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Comparing an Alps rotary encoder to chinese rip-off

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BreakingOhmsLaw:
In cheap switches an encoders, you will find mostly just nickel-plated spring steel parts as it is the cheapest material and easy to process.
Good quality stuff will use something like a copper-beryllium alloy. That material has properties that make it ideal for this purpose: It can be bent many more times than steel without fatigue. It has better self-cleaning properties and is non-magnetic, so it does not pick up any scrapings that cause even more bouncing.
Of course the price is higher, and it is challenging in production and work safety because beryllium is very toxic.
Adding nickel, zirconium and cobalt to CuBe alloys can change the electrical and mechical properties, and major manufacturers will likely employ several metallurgists for research.
They will also do 100% automated testing, so something like that encoder from hell from my original post would never see the light of day.
Anyway, you get what you pay for - just be aware where the gremlins lurk.

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