I have a friend whose building an old bronco. He’s replacing actuator cables with solenoids and linear actuators. As part of that effort he’s needing a special switch that I’ve not found to exist. Hoping maybe somebody else has run across one.
Needs to be a concentric rotary/push-pull switch. I’ve used concentric switch/pots and I’ve had machines that had fabricated assemblies that amounted to concentric switches, but never a COTS solution. This one needs dpdt push-pull and sp3t or dp3t for the rotary. I can make something that does that but it would be better if it’s something he or a future owner can buy a replacement for down the road.
This looks to be a good start, if I need to make something. But from what I can tell, they might not be made anymore. Some of the milspec variants are also very expensive.
Whats the application for the switch? Usually on those older guys a selector like that was for running/head lights and wipers. I would start at Poorman’s auto down town, the guys in there are pretty good about finding OEM or aftermarket adjacent.
You could certainly fabricobble something that will work in that way though, just might be easier to get the automotive equivalent.
I haven’t ever seen the desired configuration you specified. When I was specifying panel mounted switches at Cessna there were mil-spec switches that one could stack together whatever one wanted to do in whatever combination was needed, but as you mentioned they get very pricey and lead times are also long. And it was very much discouraged to create a need for a spare part that would have to be stocked for decades afterwards.
Modern encoding switches with detents, settable stops and momentary contact center push are closer to a commodity item, but would then require additional circuitry to get the desired end result. And, then you’d have a custom circuit board that still couldn’t be easily replaced in case of a future failure.
I’m pretty sure you’ve already thought this through and I personally wouldn’t expect an easy solution.
Good luck. I do hope you find something that works.
Thanks Mike. Those are my thoughts too. Yes I’ve thought about it and done a bunch of searching. I would prefer to have found a COTS solution but this is the kind of thing I enjoy. Such a thing doesn’t exist? That’s ok. I have a machine shop and 3d printers.
I guess another solution would to be to spread the functionality across two controls, although people want what they want. It would solve the problem, but maybe not satisfactorily. But it is an option.
it is indeed a case where he wants it to fit in the original location. and tbf, I try not to change my design criteria to fit the available parts. I will go out of my way to make a $400 part fit when a disliked $20 solution would have worked.