What Carling Contura Rocker Switch Part Number Do You Need?

Carling V-Series switches are described by a full 14 unit part number, which get’s quite confusing.  Luckily, most vendors can get the switch you need with only the first 4 digits (including us!).

1st digit – V-series always starts with a “V”

2^nd digit – The function type, describes if you want an ON-OFF, (ON)-OFF, ON-OFF-ON, etc.  The “(ON)” with parentheses around it is a pretty standard way to describe a momentary function (like a horn).

3^rd digit – The switch rating… typically for marine use is a “D” for 20A, 12Vdc.  Note, the actual switch mechanism can typically be used at higher voltages (even 120Vac), but the lamp is the limiting factor.

4^th digit – The terminal and barrier style, typically a .250” TAB for a quick disconnect connector.  For .250 TAB, you should see a 1, 2, A, B, J or K.  The barriers are little pieces of plastic that separate the terminals… I typically recommend no barriers if you use insulated connectors.

Here is the full part number spec sheet from Carling (click to see it bigger):

About the Carling Contura Rocker Switch

Many people have questions about the terms we use when discussing New Wire Marine’s line of labeled Carling Contura V-series Rocker Switches...  So here’s an overview of this great switch:

Carling Technologies created a rocker switch called “contura” and it quickly became the go-to rocker switch for many industries including marine use.  Several other brands now manufacture contura style switches as well (all are pretty much interchangeable with each other), but nearly all major boat manufacturers now use this style switch.

These little guys come in many combinations including different actuators styles, poles, throws, lighting options, lighting type, voltage rating, terminal style, barrier style, etc.

The switch has two parts a Switch Body, and an Actuator (shown below).  The actuator snaps onto the body to create an entire switch combo.  All V-series contura actuators are interchangeable with all switch bodies.

The switch body:

The switch actuator:

The actuator can pop off easily with a tool like this, or if you pull it pretty hard it will snap off as well… I wouldn’t do this too many times though or risk breaking the latch, especially with an older switch.

Carling Contura ON-OFF Rocker Switch Wiring – Diagram Included

This is the beginning of a series of posts on how to wire up New Wire Marine’s line of Marine related V-Series Contura Rocker Switches.  Let’s start off with a simple one… Carling’s ON-OFF V1D1 model.  This is a simple ON-OFF switch with a negative for the return current for the light bulb.

Here is what the switch looks like:

You can see the bulb in the front (will be covered up with the actuator), and the 0.250” quick disconnect terminals on the back.

Carling uses the terminal numbering show here:

1-3 is on the left, 4-6 is on the right, and 7 and 8 are specialty terminals at the top.  In this carling V-series switch (and all others), all the terminal locations are numbered even if they are not used in this particular switch model... as you can see there are only 3 terminals on this one.

Here is a graphical way to look at it:

Power comes into terminal 2, and goes out of terminal 3 (the switch leg).  The switch leg is hot if the switch is ON, and not when the switch is OFF.  The negative for the light uses terminal 7.

Here is a wiring diagram of how the internal switching and lamp wiring is connected. 

Power feeds the bulb from terminal 3.  If you think about this for a moment, you realize that the switch could be wired up differently… if you put the + input on pin 3, then the light would always be ON and pin 2 could become the switch leg.  Additionally, if you had a load with an alternate input (like a bilge pump with a float switch), that input would feed back up the switch leg into pin 3 and illuminate the light, even if the switch is OFF.  This is really neat for a bilge because you can tell (via the lamp) when your float switch is making your bilge pump run… cool stuff!

New Wire Marine carries all the parts you need to make this work, and a lot more!

Another Successful Carling Contura Rocker Switch Installation

Glenn sent us this great photo of how he used our Carling Contra Rocker Switches.  But, instead of on his boat, he used them for a slightly different purpose… a Golf Cart!

We have several “not necessarily” marine related rocker switch labeled actuators, including:

Accessory

Courtesy Light

Fuel

Head Light

Horn

Instrument

Light

Panel Light

Stereo

and many more…

Glenn used our snap together Rocker Switch Mounting Panels for his installation (two end panels and two middle panels).  I like the way he made the backer plate out of diamond plate… looks great with the theme of the Golf Cart.  Nice graphics too!

Thanks for sharing this photo Glenn!

Ask Us Your Marine Electrical Installation Questions!

We want this blog to be informative, not just a plug for our products (of course we want to buy our great products too!).  If you have a question about New Wire Marine products, or marine electrical installation in general, please post it as a comment to this blog, and we will get you the answer!

Great Installation of Custom Marine Switch Panel on Kevin's Boat

Thanks Kevin for sharing the pictures of your New Wire Marine product installed on your jon boat.  He used a 6 switch panel with dc plug and a 2ft wiring harness. 

This panel is loaded with 6 labeled Carling Contura Marine Grade Rocker Switches.  He was able to select the 6 switch labels he needed for a real custom solution. 

If you take a close look you can see the labels New Wire Marine provided on each wire of the wiring harness.  Each came terminated with a ring terminal which made it a breeze for Kevin to interface the panel with a simple 20A terminal block.

Looks great Kevin… great install!

See the panel shown below HERE

And all 20+ of our Custom Marine Switch Panels HERE

Now offering Rule-Mate 1500gph bilge pumps - ON SALE at $99 ea for a Limited Time

New Wire Marine is introducing a new product by offering it for a limited time at an extreme discount.  You'll find the Rule-Mate 1500 GPH Automatic bilge pump at most online retailers anywhere from $150 to $200... We have it for a limited time at $99!

This pump has a neat 3 second delay to eliminate false starts.  This means your pump won’t constantly be turning on and off as that little bit of water in the bilge sloshes around.  And 1500 Gallons Per Hour means you can get the water out quickly.

It has separate inputs for automatic and manual mode as well… a really neat pump.

Check it out HERE