Wiring battery pack to motor via switch...

[Jeremiah Johnson]

OKay... so I've never wired anything before and I want to make a mini poof ball launcher...

How do I wire the battery pack (2 AAA Batter Pack) to a toggle switch and then to a small 1.5-3V DC hobby motor? Again, I don't know jack squat about wiring and don't know where to look to find an answer to this question.

[KenWittlief]

picture the electricity flowing like water

it flows out one side of the battery, into one side of the switch, out the other side

into one side of the motor, out the other side

the back into the other side of the battery

when you turn the switch on the power flows round and round

when you open the switch the connection is broken, and it stops

[sanddrag]

Well, you can get a two AAA battery holder (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062246&cp=&origkw=aaa+battery+holder&kw=aaa+battery+holder&parentPage=search) and a toggle switch (http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=spst%20toggle&origkw=spst%20toggle) (or other kind of switch) from Radio Shack. For simplicity, get a toggle switch with only two terminals, kind of like this (http://www.tradetouch.com/pimages/ts04.jpg). This is called an SPST switch, Single Pole, Single Throw.

Then, take one wire from the battery holder, and connect it to one terminal of the switch. Take the other wire from the battery holder and connect it to one wire of the motor. Then take the other wire from the motor, and connect it to the other terminal on the switch. That's all there is to it. You are basically hooking the two motor wires to the two battery pack wires with a switch to "break" the connection along one of them. In this application, it doesn't matter what color goes where. If the motor is running "backwards" swap the wires.

[Jeremiah Johnson]

Thanks a bunch. I would have never figured that out.

[FIRST JerseyKid]

I would also suggest getting some capacitor and resistor and putting it in parallel with the switch, as a snubber.

|-----cap---resistor-----|
----- switch -----------------

This helps protect voltage spikes through your motor, because your motor acts as an inductor. It'll help with your motors lifetime.

[Matt Krass]

Make sure the switch is rated for at least as much power as you plan to put through it, nothing like melting a toggle switch!