By working through a process of thinking about the application and what the switch is to be used for – and how it will be used – designers can arrive at the best switch for a given application, ensuring a positive user experience and long-term reliability.
Switch functionality
A switch is a component in an electrical or electronic circuit, so a good place to start is to think about what the switch’s function in that circuit should be. Designers would normally consider what is to be switched – is power to be routed through the switch or is it to be used for logic levels where the power rating for the switch is unimportant? If power is to be passed through the switch, then the voltage and current rating will be primary considerations. In some cases, where designers want to switch high power, a better (and safer) approach may be to use a remote relay and then use a lower power switch to operate the relay, avoiding the cost, difficulty and potential safety issues with bringing high levels of power to the front panel.