How to Test the Switch for Circuit Bending

Video Transcript

"AMANDA CLAIRE: All right, here I've got the switch--kind of switch I was talking about. Single pole, double throw, two positions but it does have an off position in the middle. Nice big switch. I'm not sure where I'm going to fit it 'cause it is kinda big but at the moment, it's the only one like this I've got. So one thing I want to do is just make sure the switch is working and make sure that it's going to do what I want it to so for that we can test the switch. For a switch like this, it's because it's a two-throw switch, both of those two positions are going to be also connected to the same third point, whatever that point is, and in this case it's the lead we already have, right so. Remember, we found two points over on this part of the board that when each one individually is connected with this point, it kinda has that cool looping effect. So this is kind of our common point so that would go in the middle. So we can take an alligator clip from there, we'll put that in the middle of the switch here, and just sort of leave it there. We're just testing our switch now. And so one of the other--so why don't we do this? We'll put another alligator clip, we're going to clip it to one side of that switch, and so just to test it, we know when that switch is in the off position, we should not get that looping behavior if we then switch this on and then touch those two contacts together. And so let's see if that's true. Right, so I'm touching points now and it's acting normal. Okay. But now let's flick the switch and see what happens. Right, okay, so we know that switch is working. So what we'll do is we'll set the switch up so that in one position it starts one of those looping bends, and the other position it starts the other, and then the middle it's off. And so we could continue to test it, we could go ahead and put the third alligator clip on that third terminal of that switch. And send it over to that--put the switch in the other position, right, so it's going to have two positions, left and right; I've got the other position now. And now just turn it back on, test our bend now, so it's working. And then if I put it in the middle, once again, it shouldn't have any reaction if I put that clip there. And it doesn't, so our switch is working. So our switch is working, so now what we need to do is find a place where we could fit that switch and we'll cut a hole for it to go into, and then we will solder some wires permanently to it so that it's accessible on the outside of the project, and we can flip in on and on whenever we want to get crazy."