Need help IDing a weird panel switch

Hi guys,

I need help ID'ing a weird punch button switch off the power box for my hydraulic shear. (Peck, Stowe & Wilcox. Yeah, that old. )
I'd guess 60's, at a bet.

It's a sort of push button that lives on the external case of the power box. It isn't a switch, by itself. It's the external button, but when you push it, all it does is push in. On the internal end of it is a plunger that taps the real 'off' switch that's wired into the inside of the power box.
I've seen these before, on postwar machines, but never gave them much thought. Until mine died, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what they're called, so as to get another one.
The idea with them, near as I can figure, is that the plunger part lives on the outside of the box, and swings away with the box when it's opened. Thus preventing anyone from accidentally starting the machine with the power box open. Also means you don't have to worry about slack wire needed for live switches to live on the swinging panel of the box. All in all, a decent idea.
If only I could figure out what to call them, and were to get more.

Pictures attached. As you can see, the plastic bezel on mine died. Worst-comes-to-worst, I'll glue this one back together, but I'd rather just flat out replace it.

Anybody know what these things are? Or where to find them?

Thanks,
Brian

So the operator and contacts can be isloated? That's neat.

In OKC we have a surplus shop strictly for industrial electric, maybe something like that could help you search?

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

There are pushbutton stations where the contact block is fastened to the back of the enclosure and the operator to the front. It's not GE but its the same as the GE CR2943 PB stations.

Tom

Alberic said:

Hi guys,

I need help ID'ing a weird punch button switch off the power box for my hydraulic shear. (Peck, Stowe & Wilcox. Yeah, that old. )
I'd guess 60's, at a bet.

Click to expand...

The concept is not limited to pushbuttons. It is also used for lever/toggle and rotary switching, and has been in use about as long as electricity has been known to pose a shock-hazard. See telephone "hook switch", built by the brazillions, all "legacy" styles.

See-also common-as-dirty-politicians rotary disconnect switches. The knob, bezel, and lockout tab are mechanically isolated from the electricity-bearing switch block by an arbitrary-length 5 mm square rod as can be cut to length.

Better news is that the mechanical-only section of any of the tribe can be DIY fabbed easily to nearly anything you want it to be, size, stand-off distance, and appearance-wise. Only the "mating" motion-transfer interface has to.... well..... "mate"?



Might want to rob the button parts off a conventional "integrated" switch, even if not an exact family match, rather than either of repair or fab? The SAME situation - isolation - takes place within the housing of a unitary switch already, so..

Faster. Closer match to what is expected.

"Expected" being that it looks like a switch, acts like a switch, can be called a switch, as it does NOT have feathers, waddle, eject bird-turd on take-off runs, nor "quack like a duck!"

UNfortunately.. my go ogle fu hasn't found a standard term for these buggers that is actually any more useful at all than "is not a duck".

Yup surplus like MPJA, even ebay. I had to replace a few lights on a 1940's era gear shaper, the type that about an inch in diameter and ha facets like a jewel. Found a chap on ebay that had a ton of old switches and lights, I will try and find his contact info for you, it was awhile ago, so if you do not hear from me it means I could not find it. Good luck, it is out there.

Something here might work:

Internal Error

The link says "Internal Error" but it does work. It takes you to a Digi-Key search: Configurable Switch Components - Body.