Hi Particle Community,
Has anyone found effective means of integrating IP67-rated switches, buttons, and light pipes on the surface of enclosures? Some buttons have LED’s built into them. Has anyone tied in the Photon LED to a button?
Many results come up with a simple Google search for IP67 Switch Mouser, but I’m also curious if people have practical experience with this.
Good afternoon,
I found a few to use in my project on Digikey. Not with LED’s build in but really nice switches.
Here are a couple links to the ones that I bought and are very happy with.
on/off switch IP67
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/nkk-switches/M2011B2B3W01/360-2824-ND/2105185
Boot
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/nkk-switches/AT4181/360-3019-ND/4507567
Sweet Reset Switch in Brushed Metal. Note: Not IP67, it is IP65 but dust tight and water resistant. But it is also my favorite one as it looks expensive and was only $6.
https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/e-switch/PV2H240BB/EG5144-ND/4028692
Cheers
Tom
Thanks for this. I’d like to see photos and hear what you think after implementing them. Please post an update if you have a moment. Thank you
Are you looking at industrial pushbuttons like 19mm or 3/4” Allen Bradley type with stacked contacts, or something smaller? Can you post examples of what you’re looking at?
If this is for an industrial application, there are many companies who specialize in fabricating such panel assemblies. You would likely just need to make a PCB to interface the signals into the photon, which would not be hard.
I’ve been using these IP67 switches for years with no problems.
https://www.apem.com/us/index.php?controller=attachment&id_attachment=828
| Type | link | Manufacturer | Part # | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Switch | link | Carling Technologies | 691-V1D2B60B | ||
| Button | link | OTTO | 999-P3-31111 | ||
| Button | link | OTTO | 999-P9-211121 |
These are some options. We don’t need IP67 and will favor cheaper components, since our business model requires that.
Thanks for posting.
Those are very expensive. Yikes.
I won’t pry into your business model, but I’d suggest looking at something cheaper like the CW Industries switch series in Digikey. This is an example, but there are less expensive options: https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/cw-industries/GPB556A05BR/CW158-ND/2349753
You’ll need to debounce the switches in hardware or software. (Which is an old industry debate like putting ketchup on hot dogs) You will most likely need an oscilloscope to do this as every switch is different. This will give you the basis to set a time constant for debounce in hardware or software.
As you progress in volume, if you need water/splash protection on a quantity basis and don’t need an industrialized or very abuse tolerant switch, there are lots of options with custom keypads with either polycarbonate or rubber overlays that are quite good and take far less manufacturing time that discrete, panel mount buttons. Obviously there is tooling and engineering, but if you’re installing several panel mount switches in a price-sensitive product, costs will add up quickly.
Jack Ganssele has written much about switch debounce. This isn’t rocket science to be sure, but is just necessary engineering that needs to be done right, up front.
The switches I use are going into equipment that cost between $2,500-$3,000 each so the cheapest option was not my top priority. It does sting every time I buy a handful of them though 
I was actually replying to the OP on that one. He seemed to indicate price sensitivity.
I won’t argue with a high quality switch on a high cost item that has an equally steep warranty cost, though. It’s all part of the trade off.
Oh man, how did I miss these when I thought I stalked Digikeys life??? These look great. I must have been distracted by the metal ones. Like a little kid, I see something shiny and I have to have it. 
Thanks for posting this Ryan.
Cheers
Yea, when I look for parts I tend to make sure I look at everything before making a choice on what I’m going to use, that way I know I didn’t miss anything that could be better
It does take a lot of time web browsing to look through everything though.
The buttons are really nice, and you can get them with a LED in the center of the button if you need that which is nice.
Happy to help out!
Howdy Aaron,
Here is the pic of the switches in the new enclosure. I really like the stainless reset switch… but it is a bit big. NKK has some great switches along with cad drawings for all the units they sell. Helps if you use FreeCad or other cad software for design. Most of these drawings are posted on Digikey. I find that some parts are cheeper depending on the site. Digikey vrs Mouser. If you have any questions please let me know.
Cheers,
Tom
Nice one! That looks like a Hammond enclosure. Thanks for the tip on the source files.
We’re getting a quote for membrane switches:
https://www.dyna-graphics.com/
I’ll report back on what the costs are.
Cheers
Yep all the enclosures I have bought are Hammond, from mouser.
They also have the CAD drawings on their site. Love these and they are not that expensive.
Looking forward to seeing your membrane switches when you get them. Good luck with your project.
Cheers.
Tom
Want to know the cost as well. A few days ago I faced a problem with my Fenix tk16 led flashlight https://tacticalflashlightguide.com/fenix/tk16-review/. So, I need depth knowledge about it.
This is a reference point, but its not optimized and some of the details will be refined to reduce the costs:
Always wondered what this type of material cost when making something custom.
Do you have an image you can share of what you plan on it looking like when finished?
We haven’t started the mechanical drawings for this next version of our product, because we’re costing everything out first, but it will look something like this (with a zif connector on the main board):
2 keys, 1 metal dome each? Or, six keys, two metal domes in each (you can sometimes double dome for extra actuating force)? Are they giving you the mating connector for your PCB, or is there a connector on the keypad as well?
FWIW, that pricing looks fair given the volume.
@LabSpokane @Aaron-Osbeehives Do you guys know of any USA based supplier for these that you would recommend?
