help looking for a switch

[SusanB]

ok this is probably a newbie ...... question...but i am searching for a switch that i dont know the name of. the kind that makes contact with a conductor body to complete the circuit by moving back and forth without having to wire it... for the life of me i dont know the name to do a proper search to buyit and when running switch searches i keep getting the prong kind you need to solder wire too
help please 8-o

 

[Rocketman]

I think it might not actually have a name.
Like the sliding contact in some older flashlights that slid up to the outer contact of the bulb to make connection??
These were probably custom for every application.

 

[SusanB]

darn i was afraid of that....its a tight space and i was looking for a switch like this...maybe i can look over some flashlghts ect and see if any would work that i can pull out to use...but seems like a waste of a flashlight just to pull out the switch...thats why i wanted to buy one

 

[Rocketman]

You will only find this kind of switch in a really cheap flashlight, if we are talking about the same thing. A flashlight like that deserves to be destroyed. If parts can be used from it, great. They will fail you when you need them most (and no that sounds like a man joke, OK)

If you find one, do us all a favor and destroy it.

 

[SusanB]

well the kind in the cheap flash lights is not exactly what im looking for but if i cant buy what i am looking for...and i have no clue how to make it myself...then i may give it a try to see if it could work.

 

[AuldNick]

Oh....The joy of designing something from 'scratch'.

That type of contact can quickly fall victim to corrosion
and/or oxidation. Choose your contact metals with an eye toward
specialized plating.

Good luck with it. Lots of thinking, and sketching, and re-thinking,
and a bit of grumbling.....You'll get it.

 

[5cardstud]

I believe they're called mechanical switches.

 

[SusanB]

what i was thinking was something like the wireless fog log but instead of pushing the atty down for contact i wanted a switch to push down and complete the circuit without wires...any suggestions

 

[SusanB]

i believe they're called mechanical switches.

you are the man!!! I just did a search...i'll have to go through them but i think these are exactly what i was looking for

 

[chc]

maybe a button with a plunger attached like a brass or copper pin.

 

[5cardstud]

look in the mod section at the one connman has on his lighter mod. I have one too but he has better pics. It's just a spring that when you push it down it touches the neg side of the battery and makes a connection. It'll give you an idea. Good luck.

 

[SusanB]

ok dead end that wasnt it

 

[5cardstud]

I think you better go look at some old flashlights or visit the junk store. I find alot of stuff at the junk store