Critterhunter
New member
I've been working on a water proof project to throw my Sovereign GT control box into when water hunting, and yet fastly being able to convert back to throwing the GT control box on my light weight land shaft for land hunting, with fast/easy transition back and fourth between both rigs.
These threads have some excellent ideas and info for waterproofing a GT, from fast conversions to more complex custom enclosures with external waterpoof controls...
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1566963%20%20%20
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1742794
On my land rig, I installed a stereo jack on the back of my GT control box that a remote pin point switch plugs into via a stereo plug and cord. On my water rig, I'm wanting to use a remote PP switch as well to plug into the GT control box when it's in it's waterproof enclosure.
The remote PP mods for Excaliburs and prior Sovereign models don't use the same type of SPDT switch I needed in order to get the GT's stock switches to still work regardless of whether the remote PP switch is plugged in or not, and also I wanted the ability to toggle between whatever to modes the two GT's stock switches are set at, along with avoiding (bypassing) any dual circuit parallel pathways of modes with various switch configurations that the GT was never meant to allow to happen.
So after back tracking the switch functions of the GT's two stock switches in seeing how they relate to each other, I drew up this schematic/pictorial for anybody looking to rig a remote PP switch up for their GT. This thread has that picture of the schematic/pictorial, along with some related details on it and also the perks to using PP mode to punch deep on a Sovereign or Excalibur even in the worst of minerals like a PI unit...
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1868774,1868804#msg-1868804
This latest pictorial/schematic is changed to make color codes and part #s clear as to what pins go to what, so that somebody who doesn't have access to or know how to use a multimeter could just follow the color code and pin configurations with the listed parts at Radio Shack (switch, stereo cord/plug, and stereo jack), and solder everything up to proper configuration, along with what switch traces those go to and such.
Anyway, back to the original point of this thread...That I can't seem to find a waterproof SPDT switch for my water rig setup despite some web searching. I'd prefer a push button (non-momentary) so the button would be mounted in the top/down inside of my bike end bar grip I use for my water rig (stock shaft) and could use my thumb to toggle between whatever two modes the GT's stock switches are set at. Where as for my land rig, I am using a toggle switch hanging down from the grip much like that on my prior Whites units, which will stay in whatever mode I throw it to until moved (IE: non-momentary).
So without being able to find a waterproof SPDT push button switch, let alone it seems a waterproof SPDT toggle switch, as the only waterproof ones I can find are not this kind of switch configuration but are simple on/off type two pin switches, I've decided to start exploring methods to waterproof a switch on my own. I've been kicking around various ideas in my head, and have come to some routes I might try that I haven't seen anybody thus far on the web tinker with. But beyond those possibilities, I did run across this video on Youtube that is pretty cool...
http://youtu.be/HBE8jGgN_bo
That's about the only youtube video I can find with any content on waterproofing a switch. It offers possibilities based on at least the working (action) side of the switch, but I would need to figure out a way to waterproof the rest of the body and wire connection solder points, which I think I've got a fairly good idea for.
Beyond that, I've got a few other completely different avenues I might try to waterproof a switch. Once I come up with somebody that might pan out as workable, I'll post a youtube pictorial on that in this thread.
If anybody has any other ideas on how to go about waterproofing a switch, I'd like to hear them. Right now I've got about 5 different ideas in my head but need to chew on them for a few days before I proceed...
These threads have some excellent ideas and info for waterproofing a GT, from fast conversions to more complex custom enclosures with external waterpoof controls...
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1566963%20%20%20
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?22,1742794
On my land rig, I installed a stereo jack on the back of my GT control box that a remote pin point switch plugs into via a stereo plug and cord. On my water rig, I'm wanting to use a remote PP switch as well to plug into the GT control box when it's in it's waterproof enclosure.
The remote PP mods for Excaliburs and prior Sovereign models don't use the same type of SPDT switch I needed in order to get the GT's stock switches to still work regardless of whether the remote PP switch is plugged in or not, and also I wanted the ability to toggle between whatever to modes the two GT's stock switches are set at, along with avoiding (bypassing) any dual circuit parallel pathways of modes with various switch configurations that the GT was never meant to allow to happen.
So after back tracking the switch functions of the GT's two stock switches in seeing how they relate to each other, I drew up this schematic/pictorial for anybody looking to rig a remote PP switch up for their GT. This thread has that picture of the schematic/pictorial, along with some related details on it and also the perks to using PP mode to punch deep on a Sovereign or Excalibur even in the worst of minerals like a PI unit...
http://www.findmall.com/read.php?21,1868774,1868804#msg-1868804
This latest pictorial/schematic is changed to make color codes and part #s clear as to what pins go to what, so that somebody who doesn't have access to or know how to use a multimeter could just follow the color code and pin configurations with the listed parts at Radio Shack (switch, stereo cord/plug, and stereo jack), and solder everything up to proper configuration, along with what switch traces those go to and such.
Anyway, back to the original point of this thread...That I can't seem to find a waterproof SPDT switch for my water rig setup despite some web searching. I'd prefer a push button (non-momentary) so the button would be mounted in the top/down inside of my bike end bar grip I use for my water rig (stock shaft) and could use my thumb to toggle between whatever two modes the GT's stock switches are set at. Where as for my land rig, I am using a toggle switch hanging down from the grip much like that on my prior Whites units, which will stay in whatever mode I throw it to until moved (IE: non-momentary).
So without being able to find a waterproof SPDT push button switch, let alone it seems a waterproof SPDT toggle switch, as the only waterproof ones I can find are not this kind of switch configuration but are simple on/off type two pin switches, I've decided to start exploring methods to waterproof a switch on my own. I've been kicking around various ideas in my head, and have come to some routes I might try that I haven't seen anybody thus far on the web tinker with. But beyond those possibilities, I did run across this video on Youtube that is pretty cool...
http://youtu.be/HBE8jGgN_bo
That's about the only youtube video I can find with any content on waterproofing a switch. It offers possibilities based on at least the working (action) side of the switch, but I would need to figure out a way to waterproof the rest of the body and wire connection solder points, which I think I've got a fairly good idea for.
Beyond that, I've got a few other completely different avenues I might try to waterproof a switch. Once I come up with somebody that might pan out as workable, I'll post a youtube pictorial on that in this thread.
If anybody has any other ideas on how to go about waterproofing a switch, I'd like to hear them. Right now I've got about 5 different ideas in my head but need to chew on them for a few days before I proceed...