Power Flash micro switches?

[Siouxzan]

One of the switches in my Power Flash is bad.
I went to a couple places locally, including Grainger, that carry a lot of this stuff. I can find things that look the same and are rated similarly enough, but nothing with such a light force required to trigger the button.
Nothing online, except for a Yahoo auction in Japan.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

[wrkey]

Here is a site I've used to get some 'odd' things.

American Science & Surplus : Items Just Off the Truck

What about a 'stiff switch' but hang a weight on it? Or mount differnt to allow for longer 'switch arm' to give more leverage? Just quick ideas... I know how tight it is in there so the 'longer arm' may not be viable.

Good luck!

[Cystic]

I have been looking almost a year now. Low actuation force microswitches are available however they are not common in the local stores, the surplus market or Ebay(one batch in the last year). You can buy them direct from digikey or mouser.(cherry brand) The downside is the price of about $4.50 each.(I needed 20 per machine so I found another option)

I have some that are about the right actuation force but they are not the right size for a powerflash.

You will need them to be about 0.03 newtons in actuation force.(if I did the math right) If you find one close a weight on the arm can work.

If you call someplace have them do the nickel test. Ask them to place a nickel on the very end of the arm and see if it actuates.(nickel=pachinko ball=5grams)

I don't have my powerflash taken that far apart to get at the switch to get the numbers from it.

You could try Omron directly but they have a minimum of I think 10 pieces. They may be able to direct you to a local distributor.

Contact Us | OMRON


After looking around a bit, they now carry a new inexpensive honeywell line at Mouser:


ZX40E30C01 Honeywell / Microswitch Basic / Snap Action / Limit Switches

You may need to poke around a bit to find a better match than the above.

Lookup the numbers on the side of the switch in the Omron datasheets and cross with the Honeywell(or Cherry) datasheets.

Good Luck and let us know if you find a good(inexpensive) source.

P.S. You may have one of the ones I have if you like but it will take a fair bit of modification to fit in place.

[emmadog]

Excellent info. Quite awhile back I found some switches that were the right size. In my newbiness I didn't realize the amount of actuation force was variable. Now I have a couple dozen switches laying around that are significantly harder to activate than a PFlash's.
I like the idea of adding weight to the arm. You could also lengthen the lever arm to increase the amount of downforce while keeping the weight the same in some applications. Unfortunately for the PFlash the switch lies in tight confines.

[Eddie]

You can easily find a switch to use for your machines here!

Switches - Sub Mini-Microswitch (black) - Buy Now!

[Siouxzan]

(snip)
You can buy them direct from digikey or mouser.(cherry brand) The downside is the price of about $4.50 each.(I needed 20 per machine so I found another option).
(snip)
You could try Omron directly but they have a minimum of I think 10 pieces. They may be able to direct you to a local distributor.
(snip)
P.S. You may have one of the ones I have if you like but it will take a fair bit of modification to fit in place.

20 per machine? What were you working on?

I looked through the entire catalog at Grainger and nothing close in actuation force is available from Omron anymore. I was told they were long obsolete because of solid state replacing delicate mechanical switching.

The numbers on the Omron from the machine are:
LV-3H-1A

Seen here in a Yahoo auction, Japan:
??? ???(???) LV-3H-1A ??(2?) - Yahoo!!!

Thanks for the offer. I'll plug away on it. I tried to modify 2 different ones today to decrease the force, but broke them both. If nothing else, I have an idea for making one.

[wrkey]

Excellent info. Quite awhile back I found some switches that were the right size. In my newbiness I didn't realize the amount of actuation force was variable. Now I have a couple dozen switches laying around that are significantly harder to activate than a PFlash's.

Everyday I find another reason to visit this site! (Besides being the Jump Champion!) I had recently acquired a foosball table that has electronic scoring. It uses micro switches with long levers to sense the ball passing by when a score is made. Unfortunately, the balls aren't able to pass by the switches and get stuck behind them. I was perplexed on how to fix or what was wrong... till I read this post. Now that I know what is wrong... I can work on a solution!

Thanks!

[mudfud]

I have some micro switches that I bought surplus (ttc knows how micro they are). send me your address and I'll mail you one. it is quite small, but you could probably add an arm (use the one already there?) to make it work.

[pinball wizard]

you could try here too .Marco Specialties - Store Front Page or http://www.happcontrols.com/

[Siouxzan]

I have some micro switches that I bought surplus (ttc knows how micro they are). send me your address and I'll mail you one. it is quite small, but you could probably add an arm (use the one already there?) to make it work.

Thanks Chewy!
I'll send you my address in a PM.

[mudfud]

the switch is in the mail hope it works.

[mudfud]

hey sioux

you ever get the switches?

[Siouxzan]

I did. Thanks!
I PM'ed you a thanks when I received them. Didn't go through?
The pressure on the switch is perfect and I'm looking forward to getting that machine running. Life has me by the... hair... again and I have to pass by a few of my projects every day and hear them moan sounds of neglect.

[mudfud]

great to hear they worked. do post a picture when you get a chance.

the PM must have gotten lost in cyberspace...