I read a post on here that explained all the various toggle switchs and how they operate but Im still a bit lost. I think the word off in on-off-on is confusing me. If I was to get an on-off-on toggle with 6 legs, its possible to connect something to the middle position, say for clipping diodes or something, right? Or am I mistaken, would I need an on-on-on switch to have three different options?
Yes On-Off-On:
Switches are organised in “poles” or columns:
Look at a DPDT as two columns of three.
A B
1 1
2 2
3 3
Or more conventionally:
1 4
2 5
3 6
You can put a cap across 2 & 5
which will always be in circuit. ( say 10n)
Add another cap on 1 & 4 (100n)
Another cap on 3 & 6 (220n).
When the switch is OFF, wired in to 2 and out from 5, you have 10n.
Switch DOWN connects 1&2, 4&5 together. You’ve got the caps soldered on so 100n is parallel with 10n and parallel caps SUM so you get 110n.
Switch UP connects 2 & 3 and 5 & 6, putting the 10n in parallel with 220n for a total of 230n.
With clipping diodes you’d need the highest forward voltage in the “OFF” middle position such as LEDs, between 2&5;
with Ge across say 1&4;
Schottky/Si across 3 & 6.
If you put LEDs on 1&3 and Ge on 2&5, then the circuit will always “see” the Ge even when the SW is set to LEDs, that’s why figuring out the fV is important. For instance maybe you double up on your Silicon diodes (4, 2 in series each way) and maybe now the Silicon’s fV is more than the two LEDs…
I’ve posted some diode clip-switch diagrams on the forum. Have a search, or I can post them when I get home to my computer. (Currently on my phone, which is a pain to search/navigate on.)
On-On-On you can do other really cool stuff with them. More on this type later.
