Microswitch Question

[yotsuya]

Does anyone know if this microswitch is the same as the ones on the Atari LED cones?



http://na.suzohapp.com/pushbuttons/95180700.htm

They look the same and appear to be the same size with the same holes. Just wondering if anyone here knew for certain.

[yotsuya]

I also see they have these too:



http://na.suzohapp.com/electrical_supplies/95411700.htm

[Nephasth]

Doesn't look like there are enough terminals on those switches.

[yotsuya]

Yeah, but you only ever use two of them. 

My local Fry's electronics has some of them. I'm going pick some up, take apart an old Licon that I have, and see how the switches work. I changed an LED out last week, but if I could change a switch out, it would be nice. I have 4 of them, but they feel gummy. I'll just have to drill out the rivets and find some screws.

[Nephasth]

Yeah, but you only ever use two of them. 

Then how would you light the LED?

Or is there a seperate block for the LED? I don't know, I only have the non-LED type.

[yotsuya]

There's a separate set of posts for the LEDs.

It's like a sandwich. You have the switch, then the posts for the LED that the light is soldered to, then the housing for the top part, which includes the button. The rivet holds it all together.

This post explains it well (with photos!):

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=103697.msg1098345#msg1098345

Mine look like these (which is a bit different from the ones in the previous post, but the same concept:

[Nephasth]

I see now. Thanks for that. Mine are like the ones in that post, minus the LEDs of course, but still have the slots for the LED terminals.

One thing though, it looks like your switches have 3 holes and the center terminal is offset. The switches you are asking about don't have the center hole and the center terminal is in the middle. Is that center hole needed to mount the switch in your button assembly?

[yotsuya]

No, they are held by 2 rivets, nothing in the center. I just picked one up, so we'll see what happens!

[yotsuya]

Good news- it appears that, based on some close, carefully eyeballing, that these switches can act as direct replacements to the microswitch part of the Atari Volcano button. I have to still pull one apart, but I'm pretty confident there should be no issues! A winner is me!