What type of switch should I use to turn on/off Led lights?

[unclet]

I bought a bunch of LED lights from Randy and most all of them are connected to the LEDWiz and light up fine when the music is playing.  When the music is not playing, the lights are off .... which is fine.

However, I have a few LED lights which are all going to be connected together which will NOT be connected to the LEDWiz.   These LED lights are going to light up the back of my marquee.  Now, I would like to have a switch which will allow me to turn on/off these LED marquee lights.   

What type of switch should I use?  Oh yeah .... these LED lights are powered directly from the 5V/ground wires from the PC power supply.  Since the PC will remain on all the time, I would like to install a switch between the 5V/ground wires and the LED lights. 

Any ideas what type of switch I should to buy?  I do not want to worry about any wires melting and such if the LED lights are left on for awhile obviously.   

[surface tension]

As long as you're not using hundreds of LEDs then any toggle / on-off switch will do. Just find one that you like... though I imagine you plan to hide it.

The combined current for a few LEDs will be < 100mA. Most LEDs will draw around 15mA to 30mA. Just check the switch rating if you are concerned. Most switches will happily do 1A, which will be 30 - 60 LEDs at the above rating.

[csa3d]

I am using one of these from radio shack to turn on my novaMatrix leds.  Additional details and silly questions in this thread.



-csa

[unclet]

csa3d
Can this be mounted to a 1/2" MDF board ..... or must I mount it to thin metal only?

[csa3d]

csa3d
Can this be mounted to a 1/2" MDF board ..... or must I mount it to thin metal only?

It installs like a normal pushbutton.  You drill a small hole (smaller then a pushbutton.. don't have that info on me), unscrew the bottom nut, place the switch in the hole and the square top rests on the panel hiding the hold, then you screw the nut on from underneath.

-csa

[unclet]

Ok, I just picked one up from Radio Shack .... thanks for the info!

[unclet]

Does it matter which of the two connectors I connect the 5V wire and Ground wire to?

[AcidArmitage]

just interrupt the ground line. cut the ground line and attach one side to one contact and the other side to the other contact. dont cut the 5v line because if it gets disconnected from the button, it might short.

[unclet]

excellent idea .... thanks.