AVR-Chat

Hi Steve,

I'm no expert but looking at Ohms law I think it's safe to say that the 
current rating is voltage independent. After all the resistance of the 
switch is more or less constant as is the power dissipation capacity.

Voltage rating deals with how much voltage can be applied to an open 
switch while still maintaining 'open' status and not sparking. This 
depends on the distance between the contacts. It probably is also 
related to how resistant the contacts are to arcing when contact is 
made. If you put 1000V on a 120V switch you may blow away quite a bit of 
contact material each time you close the switch.

    Sander

Steven Hodge wrote:
>
> I know this isn't anything about uC's but I have a general question
> regarding toggle switch ratings, and there seem to be a lot of very
> knowledgeable people on this list. Typically a data sheet rates a switch
> for, say, 125 VAC, 250 VAC and 28 VDC. My applications, however, are
> typically 12 VDC. Can I convert the 28 VDC rating to 12 VDC using a same
> power equivalent, ie, if the 28 VDC rating is 4 A, then is it ok to 
> run the
> switch up to 28/12 x 4 = about 8 or 9 A? Thanks, Steve
>
>