# Found a decent foot switch for my scroll saw



## redmoorphil

Hi guys,
After the disappointment of the Proxxon foot switch I have been looking for something good but not ridiculously expensive for my Hegner.
I finally decided on this one from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Momentary-Conta ... oot+switch
I expected it to take about a month to arrive from our friends in the Far East but it actually arrived in just under a fortnight.
It is one solid beast and a lot bigger than i thought it would be, I'm really pleased with it.
Wired it up without any problems last night and it works like a charm.
The only issue I would mention is that the the connecting terminals appear to be designed by somebody who isn't too hot on safety.
They are positioned on the top of the switch, and the lid is metal, so there is very little clearance between the live terminals and a metal casing.
Their idea of sorting this out is to fit a piece of paper which folds over the top of the terminals! How the Chinese are so populous without having electrocuted themselves is beyond me.
This is easily solved by putting some insulating tape over the terminals or fitting a thin piece of rubber into the screw on lid of the casing and it is also worth soldering some circular terminals onto your wires so that they safely stay where they are meant to.
you also need to fasten your earth leads to the casing by attaching them to one of the screws holding in the switch as there is no dedicated earth terminal.
Oh God, I'm making it sound awful but it really isn't that bad.
For under £12.50 its a fantastic bargain, and I'll add a wiring diagram later in case anybody wants one.
Phil


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## powertools

Thanks for posting this. I assume that I could fit a plug and a trailing socket to this so I could use it on more than 1 machine.
I would be interested in the wiring diagram before I buy one.


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## martinka

It does look a substantial piece of kit, Phil. What sort of switch is it inside? Does the switch itself look as though it will last? Let us know how you go on with it.

I know what you mean about the Chinese electrics. I once bought a charger on Ebay and it rattled quite loudly, so I took it apart rather than send it back to Shenzhen. There was a large piece of solder loose inside which could have easily shorted out the electrics. Good job I decided to check it before using it.

Martin.


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## Tetraman

Great stuff Phil, just what I was after. I'll check the wiring too, thanks for the tip posting.php?mode=reply&f=19&t=70311#


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## WandrinAndy

powertools":3ujy0f92 said:


> ... I assume that I could fit a plug and a trailing socket to this so I could use it on more than 1 machine. .........



I've just bought two different types off eBay as I'm pretty sure I can find some productive use for both, and it looks like the second one is designed to fit a plug and a trailing socket. The first looks to be the same as Phil's one. But will only know the quality when they arrive....

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321057005001 = +- £12 = TFS-402 250V 15A Green Metal Case Foot Pedal Switch
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310570640056 = +- £13 = Hands Free NO NC Non Latching Pedal Treadle Foot Switch AC 250V Ue 10-15A

Andy


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## redmoorphil

Hi guys,
Here is the wiring diagram.
The switch looks pretty substantial and I'm sure it will last just fine.
I cut up a cheap rubber car mat to fit perfectly into the lid and I'm sure that I wont get electrocuted by it :shock: 
You should be fine to fit a trailing socket as the switch is rated at 15 amps.
Andy - the first one is exactly the same as mine but i opted for a purchase through Amazon as I thought it safer when dealing with HK supplied goods.


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## powertools

Thanks for coming back on this. I have just ordered mine, the guy in China will be wondering what's kickin off in the UK.


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## ChrisR

Hi Guys.

Don’t want to pee on the fire, but a single pole switch is not really suitable for remote machinery switching, it really needs to be double pole.

The reason for this, if by chance the supply is not the correct polarity, and unfortunately this is the case more often than you might think, then you would have a permanent live feed to your machine, as you would be just switching the neutral.

So if you are going to use single pole remote switching, make sure you check the polarity of your supply , is correct.

Please take the above as it is meant, friendly advice/information, and not as unnecessary scare tactics. 

Take care.

Chris R.


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## redmoorphil

Thanks for the advice Chris.
I recently had a new CU fitted and have a smaller CU in the workshop and all of the wiring was checked so I know I am ok, but definitely worth checking out. I fell foul to this whilst changing a switch many years ago and it hurt!
Phil


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## powertools

ChrisR":3msde36f said:


> Hi Guys.
> 
> Don’t want to pee on the fire, but a single pole switch is not really suitable for remote machinery switching, it really needs to be double pole.
> 
> The reason for this, if by chance the supply is not the correct polarity, and unfortunately this is the case more often than you might think, then you would have a permanent live feed to your machine, as you would be just switching the neutral.
> 
> So if you are going to use single pole remote switching, make sure you check the polarity of your supply , is correct.
> 
> Please take the above as it is meant, friendly advice/information, and not as unnecessary scare tactics.
> 
> Take care.
> 
> Chris R.



That is a good point but I would have thought that anybody running a workshop with machines and power tools would have had electric supply checked if not for a few £ they would be well advised to buy one of those plugs with led lights to check the polarity of the sockets themselves.


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## Gary Morris

sorry for being a bit dim, is a polarity test - checking the brown is live (the one by the fuse) and the blue neutral (the one on the left) on all of your plugs?


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## ChrisR

It is important to get your plug top connections correct. 

But if the supply polarity is not correct (ie) live/neutral reversed, any single pole switching will only be switching the neutral line, leaving a permanent live to the connected equipment.

If you want to check this yourself, and are not confident to check out your supply any other way, then there is a simple tester which can be obtained from most DIY stores, which is in the form of a plug top, you simply plug it into any socket, via led lights it will tell you if the polarity is correct, also it will show if the earth connection is good.

Hope this is of help.

Chris R.

PS. I worked with the man that invented the plug top tester, this was back in the early sixties. He was a Department of the Environment (DOE) electrical engineer, who had to show on a regular biases that the supply was of correct polarity in (RAF) married quarters, during march in/march out change over, of new occupants. 
You can deduct from the above that I am an old git.


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## Gary Morris

Thanks Chris, yes it did help, I'll get a tester I think as I know next to nothing about electrics, thanks again Chris.

Gary


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## John51

I'll look out for one of those testers. Gets to be a pain jamming something in the earth socket so the electricians screwdriver can test for live.


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## martinka

I bought one of those testers last year because I had problems with my MIG welder, and everything tested OK and put my mind at ease. On the other hand, I almost wish it had found a problem, because if I use my MIG welder on my main bench, which is mostly steel, and earth through the bench, the welder always blows a transistor. I do all my welding on a wooden bench now and make sure the job is earthed direct.

Martin.


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## ChrisR

Martin.

At one of the sites where I was the electrical engineer, I was called to the welding shop because they had lost all power, including lighting.

On checking/testing, I found that most off the wiring within the supply conduit had melted/fused together, why did this happen. After a few questions, all became clear, one of the engineers had a bad habit of fixing the welder earth clamp to the leg of the steel welding table, instead of the work piece. This was ok until a particular work piece was to big for that table, so he moved the work to the larger table, but did not move the earth clamp, which meant the full welding current was carried by the supply protection earth, ouch. :shock: 

It had also melted the earth bonding between the tables. Both tables were then bonded together with two heavy copper bus bars, a bit over kill, but safe. :wink: 

Take care.

Chris R.


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## martinka

Chris, we had a strange happening in the workshop at one pit I worked at. I worked in the washer as a welder and in the cabin we had a steel bench the length of the workshop, and close to it was a table we used at snap times. The table was a metal frame with a wooden top, as were the benches. There was a pile of 'donkey' jackets on the table with the welding tongs from a 300 amp stick welding set on top of those. The earth clamp was on the floor. I was at at the other side of the cabin, about 15ft away when the end of the welding rod in the tongs began arcing through the jackets and burnt a hole all the way through. I had to leave the cabin to get to isolate the welder and when I came back it was full of smoke. We never did find out how it happened, and as far as anyone could see, it shouldn't have happened. I always wondered if it was damp that caused it as there was water everywhere in that building, though the jackets and table should have been dry. It was one of those 'Twilight Zone' moments.

Martin


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## martinka

Well, I decided on one of these switches about a month ago, and today it packed up after not much use at all. The internal switch has failed and won't switch on, so it looks like a trip to Maplins for a proper microswitch. The original is more of a maximicroswitch and built big to take some punishment, but failed at its task. It's probably not worth sending it back to Hong Kong, though I have emailed the seller to see if he is willing to send another microswitch. I suspect he'll ask for this one to be returned, knowing that it's not worth it.

Martin.


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## martinka

I'm up and running again, with a 2 quid Maplin microswitch in place. It was a fiddly job making a new bracket so that the switch was in just the right place as there isn't much movement in the lever, but I got there in the end.

The original switch won't be going back as my inquisitiveness took over and I attacked it with a chisel to open it to find out why it wouldn't work. 

Martin.

edit: I just received an email from the company I bought the switch off and they have offered to send a new footswitch with no need to return the old one. It restores my faith in online buying.
The sellers are called 'sourcingmap' and sell on Ebay and Amazon and probably other places. When I was looking through my records for their name, I found that I have bought from them on two previous occasions.


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## powertools

I have to say that mine is still working and I am very pleased with it and I am grateful to the OP for the heads up and the wiring diagram.
It is good to know that if the switch does fail a replacement is readily available.
I think that the housing alone is worth far more than I paid for the whole unit.
I did modify the housing on mine as the cable I used was too thick for 2 lengths to fit through the gland nut so I drilled another 20mm hole in the housing and fitted another gland nut so that I only had 1 cable passing through each.


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## dangles

I'm also grateful for the OP's information as my switch, when switched on at the 
socket, ran continuously.He advised that the micro switch was permanently 
engaged which turned out to be the case so I refitted the plate that lifts the micro
switch and now everything works fine.


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## Keato

Instead of making a new thread I thought I would ask in this one (since its about foot switches)

Currently super happy with my Excalibur scroll saw but getting a bit tired using its normal on/off switch on the top of it.

I've seen this discussion and have looked up some foot switches / pedals but all of the ones I have found on eBay and Amazon need wired up or to rewire scroll saws to fit the foot switches. 

Since I've only just got the scroll saw and not totally wanting to void any warranty / rewire anything, does anyone know of any foot switches where you just plug the scroll saw into it and the foot switch into the mains/extension lead?

I feel like i've seen one before but I can't seem to find any online.

I know It may seem lazy not to just wire something myself but I really don't want to be wiring anything. I just want some sort of solution where its just a matter of plugging a foot switch into the mains then the scroll saw into the foot switch.

Thanks, and sorry for the hijacking 
Keato


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## martinka

Keato,
You certainly won't need to mess with the wiring on your Excalibur, but chances are you will need to fit a plug and socket to whichever footswitch you choose. I'd recommend going for the same footswitch we bought, then buy a single trailing socket, like this, cut the cable in two and wire it into the footswitch. Should be a 5 minute job. Well, unless the Excalibur has a built in NVR switch, in which case you can ignore all the above, although I would think it unlikely.

I did a brief search and didn't find any footswitches with a standard 13A plug and socket fitted, though that's not to say they don't exist.

Martin.


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## martinka

My replacement foot switch arrived today from 'sourcingmap' so there's a company I will be recommending as often as possible.

Martin.


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## Servo

Hi all. my first post and I need help.

I bought the switch from the same person as you guys. I followed the diagram posted here (thankyou)

I have the Axminster Trade Series AWFS18 and have removed the stop switch. When I plug the new pedal in and turn on the switch on the wall, the machine will start if I press the pedal down and turn the machine's power switch on its works. remove my foot from the pedal, it stops, and I see the on/off switch turn it's self off..
I guess I'm missing something.

Robert


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## ChrisR

Robert.

I don’t know the start/stop arrangement for the saw you mention, but from the way you describe what’s happening, I would hazard a guess that the saw is fitted with a NVR (no volt release).

The reason I say this, and if I have understood you correctly, with your foot on the switch, and pressing the start switch on the saw it will run, then when lifting your foot from the switch the saw stops but will not restart until you press the foot switch and press the saws start button again. If this is the case the saw most certainly has a NVR, start stop arrangement, which will need to be locked out or bypassed if you want to control the saw with your foot switch.

Hope this helps, and has not added to any confusion. #-o 

Take care.

Nearly forgot welcome to the site.

Chris R.


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## Servo

ChrisR I think you are right, but I have no idea how to bypass the NVR. 

Oh, I loved my Holidays at St Ives and spent a few days at Newquay.
Now the kids have moved out, we've had no chance to return.


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## Bryan Bennett

Hi Servo (Robert ) welcome to the site,I see that Chris has helped you already.if you have any questions about this fantastic hobby that we all share,this is the place to be.

Bryan


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## powertools

I think Chris is right about the cause of your problem and if I remember correctly there is a work around for this somewhere further back on the forum.


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## Servo

powertools":mda5ipd4 said:


> I think Chris is right about the cause of your problem and if I remember correctly there is a work around for this somewhere further back on the forum.



I did look back, but couldn't find/missed the post, can you remember anything from the title so I could do a search.

Robert


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## martinka

Robert, I believe the NVR switch is wired the same as the Hegner, so you need to wire the footswitch in after the NVR switch as I did. You could also remove it altogether as the footswitch basically makes it redundant but I left mine in place in case the footswitch broke, which it did. 
You need female and male 'kettle' plug and socket, wire the footswitch with those so that the NVR switch connects to one side of the footswitch and then the footswitch goes out to the motor. Leave the motor switch in the on position all the time. I can post a photo if it will make it any clearer.

Martin.


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## Servo

martinka":34my9s7g said:


> Robert, I believe the NVR switch is wired the same as the Hegner, so you need to wire the footswitch in after the NVR switch as I did. You could also remove it altogether as the footswitch basically makes it redundant but I left mine in place in case the footswitch broke, which it did.
> You need female and male 'kettle' plug and socket, wire the footswitch with those so that the NVR switch connects to one side of the footswitch and then the footswitch goes out to the motor. Leave the motor switch in the on position all the time. I can post a photo if it will make it any clearer.
> 
> Martin.



Hi Martin
Thankyou for the reply.

What I did.
I got a kettle lead, cut it in half, wired both bits to the foot pedal, plugged the kettle end straight into the machine, and the 3 pin plug into the mains socket. The switch with the red button was taking out of the loop.
With the pedal pressed I can start the machine with the on/off switch on the front, as soon as I take my foot off the pedal, the machine stops and I need to press the pedal down again whilst pressing the on/off button again.

Lol, I hope you understand what I wrote, because my daughter can't......


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## martinka

So you have to press the pedal, then press the start button? It sounds to me like the on/off switch on the motor is also an NVR switch, which makes me wonder why the one at the back is there. Unless it's just to make it more Hegner like, or am I being cynical? I'll see if I can find a copy of the manual and take a looksee.

Martin


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## Servo

Yes Martin, press the pedal down, then press the on/off switch built into the machine.
When I take my foot off the pedal, I can hear the on/off switch turning off.

The wiring diagram doesn't show anything of a nvr switch just the normal four connectors.


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## martinka

I'm stumped.  Can you bypass the NVR switch and the footswitch and connect straight to the motor switch? Switch the saw on, then switch it off and on at the mains. If it doesn't start up again, it's an NVR switch, and I don't know how/if you can bypass that one.


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## Servo

I will take the switch out tomorrow and see if there's more than 4 wires connected to it.
I might call Axminster and ask them for help..


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## ChrisR

Robert.

Pleased to see my post may be of help.

Regarding, bypassing the existing stop/start switch. As I don’t know the type of start/stop control fitted to your saw, I am unable to give you exact advice on any wiring modification, but if it is a standard type of start/stop, NVR (no volt release) control, just linking across the start button/switch would be all that is necessary. 
However it is important that whatever modification you carry out, is to label or cover the start/stop control, as inoperative, I appreciate you may be the only one using the saw, but on the off chance that an -other was to use the saw , they would need to know that the STOP button is not going to work, (ie stop the saw). :shock: 

Or as Martin said, you could remove the NVR control and go stright into the motor supply lead. If you do this and the foot switch is only single pole, ensure that the switch is breaking the live wire, if the foot switch is however two pole, no need to be concerned. 



Glad to see you enjoyed your holidays in Cornwall.

Take care.

Chris R.


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## Servo

I took the switch out today, it has four wires 2 brown (live) two blue, I wonder if the nvr is in the switch. I wonder if I bought a switch from hegner it would work. The outside length of the switch is approx. 50 mmm


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## martinka

Just been doing some reading and the big NVR switch was added for schools and the safety elf, so I would bet half a biscuit that, like most power tools from China these days, that the on/off switch is also NVR. It's unlikely that the Hegner switch would fit as, being German, they are most likely from a different source. 

It's not something I would condone, but if it was mine and I was determined to fit a footswitch, I'd find a way to remove the on/off switch and wire the footswitch straight in. 

Whatever you do, it seems the other NVR switch is elf & safety excess baggage and can be stuck on something else. In fact, I might just stick my Hegner one for my pillar drill. Good grief! I'll be removing the 6mm stainless rod from plugs and fitting fuses next! Just joking folks! :mrgreen: Or am I?

edit: Duh! I'm slow today. There's an easy way to tell if the switch on the motor is an NVR switch. If the switch on the motor is NOT NVR you would be able to leave it in the ON position and just use the big NVR switch at the back.


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## Servo

If I join the two blue's and browns together then I guess this will bypass the switch, and the pedal will work?


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## martinka

I wouldn't like to say yes without seeing it, but it sounds like it.


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## Servo

Lol, if this is my last post, then I got it wrong...


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## Servo

Well, I linked the two pairs of wires and fitted the external nvr back in line, then I got the wife to press the pedal, and it works..And she's okay for work on Monday....


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## martinka

:mrgreen: Glad you managed to get it working.

Martin.


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## ChrisR

Robert.

Pleased to see you are sorted, and the wife is still in one piece. :wink: 
All fly by wire, needs a test pilot first. 

Take care.

Chris R.


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