What is a rocker switch used for ?

Rocker Switches house a button for operation that can be pressed on either end like a see saw to connect or disconnect an electrical circuit. They are often used as ON/OFF switches on the main power supplies for electronic devices.

The internal structure diagram of the rocker switch will help you visualize how the rocker switch works so that you know how to connect them.

According to the internal structure diagram of the rocker switch above, you can see that it is in one of two states. It can go to one side or the other side. This allows you to turn the device on or off. The metal bearing slides the switch down so that it makes contact with one of the sides, depending on which side the switch is set to. The wiring position can be configured according to the customer's design requirements. Rocker switch wiring 2 pin or 3 pin rocker switch wiring.

Rocker switch circuit display

Now let's build an example rocker switch circuit, so that you can see how it works in a real-world practical example.

Let's take the circuit below:

When the switch of the rocker switch is flipped to the ON position (to the left), the DC motor turns on and operates. When the switch is flipped OFF (to the right), the DC motor no longer receives power and flips off.
Many times with rocker switches, since they are only able to tolerate a certain amount of current, fuses are placed in between the power pin and the power source. This protects the rocker switch from receiving excess power, which could damage or destroy it. You can see that the power pin (pin 1) receives the incoming power, which in this case is from a 12V battery. Pin 2 connects to the accessory or load which you want to power, which in this case is a DC motor. And pin 3 connects to ground or is left open. This is when the DC motor is shut off.