Electronics > Beginners

what are these mechanical led switches called?

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ELS122:
so I took it apart and took some photos: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yh3eysn4epmqp75/AABGYqeXKN7dGQ2cyP0GaV7Ha?dl=0
it's really worn out but still works as good as it did when it was new!

oh, those aren't just bar graphs, they are either a led that moves with the buttons (really unlikely and don't see them move at all) or a led bargraph with a switch in 1 package and the LEDs are connected to the switch inside.

also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

ataradov:
In the the video you can see that each unit is a separate sub-assembly. But yes, it looks like a standard LED bar graph and a couple buttons. Given how big they are, I also expect some additional logic on the same assembly.

ebastler:
Thanks for the photos. The first one shows the switch unit nicely, and it's a surprise indeed.

That looks more like there is a mechanism inside, where the switch/LED unit mechanically remembers the current setting. Hence, they would be relatives of these BCD thumb switches, with an LED bar added instead of the mechanical state display:

ebastler:

--- Quote from: ELS122 on February 02, 2020, 08:19:20 am ---also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

--- End quote ---

Elta was a German brand, active from 1968 to 2010, but according to Wikipedia has only ever been an importer of Asian-made devices. Maybe they went to the effort of creating decent German documentation including schematics?

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elta_GmbH (in German)

ELS122:

--- Quote from: ebastler on February 02, 2020, 08:24:50 am ---Thanks for the photos. The first one shows the switch unit nicely, and it's a surprise indeed.

That looks more like there is a mechanism inside, where the switch/LED unit mechanically remembers the current setting. Hence, they would be relatives of these BCD thumb switches, with an LED bar added instead of the mechanical state display:



--- End quote ---
yes, it's exactly what I'm 99.9% sure, I tested if it changes the setting when I disconnect power and push the buttons and it does.
one weird thing I sometimes get is when it jams between 2 values if I press both buttons at the same time, then the 2 LEDs glow really dark.


--- Quote from: ebastler on February 02, 2020, 08:34:57 am ---
--- Quote from: ELS122 on February 02, 2020, 08:19:20 am ---also the schematic on the bottom is in german it seems. might mean it's from a German brand? I think the guy I got it from said it was made in Germany.

--- End quote ---

Elta was a German brand, active from 1968 to 2010, but according to Wikipedia has only ever been an importer of Asian-made devices. Maybe they went to the effort of creating decent German documentation including schematics?

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elta_GmbH (in German)


--- End quote ---
I JUSt started typing if anyone has a schematic, I guess it's worth trying to google it. it's quite decent looking inside... doesn't really tell anything. but it's been in the worst of environments and has survived everything, I soldered some trances that looked bad but had no problems even without soldering them.

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