I'm helping my daughter with a science project. We're designing a glove for crossing guards with red and green LEDs attached. I thought it would be a good idea to put a small button in the thumb area that when pressed would turn off the green LEDs and turn on the red LEDs. Then when released the reds turn off and the greens turn back on. Here are the LEDs we're thinking of trying:
String LEDs
Looks like I'll need to cut the battery pack and wire the switch/button in between. Where I'm struggling is what kind of button to use (SPDT/DPDT) and how to wire it.
Also, could I hack the battery pack and combine the wiring to make a master on/off switch that controlled them both?
Best Answer
A single pole dual throw ( SPDT ) switch or button should be sufficient for this.
How you wire it will depend on exactly what that "battery-pack" does. It may me possible to wire it directly to the LED strings as shown here..
However, if the drivers are more complex current drivers, it may not be possible to switch them safely down-stream of the regulator. Something like the following circuit may be required to switch a separated battery to each regulator.
simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab