[sdiy] Rotary Switch -> illuminated PB w/ multicolor LED?

[Brian Willoughby]

On Feb 10, 2022, at 08:34, Steve wrote:
> Vladimir Pantelic via Synth-diy:
>> rotary encoders with RG or RGB LEDs exists, you can cycle through 4
>> states maybe? (OFF + 3 colors for the RG version)
>> 
>> push switches with LEDs also exist, but the bicolor versions have
>> antiparallel LEDs, so no color mixing...
> 
> some 5..6 years ago, I bought a bunch of rotary ancoders with both, RG
> (not B) LEDs and push button integrated.
> I got them from ebay... chinese make, but they also sold those
> (seemingly identical) at SparkFun.
> They used to work back then. They had positional "clicks" in them.
> Just a few years later, just form laying around, those "clicks"
> magically disappeared, and one of the A,B outputs would give a garbage
> signal, for every single of the 20 or so pieces I had bought.
> As if some material inside dissolved.
> Ever heard of such a thing?
> Since then I have been reluctant to buy such stuff again ... ;-)

Manufacturers of rotary encoders usually offer model variations with and without detents ("clicks").

I assume that SparkFun or someone in the supply chain substituted a different model.

I always buy parts from distributors like Mouser, rather than SparkFun. It's a lot easier to ensure that you get what you want. Even with Mouser, I still double-check all of the features by first grabbing the manufacturer data sheet.

A nice side-benefit of checking the manufacturer data sheet is that sometimes you'll learn about a variation that's way better for your design than the models that are commonly known. Then, once you learn the part number for the "better" variation, you can search online distributors for that part instead.

Granted, there can be significant discounts by going through SparkFun due to their volume discounts, but it really pays to become familiar with the original manufacturer. Of course, there are many cheap products out there where the manufacturer is actually a mystery. These are undocumented parts that have no specifications at all. Those are literally just for "fun" because you really don't want to design a commercial product around something that might disappear from stock without notice.

Brian