I’ve used an AC switch rated at 240 v but less than 10 amps (lost the spec card) to act as a switch between my battery and ESC. It worked fine for a good while before it was completely fried by the sparking each time it was switched on. At least a good 3 months of use with almost daily riding too.
Before that switch died completely it would be a bit finicky and you’d need to kind of jiggle the metal toggle around more before it would turn on. So they at least give you a good amount of warning before they die completely.
Only damage was to the switch itself. So using one for the lights only would be fine.
I thought I mentioned it but I guess I forgot. It was for a 10s4p battery and a generic Ling-yi ESC. I messed up a setting on it on accident and put it in an always on mode so the switch was a quick and easy fix for it. I wouldn’t recommend putting a toggle/ interrupt switch between a battery and a VESC though since they can pull a lot more current and are more likely to destroy the switch. Unless you bought a switch with high enough specs to handle it and didn’t care about the sparking slowly killing the switch
It would work fine for the LEDs though so long as you have the space for it
Ok, that’s a fascinating question - why a switch, which is just 2 metal plates touching each-other, would be rated at 14vdc. But 5A 14VDC is 70 watts, if you drop it in before the buck you’re talking maybe 500mA? So you don’t hit 70 watts until 140V.
My guess is that the description mistakenly refers to a lighted version of the switch, in which case I could totally see where it would top out at 14V, but the ones I have aren’t lighted.
Or there’s something about metallurgy that I don’t understand - entirely possible.
I use them on my board before the buck converter and they work fine.
Hey, electrician by trade so ive got some perspective. Dc and ac switches are very different mechanically because interrupting dc voltages, especially higher voltages is very difficult.
When you break an ac circuit (US-60hz) the arc isn’t sustained because the electrical potential drops to 0 120 times a second effectively putting out the arc. Breaking dc the switch has to withstand the arc until the air gap and arc made by the switch creates enough resistance in the circuit to drop the voltage low enough to extinguish the arc and break the circuit. The higher the dc voltage and or amperage the easier it is to sustain the arc in free air. The arc also damages the contact surfaces of the switch breaking it or possibly welding it open/closed.
One of the ways you get higher voltages and amperage rated dc switches is by add additional simultaneous series breaks (single pole double throw) to increase the resistance of the switch faster and also to extinguish the arc faster. Also the contact surfaces of the switch will be made of high temperature alloys in shapes that promote self cleaning of the contact surfaces and prevent bouncing.
Tldr: ac and dc switches are very different. Using single pole double (or more) throw switches wired in series increases the voltage rating and therefore lifespan. Something like this could be good for 56vdc if both poles are wired in series but not quite 75v: