Date:         Mon, 19 May 1997 10:37:32 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Richard Angelini <richard@bally.com>
Subject:      Westy sink switch improve'd

One of my pet Westy (85) peeves has been the sink water faucet knob. Turning 
it on and off while trying to wash your hands or dishes is a messy pain. 
Lots of water gets wasted/splashed while slippery hands try come to grips 
with the circular knob. OK enough complaining time to solve this!!! 

Ta-da... enter the "foot operated water faucet switch". A small foot 
switch plugs into a connector at the base of the sink cabinet. Its 
removable when not in use and the faucet knob still works too. Saves 
water and makes things mucho easier. Total cost less that $10. Total 
time 1.5 hours. 

Parts List: 
* FLUSH MOUNT HORN BUTTON (Grand Auto or Pep Boys, in the electrical section 
  Calterm part# 40192, $2.50 

* ENCLOSED 1/4" PHONE JACK (Radio Shack part# 274-280 $2.50, its not a new 
  style telephone jack, but the OLD style, you'll understand when you see em) 

* RIGHT ANGLE MONO 1/4" PHONE PLUG (Radio Shack part# 274-266 $2.50, the 
  right angle lets the plug sit flush with the cabinet face) 

* 3' TWO CONDUCTOR WIRE (I used some thin 110 volt wire, white to match cabinet) 

* 1" BOLT WASHER (any good hardware supply, its a BIG washer, 1"hole 2&1/2" dia 
  used as a heavy base for the horn botton switch $0.55) 

I connected the two conductor wire to the faucet power connector wire under 
the sink. Use 12V wire taps or similar to connect. The new wire runs inside 
the under sink cabinet to the 1/4" phone jack. I drilled a 5/16" hole under 
the cabinet door to mount the 1/4" jack (had to drill a partial 1" hole around 
5/16" hole inside the cabinet so the jack body would fit). Once the phone/power 
jack is mounted its hardly noticable from the outside.             
                                                                     
Use a short piece of two conductor wire to connect the horn button (now 
officially a "foot faucet switch") to the right angle phone plug. Attach the 
"foot faucet switch" to the large heavy washer with epoxy, tape or whatever 
you come up with (I carefully bent the switch mount feet and slipped them thru 
the washer hole, then bent them back and epoxy'd/taped the feet to the bottom 
of the washer. 

Plug in the foot switch and *poof* your done. Its a "clean" modification and 
works great (water conserver too). 

Richard - 85 Westy 118K 

richard@bally.com