toggle button with passive indicator - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: Perfectbaguette
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 05:24:40 pm
content: This is probably a long shot, but I'll try anyway.A long time ago in a project I used a toggle pushbutton switch with a passive indictor. The switch actuator was transparent and revealed a bright green dot when the button was pushed. It basically looked like there was a flip-dot inside the actuator. It was a panel mount switch with a roughly 6mm actuator. They were probably NOS when I bought them, because I first saw them on someone's implementation of a 1980s Elector project (I think it was a dia projector fader).I want to use them again, but for the life of me I can't find them anymore and can't remember who made them. If somebody has seen these, I would love to know.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 07:25:09 pm
content: Quote from: Perfectbaguette on July 22, 2019, 05:24:40 pmNo, for the sake of the humanity, don't do it!I'm 100% positive it's a practical joke by the engineers of that time; that, or they are outright evil.The oscilloscope I found this "feature" in the first time had an extremely bright, fluorescent green dot, very well faked to look exactly like the green LED of the same era.It was the weirdest debugging session of my life. Yes, I started to troubleshoot a scope that turns on, power indicator lights up, but nothing else happens. The issue? Wasn't plugged in. The first and the last time in my life I turned into the typical helpdesk caller moron who spent a lot of energy on an unplugged thing.Unless you have some enemies you want to play a trick on, don't do it.It serves absolutely no other technical purpose than to confuse people, and hence, negates all credibility the equipment has. If they are high enough to play a trick like this, what else is there going to be?

author: Spragnut
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 09:13:13 pm
content: Pretty sure what your looking for is RS part number 339-897AOr C&K ZNE18 FA200 BK GN 2U EE LThe company I work for have used these in the past, I think they have quite a satisfying mechanical movement to them, sort of like an opening eye!Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

author: Nusa
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 10:39:26 pm
content: https://www.ckswitches.com/media/1409/ne18.pdf

author: Alex Eisenhut
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 11:34:35 pm
content: https://www.reichelt.com/de/en/push-button-switch-2-x-switching-green-sa-200-gn-p15626.html

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2019, 11:48:38 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on July 22, 2019, 07:25:09 pmBut it draws no power in itself, which will obviously save the planet!

author: Perfectbaguette
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: July 23, 2019, 08:22:41 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on July 22, 2019, 07:25:09 pmI will continue on my path of evil anywayThey won't be used as power button. The whole problem is that I need to switch something that doesn't have power available for a status LED or something, but the status of the button needs to be very clear from a distance. I found these to work very well in that application.Quote from: Spragnut on July 22, 2019, 09:13:13 pmThats the one!Quote from: Alex Eisenhut on July 22, 2019, 11:34:35 pmLooks like they are called "sleepy-eyes" switches, at least that's what Reichelt calls them