Happ Pushbutton MOD

[DYNAGOD]

 While waiting for parts to arrive from various vendors for my acrade project ive had alot of free time to stare at what

parts I do have.
Among those are some Happ competition pushbuttons
W/microswitch. Probobly the greatest deal and least expensive part in any project!
However i cant help but notice what to me, at least on the surface, appears to be some sloppy operation..
The way the microswitch and pushbutton interact makes it so that the plunger is only in contact with the microswitch actuator

on one side.As a result its sensitive and responsive on one side of the button and loose and sloppy on the other..This may very well be by design and I wont presume to know what the original design intent was, but it erks the sh*t outta me nonetheless...
 
I of course came up with all kind of far flung zany ideas ,requiring all kinds ridiculous reworking to the pushbutton housing and the microswitches themselves, but i think I finally found the simplest,and most cost effective way to do it.
"K.I.S.S : Keep It Simple Stupid"
What i have done to test my theory is make a guide for the pushbutton plunger to restrict its movement from side to side that can be simply superglued in place,no engineering degree required
Its nothing more than a small piece of machined teflon PTFE, placed to sit between the two plunger rails of the lower pushbutton. elegantly simple.
This in effect restricts the side to side movement of the plunger allowing it to move only straight up and down as a good push button should. some side to side movement is still required to prevent binding, but a SIGNIFIGANT amount of that superfluous movement is eliminated.
the result is a MUCH tighter feeling, MUCH more responsive pushbutton.
ive made a protoype up and i have to say im extremely pleased with the improvement
 
i think this level of precision is wasted on the classic games,its simply overkill and i dont think theres any advantage to be gained.except maybe track and field .but fans of fighter games like SNK's,Capcom's and even shmup fans for whom the difference between winning and loosing is defined in the fraction of a second, i think this is WELL worth the effort.

BIG pics of little part.(sorry couldnt shrink em)
http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/1.jpg
http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/2.jpg
http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/3.jpg

Prints in PDF, DWG, and SLDDRW

http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/PLUNGER GUIDE.pdf

http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/plunger guide.DWG


http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/plunger guide.SLDDRW

http://www.wolfpackunit.com/mame/Plungerguide/plunger guide.SLDPRT



enjoy  

[patrickl]

Great idea! I was wondering myself why the buttons have this "fault" and if it really does matter.

[DYNAGOD]

i gotta tell ya it feels 120% better than a stock pushbutton.
just take any pushbutton you got lying around,pop a cherry in it and push down on the side where the microswitch is in contact with the plunger and its tight as nun on sabbath. press down on the other side of the pushbutton where its not and it takes nearly twice the travel to actuate the switch  

just superglue one of these in the pushbutton (NOT on the microswitch) and you will most Definetly notice a signifigant increase in responsivness.

[paigeoliver]

Not a bad idea, although I must say if you are really concerned about the issue then consider buying buttons that don't have that design flaw.

Any leaf switch button.
The leaf switch style buttons that press microswitches (common on imported games).
vertical microswitch buttons (which I don't like myself).
solid state buttons (I think happs still sells these).

[DYNAGOD]

Not a bad idea, although I must say if you are really concerned about the issue then consider buying buttons that don't have that design flaw.

Its sort of a loyalty thing..
nothing looks or feels like those Happ PB's..
other buttons may be perfect in their operation but they dont look like those classic happ buttons.
i figured id just take a great product and give those whom are committed to them an option to improve upon their operation.
I went overboard and had these CNC machined, but anyone with a dremmel or some decent hand tools could easily fabricate these by hand.
i used teflon cause its self lubricating and nearly frictionless but you could cannibalize a common piece of ABS plastic and get the same result.