[CodeToad]

I need to finish a project I started to start some time ago. I have all my different electronics hooked up to power strips so I can turn them on and off from my chair. I made the mistake one day of turning off the one with the computer running and Windows punished my indiscretion by making me reinstall (from a current Ghost image).

I plan to use regular AC wall switches instead of the power strip mess, I have one here with 4 separate switches in one switch/plate. That will be fine for the amps/printer/etc but I don't want one single switch for the computer.

What I want to happen is to use 2 regular AC wall switches, like the standard light switches, to control the power to the computer. Both switches have to be in the same position for an action to happen, ie. both have to be down for the circuit to be off, both have to be up to be on. That way one switch can get hit accidentally or whatever and not become that days catastrophe. The switches will be located some distance apart.

I have no idea how to do this. Any ideas?

 

[bada bing]

Can't do it with just switches. If you think about it, your proposed arrangement not only works off of switch positions, but also the last prior switch positions to determine state. You'd need some hard wired gated logic or a programmable controller running a relay to accomplish what you propose.

 

[nightanole]

Since you had to ask this question, you will be missed.

Anyway I have no idea how your sourcing your power so im assuming your putting a switch in line with the power going to the plug.

Basic Single Switch Controlling 1 Light - Power Source at Switch - Self Help and More


Now heres how it will go. A switch only breaks the connection to 1 of the 3 wires to your plug (hot, neutral, and ground), lets hope that you wire it to break the hot. Now see that black wire in the pic? That needs to be modified so that it goes to 2 swiches. So just get a butt connector and branch it to 2 switches. Then get another connector and combine the outs of the switches back together, then just wire as normal. In logic terms it will do this:

00=0
10=1
11=1

So basically you only have both set to off to turn the outlet off, anything else will be on.

To explain it again. Just run 2 switches in parallel. It should be real easy with a dual switch box.

PS: can i have your rig since AC wiring isnt trial and error

 

[linuxworks]

look into the x10 powerline modules.

I've done some hacking on the firecracker (wireless rs232 based transmitter) and I can now power on/off any x10 device via stereo IR control

since the x10 module is just a small db9 based box, it can also hang off some pc and you can run pc software to control things. use timers, turn one thing off while another goes on, etc.

 

[CodeToad]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bada bing /img/forum/go_quote.gif Can't do it with just switches. If you think about it, your proposed arrangement not only works off of switch positions, but also the last prior switch positions to determine state. You'd need some hard wired gated logic or a programmable controller running a relay to accomplish what you propose.

I kinda figured a relay would be involved. Certainly someone else has already done this before?

 

[mugdecoffee]

How about a switch with a cover? Something like: 12VDC Toggle Switch with Safety Cover - RadioShack.com

 

[glitch39]

Is the OP looking for something like this?

 

[boomy3555]

Plug the computer into the first power strip coming from the wall and any subsequent power stips into that strip as well. Then no matter how you turn the 2nd or subsequent strips on or off the computer power will never go off unless you power down the first stip as well as the others. Basically pluging the computer into another circuit.

 

[DKJones96]

What about something like this?

It's keyed and you can just hang the key on the wall next to the switches. Prevents accidental switching and I'm sure they can be had locally for not much more than a normal switch.

 

[CodeToad]

What I'm looking for specifically is along the lines of what the second poster bada bing said. Ultimately it is a fail safe device where both switches are in the same position to turn the outlet either on or off. One switch one way and the other the other way will not change the state. Both switches must be in agreement to change from the current state.

I've scoured to the limits of my knowledge and cannot see any way to do this without some type of simple logic with a relay...I'm guessing.