Why I love my screwdriver.

[Lurker]

...The only thing is, the ones from Radio Shack have something closer to plastic in place of that metal part that the prong gets soldered to, so I don't see how Lurker even did it because how can anything transfer through the wire to plastic instead of metal? Definitely waiting on his response..

I had problems soldering to the metal housing. I'm not sure what the RS switches are made of but it seems kinda plasticy. It took me 3 times to get one right. I ended up solering a piece of thin multistrand wire to the prong. Then I soldered it to the housing, but I left extra wire which I put inbetween the switch and the adapter fitting. I also ran the extra wire back to the prong so I would have two routes if one failed. Yeah, I'm not really that slick with this stuff but it works great so far. It is nice to now you can do it.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention you can file the inside adapter hole to make room for you extra stuff. Ha

Still works great BTW.

[just4747]

i will ship u one out today.. we are a bit short of stock.. so it will be just the one..

Thanks Trog! Will be on the lookout for it soon, awesome!

It took me 3 times to get one right. I ended up solering a piece of thin multistrand wire to the prong. Then I soldered it to the housing, but I left extra wire which I put inbetween the switch and the adapter fitting. I also ran the extra wire back to the prong so I would have two routes if one failed.

Yeah I saw that but I'm wondering, do you have to solder the wire to the housing or are you just doing that to keep it still? Is the point of it all justhaving the wire touching the prong? Or having the wire touching the prong AND touching the housing?
And I just don't see how you can solder to the plastic housing at all..

[ApOsTle51]

you need to create a circuit from the 'prong' to the metal part of the switch housing, this way when the switch is installed the circuit route goes from the prong along the wire into the metal housing on the switch and then into the screwdriver body via the switch threads. this creates the circuit.

[just4747]

I knew that as well but I just didn't think the circuit can be completed when part of it is a plastic housing...am I wrong? I thought it all had to be metal...

[ApOsTle51]

the plastic on the switch is just to insulate the positve and negative prongs. Thats why one of them needs to be bent over and bridge soldered to the metal part of the switch housing .

[just4747]

Lol ur all missing what I'm talking about. When you buy the ****tier Radio Shack switches, the part that is normally metal on the switch housing on the real SD switch, is what I think is metal-looking plastic. So when you go to solder wire from the prong to this housing, you're soldering it to a NON-metal housing that just looks like metal (at least I think it's silver plastic).
So, how would it work on these RS switches if the hosuing is not metal?
Hopefully that clears up what my question is..

[ApOsTle51]

ahhh right gotach , Phew !!

Well that prong needs to make contact with the screwdriver housing somehow, how u do it is entirely up to you.
Probably not possible if the switch housing is completly plastic.

joining the prong to the spring washer may work.

[just4747]

Unless I am wrong and this part really is metal (on this Radio Shack switch); is it Lurker?? That's the part I have been thinking is really a plastic and not a metal because it feels so cheap:

[Lurker]

Sorry, been out all day. I'm not sure if that piece is metal or plastic or what. I had trouble soldering to it. Was not sure if that would even complete the circuit. So I decided to better my odds by having the wire not only touching the housing but also sitting in between the switch and the "adapter" The "adapter" is metal. When I say adapter I'm talking about the piece of the screwdriver that the switch goes into. In your photos that piece was still inside your screwdriver. It unscrews from the S/D. Hope that helps.

[just4747]

I see...it looks hard to get the wire to stay touching that adapter but I could try. How bout the little washer that threads onto the switch housing first? Is that metal?