Hard to describe without photos, but what you need is a "DOUBLE POLE, DOUBLE THROW, CENTER-OFF, MOMENTARY switch...
This is a switch that will have 6 contacts on the back, and is spring loaded so that it always returns to the center position, but you can push it in either direction as long as you hold it....
Look up "DC Motor Reversing Switch" for details on how to wire it, but in essence you bring your plus and minus power leads from the battery to the middle pair of terminals on the switch, and the wires from the actuator motor to the end terminals, criss-crossing them....
If you number the terminals like this
- Code: Select all
1, 2
3, 4
5, 6
You would bring the battery wires to terminals 3 & 4, and one motor wire would go to 1 & 6, and the other would go to 2 & 5 This will connect the motor in one polarity with the switch up, and the other with it down... Mostly you need to experiment to see which way makes the actuator move in each direction...
You may ALSO want to add 'travel limit' switches on one or both sides of the actuator. These are optional, but keep you from possibly damaging the actuator or other mechanical bits by holding the switch down past the point where the actuator has gone as far as it should in one direction...
The trickiest part of doing these is to mount them somewhere in a way that they are operated when the actuator reaches the end of travel... This is a mechanical challenge, not an electrical one...
Basically a travel limit switch is a micro-switch with both normally open and normally closed (NO and NC) contacts (there will also be a third "Common" contact) It is wired so that power can flow in both directions while the actuator is in the middle of it's range, and the switch is in one position (depending on the mechanical setup it could be unpushed (normal) or pushed) and the appropriate contacts are closed. The other side has a power diode (make sure it is rated for more amps than the actuator can draw, typically 10A on a chair) wired so that current can flow only in the direction that moves the actuator back towards the middle of travel...
When in the normal range, the current flows through the closed contacts, and the motor can go in both directions. But when the actuator reaches the end of travel, it operates the switch, and puts the diode in the circuit. The diode blocks current in that direction and thus stops the actuator. However the diode does allow current to flow in the opposite direction, which allows the actuator to return....
Again, do a search for diagrams on how to wire them in more detail...
ex-Gooserider