ruffrecords
Well-known member
I recently bought some vertical PCB mounting toggles from CPC (a branch of Farnell). I got them from CPC because in the quantities I wanted they were much cheaper than Farnell. There was no data sheet for the part on the CPC site but there is one on the Farnell site:
http://www.farnell.com/cad/94994.pdf
As you will see, the manufacturer's data sheet quite clearly shows the spacing between vertical rows of this toggle switch is 0.16 inches. So I duly layed out my PCB using these dimensions and, guess what, when the PCBs arrive the switches don't fit! Turns out the spacing between the rows is actually 0.2 inches (I measured it to be sure) despite what the data sheet says.
That just cost me £100 in unusable PCBs Can't blame Farnell or CPC.
The moral I guess is don't trust the data sheet for mechanical parts before you lay out your PCB.
Cheers
Ian
http://www.farnell.com/cad/94994.pdf
As you will see, the manufacturer's data sheet quite clearly shows the spacing between vertical rows of this toggle switch is 0.16 inches. So I duly layed out my PCB using these dimensions and, guess what, when the PCBs arrive the switches don't fit! Turns out the spacing between the rows is actually 0.2 inches (I measured it to be sure) despite what the data sheet says.
That just cost me £100 in unusable PCBs Can't blame Farnell or CPC.
The moral I guess is don't trust the data sheet for mechanical parts before you lay out your PCB.
Cheers
Ian