Converting an X-10 RF wallswitch to operate using a standard toggle switch

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

Excerpts from a thread that began in January . . .
<zPudne5nm62gBjPYnZ2dnUVZ_vein...@xxxxxxx>, ROBERT_GREEN1...@xxxxxxxxx
(Robert Green) writes:
| "Dan Lanciani" <ddl@danlan.*com> wrote in message

RG| > I want to see if I can wire a standard 4 AAA X-10 RF wall switch to a
RG| > standard 110VAC toggle switch (not using 110, of course) so that I can
RG| > have an RF switch with a positive tactile feel.
RG| > The issue facing me is how to easily convert an SPST wall switch to
RG| > operate as a momentary push button switch.

DL | You might find it easier to use a SPDT (aka three-way) switch and some
DL | series capacitors.

DL | > Note that if you want the switch to do the same thing independent of
DL | > which way it is flipped (e.g., to activate something that toggles)
DL | > you can wire one capacitor between each contact and the pole.  That
DL | > way the switch shorts one capacitor as it brings the other across the
DL | > circuit you are trying to control, eliminating the discharge time
from
DL | > consideration.

RG | That's an interesting concept.  Do you think it would significantly
increase
RG | the drain on the coin cell battery?

DL | I wouldn't think so.

I just bought some RW684 2 channel wireless wall switches - the kind that
use 4 AAA batteries to replace a similar 4 channel switch whose switch
button has begun to require ever-increasing pressure to make contact.  Now
that I have the bad switch apart I want to see if I can, as suggested
earlier, hook this switch up to a toggle-type lightswitch with more reliable
contacts.

The circuit board "switches" look like big solder blobs and I can probably
cut away the traces that lead to them and solder my own switch leads onto
the board.

What's the best way to attach a wire to a circuit trace?  I was thinking of
drilling a tiny holy in the trace and scraping away enough of the green
insulating coating to make a good joint.  I could also trace the circuit
path from the switch to the first discrete component, which I believe it a
pin on the circuit board's IC, but there's not a heck of a lot of space to
attach a new wire.

Also, does anyone care to take a guess what type and value of capacitor
would be effective in the kind of setup Dan described?

P.S. and FWIW, the instructions with this switch say that banks 9 and 13
won't work with the RR-501 transmitter.

Thanks in advance!

--
Bobby G.