredible durability and waterproof reliability in a small form factor

• Bilge Pump Operation – Down in the the bilge bay, our switches don’t mind the smell. Often used to turn the bilge pump on/off. Our switches are also used for Bilge pump flow control sensing and valve shutoff.
• Tilt or Trim Motor Adjustment – Our momentary switches are used to drive the trim motor. For this any of our momentary switches can be used either panel mounted (standard) or customized.

Recreational Watercraft – For vessels like Jet Ski’s, Skidoo’s, tow boats, jet boats, and more, high performance demands high performing components. CPI switches have been used as Start/Stop switches, Engine Cutoff switches, and trim switches. In some cases we have even built the stainless steel waterproof switch panel used in these vessel’s and mounted our switches in it.

Work Boats – Commercial fishing boats, tugboats, and coast guard and navy vessels have all taken advantage of CPI switches.  Applications include:

• Manual Alarm Control – Usually this our waterproof toggle switch like our K1005, mounted in a panel in the bridge near the steering wheel.
• Marine Crane Cable Limit Switch Sensors – Limit switches like our J4 ball/plunger switches achieve super stainless steel durability in a small form factor
• Hatch Open/Closed Detection – Our E1092 along with one of our many B-Series waterproof limit switches has been designed into both navy and commercial applications for the critical sensing of bulkhead doors.

Creating the perfect limit switch for your application is a simple matter of selecting the switch you want and the actuator bracket you need. Our sales team is ready to walk you through it.

We were Made for This

When it comes to nautical, sea going applications, almost every switch or limit sensing operation can benefit from CPI Waterproof Limit Switches.  Here’s just a few reasons why:

• Completely sealed in either Neoprene or Santoprene (extended low temp range) including wire leads. You can also pre-specify the exact wire length you want from the factory. Standard wire terminations are also available.
• CPI Switches are truly waterproof and submersible, not just “water resistant” or “splash proof”
• Dozens of actuator mounting brackets including roller lever, simulated roller lever, straight angle, plunger, and ball switches, valve state actuators, and more.
• Small Form factor for tight spots
• Extreme durability and resistance to temperature and vibration. Won’t freeze up at low temperatures.
• Electromechanical Endurance of B-Series Switches at 12V is over 100,000 cycles at 5A.
• Normal temperature range from -40F to 221F , extended low temperature versions available.

Don’t get underwater with your limit switch design, call a CPI sales engineer today and lets see if we can help.

According to the department of transportation, there are now more than three million EVs on the road and over 130,000 public chargers across the country.

While this may seem like a lot, most estimates say the total combined number of class 1 and 2 chargers required to facilitate widespread EV use in the continental United States, will be close to 2 million chargers nationally by the end of the decade. The number needed internationally is many times that amount.

A number of manufacturer’s are addressing this burgeoning market, and some of them (the smart ones) are looking to CPI to help.

Chargers exist at the intersection of Humans, and Technology

This is worth mentioning because whenever humans are involved, there is a certain amount of variability and challenges that purely machine based applications don’t have to consider. 

While charging stations are becoming ubiquitous, there are already problems of availability at popular stations and busy times of day. It’s annoying enough to have to stop to recharge on a long trip, but to have to wait to recharge just pours salt in the wound.  Some people treat the charger as just another parking spot leaving their vehicle there for many hours after charging is finished. (An abuse that Tesla founder Elon Musk has vowed to do something about) 

All these factors may help explain some of the growing pains of EV conversion. Its clear these stations will be subject to public abuse, almost non-stop usage, not to mention being outdoors and subject to hot sun, rain, wind, dirt, cussing and more! To do this right, we need lots of EV stations everywhere we go, and they need to be working right when we get there.

One EV charging station challenge solved by CPI Waterproof Limit Switches

Charging station manufacturers face a variety of challenges insuring the operation of their stations in the field.  One common challenge is detecting the placement of the charging nozzle in the holster. With folks chucking the cable at the machine when they’re done, or just banging it into place, whatever mechanism detects this better be not only weatherproof, but pretty hard to kill.

To allow for more perfect and reliable charging cable holster detection, our friends at ABB e-Mobility chose our J4001 stainless steel ball switch. “The J4001 is really perfect for this application,” notes John Crozier of CPI’s switch engineering team, “It is a stainless steel, completely waterproof and weathertight ball switch with a  double exclusion seal mechanism that keeps crud out of the mechanism, no matter how badly it’s abused.”

Our client specifically selected our J4001 because of its reliability in outdoor environments. “No one wants to be running into the field to service these chargers because of something as simple but critical as holster detection,” explains Crozier. “The J4 ball is all stainless and tested up to 1 million cycles depending on voltage/current required”  The switch handles up to 5A and operates from 5V to 28V and everywhere in between.

This reliability means that the single EV charging station in the middle of nowhere in South Dakota that you pull up to desperately in the middle of the night, will be working properly when you get there. Or at least CPI’s switch will be.  Field failures of EV equipment are problematic in many respects. They create a bad brand perception, they erode consumer confidence in the viability of electric vehicles, they are expensive and logistically difficult to service, and can result in genuine human misery.  With the reliability of the J4 Ball Switch, and all CPI limit switches, manufactures can put some of these issues behind them.

For more Information on the CPI J4001, and our complete line of small form factor waterproof switches, call the team at CPI today.

This Blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/more-commercial-ev-charging-stations-looking-to-cpi-switches/

In the continuing annals of applications we could never have imagined our waterproof switches being used for, comes the story of Rapid Assault Tools.

If you’re a police officer, a special forces unit, or firefighter, getting through a locked door is part of the job description. A quick viewing of any number of television shows centered around the police will eventually feature this moment as our hero’s break into a house or structure to confront and subdue a suspect. In these sequences the police often use a small manual battering ram. This is literally just a heavy metal cylinder with handles that is manually operated. By swinging it at the door lock area with enough force, the door bolts are literally ripped out of the door frame and the door swings open. While this technique is fairly simple (and dramatic if you’re a TV producer) and works much of the time on wooden door installations, its not nearly as reliable on metal door installations or heavier security type doors with multiple deadbolts and stronger frames.

In these situations, police or military teams have another option that doesn’t involve explosives. Powered hydraulic door blasters can be employed, that are portable and generate more breach power than swinging a manual ram could ever generate. Used by police and firefighters around the country these hydraulic rams generate more consistent and reliable breaching power and are useable on almost any type of door. They have the further advantage of being much quieter and faster to deploy than explosives. The power for the hydraulics comes from a battery and a hydraulic pump that is carried in a backpack. A single person can operate the breacher, and various models can generate almost 15,000 lbs of instantaneous force to pry a door open. They can even be operated remotely after placement, a huge tactical advantage for breached entry into a hostile environment.

Dual Acting Hydraulics

The better breach tools incorporate dual acting hydraulics. That means a single hydraulic activation powers a cylinder that simultaneously spreads the door frame, while another acts to drive the door open near the lock cylinder. For this application, two separate hydraulic cylinders are employed as shown. The ram cylinder connects to a small hydraulic pump in the backpack, which drives the spreader cylinder as well. The cylinder can be adjusted for various door widths and locks into place allowing the spreader to fire with one end fixed.

To satisfy the client requirements, CPI provided 2 of our B7 series waterproof switches used for control of device. In this application, the switches were provided as part of a switchplate assembly that was printed in house using our 3D printer technology. By using this technology to quickly develop the prototype switch panel, the entire remote assembly could be proven, fitted, and deployed in short order.

The panel mounted B7 switches are a robust solution for ram control, chosen because of their super reliable performance characteristics, as well as their high electromechanical endurance.  These switches can be purchased with a 50,000 cycle rating when running at 12V, 1A, even more when running at 5V. Parameters such as actuation force, button height, actuation contact state, lead length, temperature range and more are all specifiable in our B-series switches. And of course, they are all fully sealed and truly waterproof, not just water resistant or splash proof.

It seems that CPI switches have been breaching a lot of new applications lately. With our USA based manufacturing and rapid prototyping capability, we can help you quickly assess the suitability of our switches for your application. 

Call us today. https://www.cpi-nj.com

This blog was originally published at: https://www.cpi-nj.com/rapid-assault-tools-facilitated-by-rapid-prototyping/

 Progress toward lower carbon emissions, and greener power and transportation choices have created some amazing and exciting evolutions in technology. Green Technology goes alongside the concept of sustainability, which seeks to balance the efforts around protecting the environment, with a more socially responsible society and a healthier economy. The Green technology conversation now extends way beyond solar panels and windmills, into almost everything that man produces. Technology around the valorization of waste products, the absorption of CO2, or the electrification of trucks and airplanes are just a few of the frontiers in an unstoppable green revolution.

CPI is Part of the Green Revolution

CPI’s commitment to sustainability and green engineering goes well beyond the large ground mounted solar array that powers much of our factory. Our USA manufactured products are seeing increased design-in’s for a diverse array of initiatives and products related to green engineering. From electric vehicle charging stations, to electric trucks and busses, to thermal detection in high current electric generators, or fuel cell technology, CPI Thermal and Waterproof switches can be found performing reliable switching and sensing, especially in the harsh outdoor environments that many green focused products require.

Here’s just a few of the places you will find CPI switches, doing their part to support development of a greener, cleaner world.

EV Charging Stations – Commercial charging stations are becoming ubiquitous fixtures in the parking lots of malls and supermarkets across the country. They are of course exposed to the wind, rain, hot sun, and freezing winter, not to mention a certain amount of human abuse. Thanks to our environmental immunity, CPI waterproof switches are used for holstering detection, anti-tampering devices, and panel removal alarms.

Electric Bus Charging Solutions – Prototype electric buses employ magnetic charging solutions that actually charge the bus while its sitting at each bus stop. Because of the high electromagnetic field in use, cpi developed special versions of our AD190 Thermal Switch with a dielectric resistance up to 5000 VAC. Their double snap action and hermetic sealing option, make them perfect for this application.

Windmill Warming – Windmills are often subject to extremes of temperature, especially cold which can affect the operation of their electronics. Our M1001 Plugstat Thermal Switch is a hermetically sealed, bimetal thermal detector rated for accurate switching down to -17 degrees C. Long before it gets that cold, our switch triggers a warming circuit that keeps all the windmill electronics well within their operating temperature range.

Fuel Cells – Reactions within a fuel cell are carefully temperature controlled to allow for maximum efficiency in energy conversion. That’s where our AD173 bimetallic thermal switch comes in. This switch has a small form factor that can detect temperatures from –18C to 148C with tolerances as tight as 2.8C.

Electric Trucks – The development of electric versions of long haul trucks depends on the eAxle where large voltages and currents drive powerful motors that turn the wheels. Our waterproof limit switches protect service technicians by disabling power when the service panel is removed.

Smart Power Grid – Key to enabling the smart power distribution systems of the future is central office monitoring. Our J4 Ball switch has been used by power companies to detect the state of circuit breakers on electric towers, saving technicians the time, expense, and danger of climbing the pole. We dubbed this application “Plungers on Poles!”

CPI Switches Help Enable a Greener World

The reason Green equipment makers choose CPI is pretty much the same reason most people choose CPI products: Reliable, durable, long lasting electronics that don’t break the bank. All made in the USA.

For information on your green or any color application, please call our team today!

This blog was originally published at https://www.cpi-nj.com/clean-technology-for-a-greener-world/