How can I wire a motor to operate in forward and reverse using a DPDT switch?

Question

I have a toy tractor I'm trying to rewire. There's a motor and battery (so far so good — nothing complicated here). The problem arises with the two components I've included in this entry. The plunger foot switch is activated by pressing on a toy pedal which propels the tractor forward or backward depending on the position of the rocker switch. With six pins on the rocker and three on the plunger I'm not sure how to properly wire everything together. I'm hoping that someone out there in DIY land has encountered a similar situation. Thanks!

I originally posted this under the DIY exchange but the suggestion was made to post it at this stack exchange site. Please forgive the Amazon posts but they're included for clarification

Answer 1

What you're wanting to do is something like this:

^{simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab}

If your question is about which pins on the switches are which, that's where a datasheet comes in. Vendors of electronics parts that have datasheets are basically a hard requirement for doing anything with any degree of certainty. (Read: Amazon marketplace is not a good source for this.)

Typically, a DPDT (double pole, double throw) rocker or toggle switch will have the poles (common) terminals in the middle, and to either side its throws. For example, on this datasheet for a CW Industries GRS-4022-1600, the terminals are labeled 1, 1a, 1b, 2, 2a, and 2b.

When the switch is in one position, terminal 1 connects to 1a while terminal 2 connects to 2a. In the other position, terminal 1 connects to 1b while terminal 2 connects to 2b.

It may be worth noting that if you're ordering other components at the same time and can thus share the shipping cost, it's far better to order from a reputable vendor where you can get the switch I linked for less than $2 USD instead of the insane $9 USD in your link. The datasheet is free!

Answer 2

Consider using this tutorial regarding a similar switch, power supply and motor to control the direction of motor rotation. Here's an image from that tutorial:

Answer 3

This DPDT rocker switch and SPDT foot switch would do.

Here's the schematic.

The wiring diagram is as shown below.

Answer 4

If the tractor is actually a Peg Perego, most of the manuals have a wiring diagram in them, and the manuals are available online at their website (they seem to be reorganizing their website at the moment, so you may need to do a Google search for the specific model). While you can't necessarily use the pinout directly for the reversing switch unless the one you purchased is sold as a drop in replacement, it will give you an idea of how it was originally wired. As far as the three pins on the accelerator switch, it is an SPDT switch with the middle pin going one side of the switch and the distant pin going to the battery terminal that isn't going directly to the switch (possibly via a thermal protection device). The last one comes from the other battery terminal via the thermal protection unit, and is the "automatic braking" function that some of the vehicles have (but the same switch seems to be used on all models, as from their point of view it's more cost effective to use a single switch model). The below diagram is from the John Deere Ground Force Tractor, and while it shows using a complete Peg Perego 2 speed + reverse switching unit, it gives you an idea of how the pedal fits into the system.