On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 04:32:49PM -0500, [email protected] wrote:
>
> Many years ago I saw a float switch on a friend's boat that used a plastic
> toilet float, piece of 1/4" threaded rod and a normal household toggle
> switch in a plastic handy-box. He said it worked well. So I made one on
> my boat with a ss spring to pull the switch up (ON) and a string tied to a
> gallon milk jug partially filled with sand as a float in the bilge. It has
> worked flawlessly for three decades. The switch handle has a hole drilled
> in it with a wire gizmo to attach the spring and the string.
>
> So some float switches do work fine and last a long time, just not the kind
> Rule makes.
That's actually pretty similar to what I'd use, except I went with
deluxe components. :) Relatively heavy stainless ball float attached to
a rod which rides in two stainless bushings way above the bilgewater;
the rod either pushes on a long-travel switch, or (better option) the
bushings themselves are the switch contacts, and there's a Teflon sleeve
that insulates the rod from the bushing when it's all the way down, with
a flexible stainless "finger" to keep a very slight side pressure on the
rod so that it always touches the bushing. Very simple and very tough.
Three decades sorta makes the case against the "baseline failure"
scenario - and Norm beat me on the cost, too. :) (Milk jug with sand...
well done!)
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