I and other people seem to hate the clicky sound and feel of the Cherry microswitches. The other option besides microswitches are leaf switches. Leaf Switches are known throughout the arcade world as having no "click" and for some players, they have a quicker and better response time. This is debateable depending on which arcade enthusiast you ask. Some preffer the soft feel of leaf switches and some preffer the click of microswitches since a click lets you know the button is pressed while a leaf switch has no sound indication that the contacts on the button are currently touching. I myself have never tried leaf switches but I do believe that they should have a better response since it doesn't work like a spring.
Microswitches have no springs either but they work in a way where a bent strip of metal constantly has tension put on it. So its kind of like a spring. At the end of the metal strip is an arm with a two sided metal contact, kind of like a two sided hammer. When the button is pressed on the microswitch, it moves the arm in the opposite direction of the tensioned metal strip. When pressed far down enough the tension is released in the opposite direction causing a hammer action on the contact end which is part of the click sound and feel to the microswitch. When the button is released the tension is returned and the arm "hammers" back into its original position. This is why you hear a click when pressing and releasing a microswitch. And I believe that the time it takes for the arm to return/click back to its original position can hinder its performance for certain games.
And if you are anything like me, you'd find this rather annoying. So I came up with a solution to remove the click and feel of the Cherry brand microswitches. I'm not here to say this will in fact improve the performance of the microswitches, make them as good as leaf switches or anything like that. But personally I feel that it does improve the feel and response of the buttons. Plus it removes the annoying clicking sound which I hate. Don't quote me on any of this. I suggest you try my method, test it out and base an opinion for yourself. Best part is that this method doesn't involve damaging the microswitches in any way so if you don't like the new feel then it's easy to return the microswitches to their original clicky selfs.
There are some
VERY IMPORTANT things to take note of before deciding to do any of this.
First off, the microswitches are small sensitive mechanisms. When dissasembled there are many small parts that can easily get lost, missplaced, bent and damaged. So be sure to have a good clean and ample workplace. If you do not have good eyesight and dexterity then I would not recommend trying this out. Also If certain parts are removed from the casing, it will be very difficult to re-insert them back in correctly like the metal strip with tension. I had a hard time earlier today when I accidentally pulled out the moving parts. Took me like half an hour to put them back in properly. I will not be asking you to remove anything from the microswitch except the cover which can usually be safe to remove but you must still take caution since certain parts can get stuck to the cover. The last thing to take note of is that by choosing to use this method, you will no longer be able to use the "Normally Closed" contacts. So if your control panel uses them, then this will not work for you. I have only tried this with the Cherry brand microswitches which usually come with Happ Controls buttons. I have not tried this on the Zippy brand microswitches. It's possible to implement this on other type of microswitches but the process can be different. Others have tried. View some of the replies on this thread that others have given on modifying different microswitches.
The process of this mod simply involves inserting paper strips into the moving parts. The type of paper used makes a difference since some paper is different in thickness. For this I used white printing paper bought from Staples. This is actually quite easy to do and I don't claim to be some kind of genius to have figured this out since it's nothing grand.
Well enough babling, here is how to change the feeling and sound of your Cherry Microswitches. Sorry for some of the blurry pictures. I tried to take non blurry pictures but its usually hard to do with such small parts and a crappy camera.
Picture 1.
This is a picture of a regular Cherry Brand microswitch in its complete form. The NC is the "Normally Closed" contact while the NO is the "Normally Opened" contact. Remember that the NC will no longer be usable when doing this.
Picture 2.
This is a picture of the microswitch with the cover removed. It is actually quite easy to remove the cover with your fingernails or a small flat screw driver. The contacts usually stick to the cover so be sure to hold them in place or push them back down while removing the cover. Make sure your Cherry Microswitch contains all the same parts. If it doesn't then maybe its not a cherry switch and I recommend you do not continue. The letter A is where the metal strip with tension is located. B indicates the arm that moves up and down and C is the two sided contact that touches the NC and NO contacts. It's the part that hammers up and down and causes the "click" sound. D is the red pushable button on the microswitch. Its the only moving part that is exposed to the outside of the microswitch case.
Picture 3.
These are the small strips of paper you will use to detain and hold the moving arm "B" from hammering the contacts and making the clicky sound. Cut them to about the same size. They don't have to be exact but at least close to it. "1" will be the first paper strip and "2" will be the second paper strip.
*EDIT* BYOAC member Tiger-Heli was nice enough to create some templates to print out for some of the various microswitches. You can download it
here And these are his notes;
Templates attached - Word and PDF formats.
Each square is 0.5x0.625 inches with center-line on fold. Each sheet modifies 180 switches. I found that the squares folded to 0.25x0.625 work well for Step 1 for all three types the D4 series of switches with coil springs only. (For these switches, you want to ensure the paper stays below the "lip" on the cover assembly for the microswitch). For the Cherry Happ K-series switches, you want 0.4x0.625 folded to 0.2x0.625 or single sheets of 0.2x0.625 - Templates added for these, more below. Happy modding!!!
Picture 4.
Fold strip "1" in half. Be sure to fold and press down on it completely so that the bend doesn't cause the paper strip to open up or widen at the fold. Press down on it with your fingernails. Fold Strip "2" three ways as shown on the picture.
DO NOT press down on the folds. It needs to be be able to push back. So just fold it slightly like on the picture.
Picture 5.
This is a representation of where we will stick the folded strip "1" paper. As you can see, it is between the NC contact point and the arms "B" contact point. This is why the NC will no longer be usable. The paper strip you see is standing up. We do no want it standing up and sticking out like it is. But this is just a representation of where it will be put and not its final place. It's better to press the button to move the arm down while inserting the paper strip.
Picture 6.
This has the paper "1" strip fully inserted. It's blurry so its hard to see but I slightly highlighted the paper in green. Note that I pushed the strip into the small groove/opening where "G" is located. That is very important. So insert it so it looks exactly like on the picture.
Picture 7.
Wow, a non blurry pic. This is a representation of where the strip "2" paper that was folded three times will be inserted. It's in front of the tip of the arm but this time it's not between any of the contacts.
Picture 8.
This is a picture with strip "2" inserted. Note that that the folds are slightly opened. This is to give it play so what when the arm pushes toward the folded paper, the paper will push back. I also pointed out where strip "1" is located. Note that both Strip 2 and 1 are pushed into that small square groove "G." Strip "2" must fit snugly inside groove "G" and touch the
SIDE of the arm's contact not block the front of it.
Picture 9.
Here is another picture with both strips fully inserted. Once again note how both strips go into groove "G" and how strip 2 rests on the
SIDE of the arms contact. The arm's contact is represented with "T."
Picture 10.
The gap between the Normally Open(NO) contact and the arm's contact "T" is also noticeable on picture 9 This gap is VERY important. You must have a gap!
After adding strip "1" if you noticed that there is no gap, then you need to reduce the thickness of strip "1" by pressing down again on the paper after folding it or using thinner paper. You can also try using different thickness paper for strip "1" to reduce or increase the gap to your liking. Remember that the smaller the gap, the better response you can receive when pressing the button. Just don't make it too small because its possible that the gap will close and short itself after reinserting the microswitch cover.
This is where I test that everything came out right. Press on the microswitch button and see that all the moving parts work and that you no longer get a clicking sound. If anything seems iffy, then re-cut and redo the paper strips again. Remember that the point of this is to make the arm be able to move but not hammer down and make the loud clicking sound. If done right, the clicking will completely go away. In some vain attempts, the clicking will get reduced but will still be slightly noticeable. If so, try again because you did not do it right. This will most likely take a few tries before you get it right. It's possible that you'll find that there is no gap between contacts. Or that there is a gap but when pressed, the contacts don't touch. Also that the contacts only make contact when the button is pressed really hard or that it only makes contact for a split second after releasing the button. I'd had all these phenomenons happen to me while testing this out. So be sure to check for all these things before continuing. This is the tedious part.
On picture 11 & 12, I found that all the moving parts where good so I connected my multimeter and tested the microswitch. It all works! No more clicking sound and better response. At least I think so.
Next you'll need to put the microswitch cover back on and retest it again with your multimeter. It's likely that something moved out of place and no longer works like it did when the cover was off. I used my Fluke meter which has a really fast continuity test. It will beep continuously for whenever the contacts are making contact.
I did this for all of my microswitches and feel a better and quicker response. I notice that a regular Happs Button will click or make contact half way before the button reaches its stop zone. This is still the same, you just no longer get the annoying click.
So let me know what you think!