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I want to use two 10 ampere switchs for my 16amp appliance.What I will do is divide the input wire of the appliance into two,pass it from two individual 10 ampere switch and then recombine them and pass it to appliance input.Can this thing work.Do 10amp+10amp in such a circuit equals 20 ampere or it will be 10 ampere only.I will switch on and off both switches simultaneously so that single switch isnt loaded more than its capacity.

pericynthion
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saransh
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    How will you arrange to switch the two switches simultaneously (within microseconds of each other)? How will you be sure the current through the two paths is very nearly equal? – The Photon Dec 16 '19 at 17:43
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    The first switch to close and the last one to open will take all the pain. Don't. – Transistor Dec 16 '19 at 18:03
  • actually i want to control my water heater through wifi and for this I have 2 sonoff wifi switches of 10 amperes each.I used single sonoff with water heater but it was blown within a day.So I was thinking to divide the load by using 2 sonoff switchs(both will turn on and off at the same time).The switchs will be remotely operated so I am sure that they will turn on ans off at the same time. – saransh Dec 17 '19 at 05:42

2 Answers2

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Generally you should not parallel switches (or relay contacts) to increase the carrying or switching capacity (at all, let alone +60%) unless the datasheet specifically permits it.

Spehro Pefhany
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This will not work. Dividing the wire into two doesn't automatically make half the current go through each wire. Once you turn on one switch, all 16 amps will be going through that switch.

Most likely, it will "work", but the switch might overheat or stop working after a while, because it's only designed for 10A. If your plan is to run 16A through a 10A switch there's no need for two separate switches.

Even when both switches are on, if their resistance is not exactly the same then the current might not be divided evenly between the switches. Maybe one will get 13A and the other one will only get 3A.

user253751
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  • actually i want to control my water heater through wifi and for this I have 2 sonoff wifi switches of 10 amperes each.I used single sonoff with water heater but it was blown within a day.So I was thinking to divide the load by using 2 sonoff switchs(both will turn on and off at the same time).The switchs will be remotely operated so I am sure that they will turn on ans off at the same time. – saransh Dec 17 '19 at 05:40
  • @saransh You won't get perfect balancing, unfortunately. Maybe Sonoff makes bigger switches that can handle 16A? – user253751 Dec 17 '19 at 10:02