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6mm Tact Switch Height - do you have a typical preference?
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sleemanj:
So, 6x6 tact switches, they come in various heights, from 4.3 up to 20mm, obviously the tall ones are dictated by design usually to show through a panel or whatever, but at the bottom level we have 4.3mm, 4.5mm, 5mm all really close together but with slightly different feel.

Are there any opinions here, anybody have an actual preference for say a 4.3mm over a 5mm, or vice-versa?

With a 4.3 your fingertip tends to contact the whole surface area of the top of the switch including the 4 posts, while with the 5mm your finger tends only to press the button itself, I can't decide if I prefer the feel of the force being spread out (4.3) or the more direct feel of pressing the button only (5mm)...

Maybe I should split the difference at 4.5mm.

floobydust:
Nobody pushes the raw button, just on muh Arduino shield with no product enclosure.
It's kinda ugly, no ESD protection and the post is around 3.5mm dia. which is small. What configuration are you are thinking of?
I've seen a front-panel membrane overlay, or a button cap on the stem is most common.
With the taller posts, a sideways bump can bust it off the PCB as the SMT pads aren't much.

I use Omron pushbuttons with the square post which locks the button to the post, instead of the primitive press-fit.
ajb:

--- Quote from: floobydust on May 11, 2019, 05:48:28 am ---With the taller posts, a sideways bump can bust it off the PCB as the SMT pads aren't much.
--- End quote ---
Or, as we've seen on a recent batch of boards with 13mm high switches, the little heat-formed nubbins that retain the metal top plate pop off, then then the plate and stem fall out, followed shortly after by the switch guts.  Another item on the intake acceptance list  :palm:  At least this way the boards aren't damaged, and the switch can simply be replaced.

Anyway, as floobydust says, the proper height is whatever it needs to be easy pushed through whatever panel/actuator it sits behind.  Our 13mm switches come up just to the bottom of a printed overlay, but for other applications, I would want the actuator to be about 1mm proud of the surrounding surface. 
sleemanj:

--- Quote from: floobydust on May 11, 2019, 05:48:28 am ---just on muh Arduino shield with no product enclosure.

--- End quote ---

Which is the use case, no/minimal enclosure.

Fair point on not pressing directly in commercial devices.
KL27x:
I have used all of them, and I think 4.3 or 4.5 is probably the most comfy, naked, anyway. And you don't want to go taller (naked) if durability matters.

Aside from height, another important factor for durability is the press force. The stiffer the switch, the lower the cycles, and it is quite dramatic.

I wouldn't call it a hard rule... you have to check the datasheets.... but IME the lowest force and highest press cycles come in black. White is in the middle. Red is on the stiffer end. Then there are other colors between those.

I find if you are not using any enclosure or button cap, that the lowest force feel fine.

Using the 5mm's naked AND with the higher stiffness, these buttons can quickly become faulty, internally, with no external damage. Worse than simply quitting, they will start to function, intermittently. Esp on a widget with a lot of buttons on it, this will be a big annoyance.

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