Switches switches switches

Argh. I hate this part.

Anyone designed any little gizmos-in-boxes lately?

I'm looking for a couple of switches, and I'd sure like to short-cut the "spelunk through the catalog" process.

Everything here is low power -- 10V and 100mA is more than enough capacity.

Switch #1 is a nice power switch for a handheld unit that's easy to actuate on purpose, but won't turn on accidentally when the thing is chucked into a bag of stuff and rattled around in someone's trunk. The switch I had originally selected for this purpose did fine on task #1, but you could turn the finished product upside down on a flat table, press on the back, and turn the thing on.

Switch #2 needs to be a momentary (for "push to test").

Enough ruggidity to survive being used in mild rain showers and possibly being dropped in the mud would go over well, too.

The last time I did something that actually had a front panel, we used membrane switches built into the panel and it worked _great_, but that was years ago, this production run is going to be teeny, and anyway this customer isn't at all thrilled with the notion of membrane switches.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook. 
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook. 
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground? 

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software 
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott
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ttdesign.com

Cost?

We've used a locking toggle switch that you have to pull out before toggling.

There are little plastic covers for toggle switches... (never used 'em.)

George H.

Reply to
George Herold

Cost?

We've used a locking toggle switch that you have to pull out before toggling.

There are little plastic covers for toggle switches... (never used 'em.)

George H.

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I've used the little rubber covers for mini toggle switch levers & found they failed after a while.

There are mini / micro toggle switches that are water proof via o-ring seals around the toggle shaft (in the body itself).

Reply to
Dennis

Try E-Switch...

the waterproofing will be difficult. In the past I have used slide switches that extended just to the case top. So that they couldn?t get snagged on anything. The 700A pushbutton is IP67, that may work for you.

Cheers

Reply to
Martin Riddle

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I use two stainless steel discs with an M3 stud welded on the back . The front is polished... The studs connect to gnd and the gate of a FET ( with ESD protection!) with

3M3 pull up to Vcc. Touching the two studs will make the FET switch. The drain is connected to a PinChangeInterrupt pin on at Atmel CPU. This turns the cPU on and off. In off mode, the CPU draws 1uA. May not suit everyone, but will last a lifetime and will never wear out.
Reply to
TTman

">

I use two stainless steel discs with an M3 stud welded on the back . The front is polished... The studs connect to gnd and the gate of a FET ( with ESD protection!) with

3M3 pull up to Vcc. Touching the two studs will make the FET switch. The drain is connected to a PinChangeInterrupt pin on at Atmel CPU. This turns the cPU on and off. In off mode, the CPU draws 1uA. May not suit everyone, but will last a lifetime and will never wear out.
Reply to
TTman

It doesn't have to be water _proof_ -- it just needs to present more of a barrier than, say, a slide switch with an open hole to the inside of the case.

--
My liberal friends think I'm a conservative kook. 
My conservative friends think I'm a liberal kook. 
Why am I not happy that they have found common ground? 

Tim Wescott, Communications, Control, Circuits & Software 
http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply to
Tim Wescott

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