Toggle switches - minimum spacing

[ruffrecords]

I am designing a 3U front panel of a version of the EZ Tube Mixer mic pre with toggle switches for 48V, phase,pad and mic/line instead of the normal push buttons. They are in a vertical column on the right hand side of the panel. I have found some small toggles that can be  comfortably spaced just under half an inch apart (12mm in the current layout). I thought htese might be a little too close together for operational use so I built a test panel with four toggles spaced 12mm apart. They are close to each other but you can get in and operate them without too much trouble. Before committing to having a front panel made I thought I would ask if they was any accepted wisdom about the minimum spacing between toggles switches?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Harpo]

An on/on/on toggle for +48/mic/line might save you one switch, if your circuit allows. Just an idea...

 

[ruffrecords]

An on/on/on toggle for +48/mic/line might save you one switch, if your circuit allows. Just an idea...

Interesting idea. I am not sure if it can be done with the readily available toggles but it is definitely worth a look. Thanks for the idea.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Harpo]

Just a raw scribble  for common avail.single pole on/on/on toggles. One less relay with dual pole toggle needed, when switching phantom directly at the 2nd pole.
Problem with your 12mm apart 4 switches in a row might be to get the nuts fixed.

 

[bruno2000]

The switch spacing on my 1073 Lite is 0.4" (10.16mm).  It's a little tight, but if you use short bat toggles, it's workable.
Best,
Bruno2000

 

[ruffrecords]

Here's a pic of the test piece I built with the toggles 12mm apart, The switches I am using are Farnell pert #947-3068 which look like this:

http://uk.farnell.com/multicomp/2md1t1b5m2re/switch-pcb-dpdt-vert/dp/9473068?Ntt=9473068

Cheers

Ian

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I am designing a 3U front panel of a version of the EZ Tube Mixer mic pre with toggle switches for 48V, phase,pad and mic/line instead of the normal push buttons. They are in a vertical column on the right hand side of the panel. I have found some small toggles that can be  comfortably spaced just under half an inch apart (12mm in the current layout). I thought htese might be a little too close together for operational use so I built a test panel with four toggles spaced 12mm apart. They are close to each other but you can get in and operate them without too much trouble. Before committing to having a front panel made I thought I would ask if they was any accepted wisdom about the minimum spacing between toggles switches?

Cheers

Ian

I have used 7.62mm spacing on commercial products; no complaints because anyone could see that there was no other possibility. They were PCB mounted with an unthreaded bushing.

 

[ruffrecords]

Thanks for all the replies, especially those about existing gear with toggles spaced even closer together. I now feel quite relaxed about 12mm spacing.

Cheers

Ian

 

[joaquins]

Maybe 90º rotated may be more confortable... but on is in one side and off in the other, instead of more intuitive up and down...

JS

 

[ruffrecords]

Maybe 90º rotated may be more confortable... but on is in one side and off in the other, instead of more intuitive up and down...

JS

Interesting idea which would work well for a single column of toggles with the writing to one side. There may also be occasions where I would want two columns side by side. If you put the lettering in between the two then there's no confusion if the toggles go up/down. But if they go side to side it is not clear which way is on. I guess you could duplicate the writing on each colimn on the 'on' side. Nice idea, worth thinking about.

Cheers

Ian