10-Position PCB mounted rotary switch - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: hp3310a
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 03:52:51 pm
content: Hi everyone,I hope this is the right place to ask this: I am looking for a PCB-mounted rotary switch with 10 positions for use in a resistor decade box.I found a candidate on Aliexpress and as far as dimensions go, it is ideal. Of course I have no idea how good it really is, given the price point, probably not very.https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001852198123.htmlThere's another variant from the same supplier which has the same footprint and costs considerably more (still cheap)https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005007255213801.htmlCan someone say something about these from personal experience or suggest a better alternative? I found nothing on Digikey but that might be caused by my lacking vocabulary.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 04:34:39 pm
content: Search "rotary switch" and select 10 position at DigiKey:https://www.digikey.com/en/products/filter/rotary-switches/200?s=N4IgjCBcoBw1oDGUBmBDANgZwKYBoQB7KAbRADYBmAThnJAPIBYBWAdjYYtZkq%2BZZx%2BrahEYi%2BAXQIAHAC5QQAZTkAnAJYA7AOYgAvgV4AmBCGSR02fEVIga5cixDSQ8xSo079BiqfUATRQBaMAAGMVcFSBAuOQBPGRxFNCxkPT0gAAmazon has some:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rotary+switch&rh=n%3A16310091%2Cp_n_feature_browse-bin%3A59788777011&dc&ds=v1%3AW9LzUbTkBiawL1gITxLLQP4zd%2FJOtxy5FLCPGAvs2u0&crid=2X4JG53F2NCTJ&qid=1739464670&rnid=59788734011&sprefix=rotary+switch%2Caps%2C144&ref=sr_nr_p_n_feature_browse-bin_5It comes down to your choice of price, quality, or availability.

author: hp3310a
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 04:52:14 pm
content: Thanks for the reply, I now remember to have found those on Digikey but they are all out of stock - as for quality I don't know, most of the hits are not suitable for the kind of mounting I want to do. The first one on Amazon is the exact same as the first one from Aliexpress (first link in the top post), only 4x the price. Generally I'm avoiding amazon and ebay for these things, the hardware I ordered from there is the worst of the worst.Quote from: jpanhalt on February 13, 2025, 04:34:39 pmWell, yes, that's why I wanted to hear about personal experience.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 05:07:42 pm
content: I get 2-day shipping from Amz and 2 to 3 week shipping from AliX. Price, convenience, and quality. You can't find all three in the same place. With DigiKey/Mouser, you will have a brand name. As for experience, what someone bought from AliExpress 6 months ago may not apply today. Suppliers and quality are all subject to change without notice.Anecdotally, I have noticed DK seems to have low stock or none of older, through-hole products carried by Amazon and AliExpress. If that is true, I suspect some bean counter is behind it. It does have a downside as it diminishes one of DK's main attractions of being a one-stop shop. Price is not DK's strong point.

author: shabaz
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 13, 2025, 06:49:31 pm
content: I have tried some of the AliExpress ones (they look similar to the ones in the OP). Those switches are stiff to rotate, I don't think you'd enjoy using your resistor box.Worth trying out a single one before ordering many, or before laying out a PCB (if you're not doing point-to-point wiring).If you're not building it for some permanent high-quality instrument reason (in which case I guess you may prefer higher quality switches), can a potentiometer do? (and measure it afterwards with a multimeter). Often a resistor box is not required - I don't know your use-case obviously (for instance, it is great for demonstrations perhaps in schools).

author: PCB.Wiz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2025, 05:49:59 am
content: Quote from: hp3310a on February 13, 2025, 03:52:51 pmThose show as 12 position switches on my browser?This shows as up to 10 selectable (with a washer tongue)https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005453034007.html

author: hp3310a
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2025, 07:44:00 am
content: Quote from: shabaz on February 13, 2025, 06:49:31 pmYes, true, I'll do that.Quote from: shabaz on February 13, 2025, 06:49:31 pmI do want a resistor decade so I have an easily adjustable, accurate and repeatable resistance value without calibrating it first, for instance to do comparative ohmmeter testing.Quote from: PCB.Wiz on February 14, 2025, 05:49:59 amYes, they are all adjustable from 2 to 12 positions.I think I found the original from Lorlin called "CK ROTARY SWITCH" that is being cloned available from RS:https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/rotary-switches/0665180According to the data sheet there are lots of different versions available, RS only has this one variant. It is not even much more expensive than the ones on Aliexpress (or Amazon), the dimensions are very slightly different, though. I'll get one of those for testing too so I can measure and compare them to their Chinese cousins.