Component Harvest: Power Strip

I recently had a project that required a power on-off toggle switch. While a pack of such switches only costs a couple of bucks on AliExpress, I didn’t really want to have a bunch of extra switches lying around when I really just need one.

For this project, I needed to control DC voltage with the switch. It turns out that AC switches also work (within their rated limits) for DC power. Then I realized that your everyday power strips contain such switches, and I see these at flea markets for $1 or $2.

As an added bonus, you get some decently thick copper bus bars plus a couple of screws.