Flat Switches for Mod – Where to Buy?

[tornprince]

I'm looking to buy some flat biased push to make switches with two connectors that make a circuit when pressed. It's the sort of switch that would be used for the buttons on flat mobile phones and other slim devices. They must be used in hundreds of devices but I can't seem find anywhere that sells them.

Any idea where I could buy some?

Thanks a lot for any help you can offer.

[Funkstar]

You've probably looked in these places, but just in case:

Maplin
RS Components
CPC

They would be my usual suspects

[herulach]

You mean ones that dont actually move? Search for peizo switches, if you mean ones that do but only a tiny wee bit, you want something from rs's keyboard switch bit.

[tornprince]

Thanks for the replies and link to RS Components. I've been looking through their keyboard switch section and haven't quite found what I want yet but will continue looking. I wanted one with a small moving component, something like the one in the below URL (I can't post URLs becuase I'm new hence the spaces at the start).

h t t p ://i16.tinypic.com/6l8mssk.jpg

That one does contain a small moving component and produces a distinctive click when pressed. It's less than 1mm thick but the ones I want don't have to be that thin, just something around 3mm or below.

If anyone can direct me to a switch similar to the above I'd be very grateful. In the mean time I'll continue looking through RS Components' listings to see if I can find one myself.

[Lucio]

Could you not dismantle a cheap mouse to get the parts that you want? Surely the switch you need can be found underneath the left or right mouse button.

[tornprince]

Lucio, thanks for the suggestion but switches in mice are generally very big so they reach up to the buttons. Even if they were suitable I want about 20 of them and if you assume £4 for a cheap mouse and two buttons per mouse that would be £40 when 20 switches on their own would be about £0.30. It's therefore rather more economical, as well as much more convenient, to buy the switches.

Unfortunately most of the switches on RS have no size specifications. Some look like they may be suitable but it's impossible to tell how big they are from a picture. They're only cheap so if I can't find anything I might just order ten different types and hope one is suitable.

[[R4A]Bigman]

Don't just order willy nilly - check out the data sheet for sizes, and other specifications on the website. If it doesn't have any measurements anywhere, its worth attempting to look them up from the manufacturer, or even contacting RS themselves.

To add to the list of places that sell this kind of thing:

Farnell
Rapid Electronics

[tornprince]

[R4A]Bigman, thanks for the advice and links. I'll have a look at them tomorrow.