On / Off Switch

[John EH]

I suppose this could go in any forum or the General Forum but it happened on a crack so I might as well put it here.

I built two Cracks recently.  Really great fun.  Didn't notice any issues with the on/off switch and I've built several Bottlehead kits that utilize the same switch (or similar) over the years.  I know you can't put heat to that switch so I'm fast.  I scrape the terminals with a little sandpaper and hit it and get it.

However I came home from a two week trip and was sitting on my couch at night and the damn Crack Amp was glowing.  Checked the switch and it was in the off position.  Yanked it and checked continuity.  Sure enough it failed closed.  So I manhandled it.  Bent the offending "loose" post until it was seemingly working.  Sure enough a couple more times it came on by itself. 

So I ran down to the local parts store here in lovely Iwakuni Japan and bought a rocker switch, while I was there I thought what the heck and bought two.

I changed the switch back at home and stared at it for a second.  I figured I had two switches so I decided to put the heat back on both posts.  I really warmed both posts of that switch up.  Really like a first time solderer.

Went and made a cup of coffee in the Keurig and was prepared to swap the switch if need be however it was tight.  Switch action was as it should be.  Put the meter to it and flipped it 20x's.  Perfect.

I guess the point to my whole story is that I think the rocker switch that the Bottleheads are getting maybe should be re-sourced.  I have one more here and I can put it under the magnifying glass later to get a manufacturer name or part number or something.

Looks the same, smells the same except instead of a dot on the on position it has "On" and "Off".  It's a tank though compared to the one in the kit and the funny thing about that is the terminal lugs on this surely Japanese switch look baby-fied compared to the big old fat wide terminals on the switches in the kit.  No way of knowing the cost of the kit switch but these rockers were 210 yen or roughly just over $2.10

And I have a spare switch I'll probably never use and would be glad to send it to someone if they need it.

John

 

[4krow]

Good catch John,

  I had a similar incident with a faulty IEC female connector, years ago. I don't I would have found it except by luck. Everything looked fine but wasn't This was not a BH product, but it did raise a memory. The simplest still must work.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

I'd be interested in the manufacturer and part number of the switch you found that would snap into the same size hole we use (as it's somewhat irregular).

I've used nearly a metric ton of these over the years, and I think I've melted one.  I will generally take a full wrap around the lug on the switches, then just solder the tippy top of the wire to keep the heat out of the guts of the switch.

Oddly enough, I did run into a power switch that did fit our chassis hole, but was even easier to melt than ours not that long ago!

-PB

 

[John EH]

I'd be interested in the manufacturer and part number of the switch you found that would snap into the same size hole we use (as it's somewhat irregular).

I've used nearly a metric ton of these over the years, and I think I've melted one.  I will generally take a full wrap around the lug on the switches, then just solder the tippy top of the wire to keep the heat out of the guts of the switch.

Oddly enough, I did run into a power switch that did fit our chassis hole, but was even easier to melt than ours not that long ago!

-PB

PB,

This was a perfect fit. I'm at work now and when I go home for lunch I'll take a pic and post the vitals.  Body is exactly the same pretty much and the only difference I can see is the lugs are as wide as your at the bottom and then taper up to the eyelet.  My initial thought was that I was going to have to be super careful as it doesn't look as robust but apparently it carried heat better and having perused your forums for years I know that a lot of switches have been melted.

I'm like you.  This was probably the first one I ever melted and I didn't even know I melted it.  After I came home from a trip and saw that it had been on God knows how long I got in there and the lug was a tiny bit loose. 

The switch action was real loose too. Should have suspected. Maybe it was a crappy switch out of manufacturing from the get go.

The place I bought it is called Matsumoto, which is a tiny shop in Iwakuni, but a huge electronics dealer Japan wide.  I'd bet lunch the switch comes from a big supplier in Taiwan, or China, or Japan.

John

 

[Paul Birkeland]

Yeah, I would imagine one out of every couple thousand switches that we get is just bad out of the packaging.

 

[4krow]

The only other switch story that comes to mind was two in a row,of  people who did NOT read the instructions, and wanted to send a unit back to me. Yup, in each case, they forgot to turn on the power switch! I hold my breath, but in the end, I just applied a sticker on the front. You know what it says.

  Ok, short story,,,I WAS guilty of this once, by not switching a device from 220V to 110V. Because I used balanced AC power, the unit kinda worked, and I was stoopified, 'till I looked on the bottom to see the switch.          I know , I know, almost off topic, and yet....

 

[RickS]

It was like 5 years ago but I found that this switch from Mouser snapped in perfectly in my Foreplay:

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/E-Switch/R1966ABLKBLKFS/?qs=%2fha2pyFadujlzskuv2rr443UwZm2SodHJ5RLj%252b5ksAcRVA%2fP5Yr3Cw%3d%3d

p/n:  612-R1966ABKBKFS

Rick

 

[John EH]

Here's the switch.

 

[Grainger49]

I like the holes in the lugs.  It allows for a good mechanical connection first, then solder.

 

[NightFlight]

While the manual states just to ask and we'll send you another, its a bit of a wait from where I am. 

I cooked mine being a novice solderer. It should really be done last in a novice kit as perhaps the most heat sensitive part. Yes/no? It would give some time to explore the heat requirements to make solder flow.

I've been looking for a local source to replace the switch and in the meantime walking the wild side and just have it bypassed.

 

[ALL212]

I had the same issue - and it was probably me putting on the heat.  I found this switch to fit exactly correct and it also has the holes in the lugs.  Probably got it from Mouser but I'm not sure now:

Cherry LR Series  Looks like part number T125/55

 

[4krow]

In case that I missed it, I find it useful to 'tin' the parts to be soldered before attaching. Sometimes I even use extra flux to speed up the flow. This usually applies to larger areas or metal that don't take solder as well.

 

[NightFlight]

This may be daft, but can I order an LED option for a unipole switch? If not I'd have to bring the tail end of the circuit to the switch? That would necessitate a small modification. Uh, maybe I'll just forget the shiny little light bulb.

 

[Grainger49]

If you want an illuminated switch then it needs both the hot and neutral coming to it.  The switched hot goes to the rest of the circuit.

I know this is true for 120V devices that light a switch.  I believe it has to also be true for LED illuminated switches too.

 

[NightFlight]

I'd just have to pull neutral off the mains and through the switch before it makes it to the transformer then. I'll have to grab a regular switch as well in case noise is introduced somehow.

 

[Grainger49]

Just a single wire from the IEC connector to the switch will do.  It doesn't need to be in and out like the hot since it is not being switched.