Potentiometer with switch

[king.oslo]

Hello there,

I have bought some Bourns multi-turn pots and some knobs. I have noticed that on some devices, when you press what could be a potentiometer, you switch some kind of functionality.

What kind of push button is normally used for this, and where is it placed in the assembly?

Thank you for your time.

Kind regards,
Marius

[sub]

I've not seen one on a pot, but rotary encoders often have them built in.  Mounting one separately would probably be overly fiddly.

[Simon]

I think the switch is usually on the back of the pot, sometimes in it's own housing

[FreeThinker]

Have a look at these http://www.omeg.com/products.htm#switches
Quite a common item

[hacklordsniper]

Alot of devices today have such instaled (example radios) to turn the appliance on with volume pot as example

[king.oslo]

Yes, is it possible to buy a switch like this for the pots I already have?

Thanks.M

[david77]

Pots with a "turn-to-switch-on" switch are standard items and have been for many decades, see the link above or have a look at Piher pots.

So far I have not seen off the shelve pots with the "push-pull" variety of switches like they are often used in scopes.
Also I don't think there is an easy way to get a switch function added to a standard pot, you would have to make up something mechanical to add this feature - seems to be too complicated to be worth doing, IMHO.

[IanB]

Yes, is it possible to buy a switch like this for the pots I already have?

I don't think so. You buy the part as a complete assembly, like this for example:

http://www.bourns.com/pdfs/PDB183.pdf