Our Toggle Placement Tool makes getting Two-Light Touch Toggles accurately lined up in a control panel easy. Just one Toggle Placement Tool is all you need to align all of your Toggles.
The most common method of final Toggle placement behind your panel graphic is to power it and while watching from the front, move the dot of light to the best location in your design. The Toggle Placement Tool turns on both lights of a Touch Toggle simultaneously, so that you can perfectly place your two-light Toggles on the first try.
About Picture-Frame Panel Assembly
Plug the Touch Toggle – or other type of Touch control – into a base. For easiest alignment plug a two-light Toggle into a Toggle Placement Tool. Put a piece of clear two-sided Scotch brand tape across the front of the Touch Toggle, right over the LEDs, so the front of the Toggle is now sticky. Hold the Touch Toggle behind your panel graphic, and move the dots of light into just the right position. Press the Toggle tight to the back of your graphic. Rub the graphic gently pushing it tight to the Toggle face. Once you’ve gotten it right, you can move on to the next Toggle you want to place.
Ordinarily clear double faced Scotch tape is enough to keep the Touch Toggle from sliding around on the back of paper or plastic. It is NOT strong enough to keep the Toggle from falling away from the surface if it is suspended below the graphic. Remember that Touch controls will not work dependably if there is a gap between the control and the glazing. In small panels with a limited number of Toggles a tight fitting backing panel (with a notch or hole to let the wires out) can hold the Toggles snug to the graphic and glazing for proper operation. The easiest way to make everything really snug, especially in large panels, is to cut a rectangle of quilting or furniture batting to fit behind the entire panel, with a backing panel mounted behind that. The fluffy polyester batting, available at craft or fabric stores, will compress easily to hold everything – Toggles, graphic, and wires – in place and tight to the glazing. Over time it will accommodate bending, swelling, or warping of any of the surfaces involved. Additional layers of batting can be added to allow more compression, or to fill deeper spaces.
About Glued-To-Panel Assembly
If you plan to use a graphic printed on a rigid glazing as your panel structure you will need to add additional adhesive to hold the Toggle. The sides of the case must be glued to the panel to prevent the lightweight plastic case from popping apart when the wire is tugged. Our favorite glue for this is E-6000, available at craft and home stores. This clear glue dries to a hard rubber feel, and will stick to just about anything. Be sure to test any glue on a sample of your materials to make sure there is no chemical reaction or bleed through. Be extra careful not to knock Toggles out of alignment during assembly since glued panels are much more difficult to correct. Often batting and a backing panel are still used with this approach to help with wire management.
Our current Touch Toggles are moulded directly into plastic. Our older cases were 3d printed. If you find you need more plastic cases for older Toggles damaged in assembly we’ll be happy to supply them on request; they simply snap into place.
The Toggle Placement Tool plugs into any control base for power.