New Microswitches sticking ON

[riley454]

I've got a few questions about recently bought Zippy pushbuttons with Zippy microswitches.

After only a few hours use, out of the 17 microswitches so far 3 of them are sticking ON. The button goes in when pressed but doesn't quite click back to the OUT position. Sometimes if you play around with the button on the switch it pops out again but still becomes stuck again fairly quickly.

-Is this normal for NEW microswitches and do they need to be "driven in", or is this a sign of a faulty switch?
-Can they be pulled apart and tweaked or do I just ask for replacements from my supplier?
-Do new microswitches have a high failure rate or did I get a bad batch or is Zippy crap?

Theres not much talk about microswitches, so I'd love to get some experienced thoughts before I gun down my local supplier for failure of a ONE DOLLAR product.

[Lilwolf]

Not normal.  Are they normal size?  Take them off the button and see if they just aren't fitting right.

And no, you can't take them apart well.  Kinda their purpose.  And I don't believe I've ever had a failing new microswitch.  But I've probaby only had 50 or so, so the numbers aren't enought to say if its normal.

[riley454]

Thanks Lilwolf, the switches seem to fit perfectly to the button but after swapping another switch over, this one too seems to get stuck sometimes too. The pushbutton seems fine, but the microswitch button is what is sticking. It almost seems to be microswitches that stick are used as a button that requires constant quickfire pressing. When I swapped microswitches, so far the same problem occurs. In case it helps, here are some links to the products I have purchased...

This is the button:
http://www.ozstick.com.au/img/pb01.jpg
This is the microswitch:
http://www.ozstick.com.au/img/ms01.jpg
This is the suppliers entire 'button/switch' page if it helps:
http://www.ozstick.com.au/prod_btns.html

Note the buttons are advertised with "industrial quality" microswitches which are "rated to 10,000,000 clicks". These microswitches seem to be sticking after a few hundred. Moments ago the same thing happened again. Is it possibly a bad batch or are Zippy switches crap?

[Santoro]

Maybe you got sawdust or dirt in the switches?   

[MonMotha]

Note the buttons are advertised with "industrial quality" microswitches which are "rated to 10,000,000 clicks". These microswitches seem to be sticking after a few hundred. Moments ago the same thing happened again. Is it possibly a bad batch or are Zippy switches crap?

Welcome to the land of marketing, where it's OK to make outlandish claims as long as they might actually occasionally hold up.  That said, failure of multiple units that quickly is a bit of an outlier.  (Tested to 10,000,000 clicks - after 10,000 of which 99% of the switches were broken).

Zippy switches are generally considered to be middle of the pack in terms of quality at best.  I'm personally a fan of Omron V series, but they can be a little pricey.

[RandyT]

Not normal at all, not for Zippy's, or any other brand name switch.  What is likely is that these aren't true Zippy switches, rather some very cheaply made parts from a Chinese factory which bear the high tech Taiwanese company's name, maybe with their permission, but probably not.

If it's a cruddy beige, or two-tone plastic, with one of those being the cruddy beige, then it's probably a knock-off.  I've seen plenty of the standard Zippy microswitches, and the ones straight from the factory have been either a nice white, or solid black, but not that beige color.  Also, I just looked and found online supposed Zippy parts being sold out of China with that appearance, and they had a model number which doesn't appear in the Zippy catalog.

That being said, put a drop of silicone spray on the actuator.  It won't change the dynamic of a crappy switch, but it might fix the sticking.

RandyT

[Marsupial]

I have about 25 zippy switches, got them brand new, the 20 grams variety. They are solid black and got them from a reseller I found on these forums.

Had issues with 3 or 4 of them, one simply never worked at all.
2-3 were on-and-off - in that I mean I could click it and have no response.

It seems sometimes I have stickiness in some other ones too, but its not frequent and destick by a single buttonpush.

that's an aweful failure rate, at best.


On the bright side, I got replacement from my supplier for the defect ones, excellent service, not even his fault! The new identical ones seems to not be faulty: might have been a faulty batch.

BTW 20 grams rock when it comes to microswitches.

[RandyT]

..might have been a faulty batch.

It's possible.  Or could be poor storage.  High humidity while not being used could cause the contacts to tarnish, which can act as an insulator.  Nylon sucks a lot of moisture as well, and parts can swell.  

The parts we had made to our specs have been flawless so far (5000+pcs).  I'm sure I would have heard something by now if they weren't.

RandyT

[riley454]

Thanks for all the knowledgeable advice guys.

As far as dirt or humidity being the problem, this is highly unlikely since I received them but I have zero knowledge how my supplier treated them

What is likely is that these aren't true Zippy switches, rather some very cheaply made parts from a Chinese factory which bear the high tech Taiwanese company's name, maybe with their permission, but probably not.

If it's a cruddy beige, or two-tone plastic, with one of those being the cruddy beige, then it's probably a knock-off.

As you may see in the link I posted, it IS a cruddy beige on one side and black on the other with "ZIPPY" on one side, so it appears they are a knock-off.

Funny thing though, whilst writing this, I picked up one of the faulty ones to write their description and they appear to be working almost flawlessly again. For now anyway! Perhaps there is/has been some minor ambient humidity that isn't overly apparent but is enough to affect the cheap dodgy switches but probably not better quality switches.

Since emailing my supplier a few days ago, I'm still waiting for a reply but it appears beneficial to find a new supplier who can provide genuine parts. Sad part is, the proper quality (basic model)switches are likely to cost almost the same as the cheap rubbish I already bought. Maybe should have asked you guys before spending.