Low or high voltages switches

Hi all,

I hope I can make sense explaining this. I am in the process of building a single tier 10 gallon electric brewery. I am currently focusing on the control panel and power supply wiring. I will have 2 5500 watt 240v elements and 2 march pumps running on the rig from a brewtroller unit. Like many with similar setups, I want switches on my panel allowing me to switch any component on-off-auto.
My original switch plan is to have 120v and 240v toggle switches inline to control this. But now I'm wondering if I can switch the same things with low voltage (12v dc) inline with the SSR's controlling the elements and pumps. This means I would have the ability to supply a constant dc voltage to the ssr's on demand, from a dc power supply that is also powering the brewtroller.
A fellow brewer and builder here tells me that should work, but that if an SSR goes bad, I won't have a way to control the element or pump until replacing it. Yeah of course, and that's no biggie really with my setup. Just have extra SSR around and in the meantime use propane.

So I'm wondering, for manual control option, is it more common to use a switch on the main load line to the component, or are you guys using the low voltage switches on the SSR control line like I described? Some of the pics I've seen look like pretty small switches.

Thanks and cheers

SSRs most commonly fail in a false turn on with no turn-on signal mode. As such, I personally like to know I've got the ultimate say on powering a component with a good ole mechanical switch.

I like the "secure feeling" that my DPST switches give me on my 240V stuff.

Do you guys have a link to these type of switches?

I am in the process of building a panel for a 110V application. I would rather not use regular household switches

Thanks

I used regular household switches in waterproof cases. I found the 30A DPST at Lowe's.

What is a DPST switch?

ILOVEBEER said:

What is a DPST switch?

Click to expand...

Dual pole single throw.

Can open/close both legs of a 240V circuit. One I have looks like a normal on/off light switch - just the "body" is a little fatter.

Is this something I need since I am only using 110V. I need three switches...one for my pump, one to energize the PID and one to interrupt the current to the heat exchanger but still keeping the system enrgized for temp readings

Here is an example of what I would use for controlling an element. on1 is always on, off is off, on2 is SSR controlled. If you are controlling a 110v element, then you would only need a SPDT switch for the same function. This one is for 240v 5500watt:

http://cgi.ebay.com/30-Amp-DPDT-3-P...0?hash=item53d7c07927&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116