It’s easy to find push button switches in both industrial and consumer electrical and electronic appliances. These simple electrical devices facilitate various functions from simple On/Off, to selecting speed and temperature, manual and automatic operations, emergency stop and more. 

 

There are many different types of push button switches on the market. One of the best ways to guarantee quality is by selecting switches crafted from high quality materials. Here is a look at typical push button switch materials.

 

What Is a Push Button Switch?

As mentioned, a push button switch is a device that allows users to control the functions of electrical and electronic setups. A typical push button switch comprises an actuator, grooves and stationary contacts. There’s a spring inside the switch body. When you press the actuator, the spring touches the stationary contact, completing the circuit for electricity flow. This type of switch is normally open (NO).

 

Alternatively, the switch may be set such that the spring always touches the contacts while at rest and releases them when pressed i.e. a normally closed (NC) push button switch.

 

Normally Open push button switches can serve as start buttons, light switches, door bells etc. while Normally Closed switches can be set for emergency stop, brake lights and other safety operations.

 

Some push button switches are both NO and NC allowing users to set up more than one circuit state or control options. Moreover, push button switches can be momentary, latching, illuminated, or non-illuminated.

 

Push Button Life Cycle

A switch’s physical movement, when pressed, and the resulting change in electrical circuit comprise its cycle. The number of cycles a push button can tolerate before saying goodbye is known as its mechanical life cycle. And as you might’ve already guessed, it depends on the button’s materials, design and quality.

 

Push Button Switch Materials

The common materials for crafting push button switches are metals and plastics. The actuator and the grooved body material may be plastic or metal such as aluminum, Zinc or stainless steel while the contact material may be phosphor bronze, tin or nickel-silver for low-current buttons and silver, gold, or palladium alloys for buttons meant to handle high current loads.  Here is a look at the different materials for the switch body.

 

Aluminum

Aluminum has a superb strength to weight ratio. It’s lighter than both zinc and stainless steel and can be anodized for various textures and even colors. That said, it scratches easily compared to zinc and stainless steel and also doesn’t perform well in harsh environments. 

 

Aluminum push buttons can last from 100K to a million mechanical cycles depending on the material thickness, manufacturing process and stress factors.

 

Zinc

Zinc is more affordable than stainless steel. It’s strong, durable and can be plated for different finishes. However, it can be brittle and tends to crack easily. A good Zinc push button can last up to 5 million mechanical cycles.

 

Stainless Steel

This is the most durable of the bunch. It’s also corrosion resistant and performs well even under extreme pressure and temperature atmospheres. A good stainless steel push button can last up to 10 million mechanical cycles. However, stainless steel is expensive and tends to produce heavier push buttons.

 

Plastic

Plastic is the lightest of the bunch and also the least expensive. This material can be produced in various shapes and colors. Plus, it’s a good insulator so you won’t have to worry about electrocution. Sadly though, the maximum number of mechanical cycles for plastic push buttons is only 500K. Oh, and you also have to worry about temperature because plastic doesn’t tolerate extreme heat or cold conditions.

 

Ultimately, choose push button switches made of materials that suit your applications requirements and settings. The last thing you want is a push button switch that fails only after a month or two of use because it’s not designed to handle frequent operation or the prevailing atmospheric conditions.

 

If you need help picking the right push button switch for your project, we will only be happy to help. We have switches such as latching switches, momentary switches, LED indicator light switches, heavy duty rocker toggle switch, emergency stop switch, key switch, selector switch and even switch panels. Feel free to give them a look and let us know what you require.