I'm looking for some old style wire spring configuration links like these:
DK / Mouser have remnants of these parts on their sites as they've been discontinued.
Anyone know of a current source or manufacturer??
That's weird. Is it basically a switch? If so, maybe use a slide switch.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
Looks horribly unreliable--no wiping action, and vulnerable to fretting. Why not a C-grid header and jumpers?
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
Yep, just a switch. Some are just SPST but they do changeover versions too.
They are very strong and robust with lots of spring pressure. I'm trying not to use slide switches or dip switches as the board is located in wet dirty remote locations.
** Ever thought of using a reed switch operated by a small magnet?
.... Phil
The spring pressure is pretty high. They used to be widely used in telecomms gear.
I'm trying to avoid jumpers as they tend to get lost occasionally. These will be operated / changed in the field in remote outdoor locations so I'm trying to avoid links.
A cordless soldering iron?
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
There are sealed dip switches.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
I've never seen any decent dip switches (got a pointer?). I always use jumpers. They're a lot more reliable.
TYCO AMP 3-435668-4 4 pole, sealed
TYCO AMP 2-435668-8 8p sealed
Seem reliable. We've used about 21,000 so far, no problems.
We need to production test all possible address or option paths, and it's easy to walk a dip switch. Easy for the users, too.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
I guess that's an option but the magnet would have to be moveable and parkable somewhere. I'd be worried about users losing it. Thanks.
Horror! It's a big enough worry that the end users get near the gear with a screw driver!
Interesting, I hadn't seen them before, they might be useful in another project.
Unfortunately for this job they cost more than my entire PCB BOM.
Did you try putting part numbers into octopart?
George H.
I looked them up on Digikey. Interesting but it didn't show the mechanics. How well are they sealed? I've had nothing but problems with DIP-switches (and would never use them in a product for more than one reason). I'll have to buy some and take a look, though.
Well, then you just hang a few spare jumpers on the header--one pin only, so they don't connect to anything. Then they don't get lost.
Cheers
Phil Hobbs
-- Dr Philip C D Hobbs Principal Consultant ElectroOptical Innovations LLC Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics 160 North State Road #203 Briarcliff Manor NY 10510 hobbs at electrooptical dot net http://electrooptical.net
We don't have problems with dip switches, but our products are generally used in a clean environment.
We sometimes use the tiny half-pitch (50 mil) switches too. They are harder to operate.
-- John Larkin Highland Technology, Inc lunatic fringe electronics
Or hang them across the common side pins, if there is one.
That thing looks like some kind of plated steel wire. I would not expect it to maintain a solid connection for a long time in wet/dirty conditions. Gold would be better, a semi-hermetic switch with gold contacts would likely be a lot more reliable. Modern sealed DIP switches are quite reliable.
Also, gold shunts on gold-plated jumper headers are quite reliable. If it isn't gold on gold, I really don't want to hear about it.
Jon
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