Switch Panel With Carling Contura II

**notmyj** · 03-19-2011, 03:34 PM

Well, I finally got around to finishing my switch panel in my YJ. It is mounted on the front well of my Tuffy Overhead console. For the face, I used a piece of stainless steel from a door kick plate. Cut to fit and drilled four holes to screw it to the Tuffy.

The switches I used are Carling Contura II rockers. They have a LED illumination. The green LED behind the large window is independently lit, so I wired it to come on with the dash lights. The amber LED bar at the bottom illuminates when the switch is activated. The icons on the large windows are nothing more than images shown at http://www.carlingtech.com/pdf/vl_serswitlegends.pdf I simply printed them onto clear labels and stuck them on.

I got the everything from Mouser.com

Switch bodies http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...ey691-V1D2GHNB
Switch Actuator http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...alkey691-VVAAC
Connector Housing http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...lkey691-VCH-01

Here is the harness I made for the switches. Yellow wire is illumination via the dash lights. Red is power in, Black is ground. The switched wire will be inserted when installed in the jeep.

Here it is with installed

Here are the switches installed in the plate

And everything put together installed in the overhead, daylight, lights off.

Daylight, Lights on, switches turned on.

I will get a night shot tonight and post later. So farr I am really happy with the way it turned out....

**notmyj** · 03-19-2011, 08:45 PM

Here are the pics of them illuminated at night.

Illuminated and switched on

Noltz · 03-19-2011, 09:34 PM

I like it!

Douglas S. · 03-19-2011, 11:26 PM

Does your overhead console rattle at all? Switches look great.

**notmyj** · 03-20-2011, 06:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Douglas S.

Does your overhead console rattle at all? Switches look great.

Just a small bit. I am looking to re engineer part of the mecanism and make it rattle free and operate smoothly. As of right now, though it is bearable as everything else is louder. i.e. tires, engine, radio, girlfriend, etc

Wheel_Power · 06-23-2011, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notmyj

Just a small bit. I am looking to re engineer part of the mecanism and make it rattle free and operate smoothly. As of right now, though it is bearable as everything else is louder. i.e. tires, engine, radio, girlfriend, etc

HAHA I hear you on the girlfriend part.

Here's a picture of my recent Contura II switch install, not quite as elaborate as yours, but clean none the less.

It's for my 1995 Wrangler YJ Rio Grande.

**notmyj** · 06-24-2011, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willaustin

HAHA I hear you on the girlfriend part.

Here's a picture of my recent Contura II switch install, not quite as elaborate as yours, but clean none the less.

It's for my 1995 Wrangler YJ Rio Grande.

The only problem with those switches is that at night you can't see the images on them. The "starburst" design of the colored window makes it impossible to see the image. I tried that first, then did it this way. I am much happier with the results now. Even the GF can see them and understand what they mean. Which is good, cause she is getting more comfortable with driving it on the trail.

Wheel_Power · 06-24-2011, 08:37 AM

You're totally right. I should have asked here before I bought these. I got them in last night, and then of course noticed after I had power to them that I couldn't tell which is which.

Oh well, I can sell the switches themselves on eBay and order more like the ones you used. At least I have all my wiring and relays in place and it's just a matter of taking a few screws out and reconnecting some plugs.

I took your advice and used the wiring harnesses, that made for a clean install for sure.

Wheel_Power · 06-24-2011, 08:52 AM

Are these the ones that I need? (besides the fact these are ON/OFF/ON(MM)).

http://www.otrattw.com/proddetail.ph...AH0B-A9C6U-200

**notmyj** · 06-24-2011, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willaustin

Are these the ones that I need? (besides the fact these are ON/OFF/ON(MM)).

http://www.otrattw.com/proddetail.php?prod=VRD2AH0B-A9C6U-200

Depends what you want to use them for. For a simple on/off switch, no. Those would be a waste as you wouldn't need the momentary on. That is a 3 position switch.

For a simple on/off switch, that is both, illuminated when the lights are on, and the other light is illuminated when the switch is activated, see the links I posted in first post. You can get other carling switches from other places, but they are unreadable at night as the starburst lens distorts the light in such a way that you can't make out the picture on the lens, nor can read the writing without shining a light on them. That reason alone is why I made this write up. A few companies are selling the ones above and they look good. Screen printed and everything, but they spec'd them wrong they ordered them from Carling and made them unreadable. The white face is the way to go because it is a smooth diffused lens that allows an even glow of the LED that lends its self to being readable when back lit. Also, the ones with white faces that they have on their site only have one window. While they will work for the switching, they wont have the two seperate lights for activation/night illumination.

If you want the same effect I got, order the switch bodies and actuators from Mouser. They are showing over 150 in stock right now. Plus it would only cost 11.50 for each switch and actuator, plus the ones from mouser are LED lit so they will likely last forever. OTRATTW doesnt show any white face lenses in a standard on/off.

timatoe · 06-24-2011, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willaustin

HAHA I hear you on the girlfriend part.

Here's a picture of my recent Contura II switch install, not quite as elaborate as yours, but clean none the less.

It's for my 1995 Wrangler YJ Rio Grande.

I noticed with the blue ones in this same location (where the stock defrost would be) I have no issues at night seeing the print because there is the little light above that area. BUT,,,,, I mounted three more below them and you can't see the print at night without a light shining on them.. I'll be putting a small LED above those.

Wheel_Power · 07-07-2011, 03:47 PM

I went in and replaced the factory light over the switches with a H.O. LED. They're much easier to see, but I'm still going to replace them with the green switches I got from OTRATTW.

idgara007 · 03-24-2012, 09:58 AM

For these switches, they have 5 pins to connect wires to. You show only 3, plus a 4th going to your accessories. What happened to the 5th pin?

**notmyj** · 03-24-2012, 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by idgara007

For these switches, they have 5 pins to connect wires to. You show only 3, plus a 4th going to your accessories. What happened to the 5th pin?

I'm pretty sure they only have 4 terminals. They are wired as shown in the pics.

Power in
Ground
Illumination
Switched power out

What other terminal are you refering to?

**tobias94yj** · 03-24-2012, 06:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by timatoe

I noticed with the blue ones in this same location (where the stock defrost would be) I have no issues at night seeing the print because there is the little light above that area.

I can't believe that light still works on your yj I have never been able to keep a light in there for more than a few days so I gave up about 10 years ago