Custom Control panel for a Brutus 20 style setup

Edit: So I decided to do this properly. Enclosures are pretty costly and I wanted to only do things once but be able to expand and upgrade as necessary. I scored this enclosure off ebay for $75 shipped. it's 14" x 12" x 6":




It has 4 set of "connectors" combining 6 or so connectors into one block as well as all of the grounds being wired together. The caps on the sides are pre punch conduit holes which will make mounting plugs and running wire in and out a breeze. I am currently using Google Draw to map my layout as well as wiring schematic.


Have everything layed out. Ordered 50ft each of red and black 12 AWG wire to get everything wired up. Gonna raid my wire bucket to get what bits I need for ground wire and if I come up short, Ill grab some from HD.

(Image updates as I update the doc, don't hate if something is currently wrong as I am still designing!)

Do you know what that switch is rated for? Amps and how many volts?

what are you trying to switch as well.... That switch WILL work, as long as you're not drawing more than what it is able to

It's a 1000W power supply for a computer, so it had 120v coming in and somewhere switched to 12, 5 and 3v rails and plenty of them so I would ASSUME that it could easily handle a PID, Fan, SSR, and 2 elements.

But now that I start saying it out loud, I am going to have 2 1500W elements... 1 that will go through this switch, and one that will be direct wired to another outlet/breaker. So maybe this can't handle it and I should just use the case itself and mount a normal switched outlet. I am more concerned about what the extra bit are that are connected to the switch. The coil, the resistors, I guess that is a fuse under that shrink wrapping...

After some testing with a multi meter, it seems as if the block is a small transformer but the switch is not affecting it at all. Rather than keep playing and risk blowing things up, myself included, I'm just gonna buck up and start building a proper scalable panel. Ill keep my end goals in mind but start with the bare minimum.

Single PID, thermocoupler, 1-2 switches and the relay to power the element. Ill get an enclosure big enough to grow into.

yeah, get a normal swtich... no good is going to come of reusing that one hell, spend $2 for a light switch at a home improvement store and save the heartache from that thing melting

It was just me pondering ideas. Ended up buying a full enclosure, key switch, normal switches, lights SSR/Heatsink and some wire. Going to do this correctly and I am still under $150.

Bump, updated main post. Going to use this thread to document my build.