Strange alps clones found inside arcade machine buttons

andrewjoy

26 Dec 2017, 15:54

So i got a arcade machine clone thing that plugs into your TV for christmas , https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pandora-Box- ... 2826189824 and i noticed that the player one buttons where clicky and tactile but the player two buttons where linier.

Being the switch nerd that i am i had to investigate, and my interest was peaked when i looked at the bottom of one of the switches.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Cu0AAOSw ... -l1600.jpg

Now does that not look familiar to anyone .

Behold the insides of the button\
IMG_20171226_142816.jpg
IMG_20171226_142816.jpg (217.09 KiB) Viewed 1939 times


Sure enough they are indeed alps clones of some kind, and the one with the white slider is clicky and feels terrible the green one true to its colour is linier .

The arcade buttons are known as OBSF-30s i am going to order some more as i want to colour up the arcade machine as white and black are boring so i will expand on this further but i just wanted to share it. Once i can find out more info and have a switch to sacrifice i will get some good photos and put it on the wiki, for now i just pulled out the click leaf to make them feel better. The leaf by the way is almost identical to that of wiki/Xiang_Min_KSB_series

rich1051414

26 Dec 2017, 16:19

alps.tw Type T1? I really dislike these types of clones. A real headache to reassemble, and the smaller leaf style doesn't feel nearly as nice.

I hear the blue Monterrey switch is actually this switch type done right, but I haven't used it yet. I have not liked all the other versions of this switch at all. They sound good though, but feel terrible.

andrewjoy

26 Dec 2017, 16:25

The internals are not the same , both pins are just loose in the top housing and use the top hosing to be held in the correct place, there is then a switchplate that slides in between them and the slider. The external pins are also much larger than alps and its clones in keyboards.

When i have one spare to kill i will take some photos.

rich1051414

26 Dec 2017, 16:28

andrewjoy wrote: The internals are not the same , both pins are just loose in the top housing and use the top hosing to be held in the correct place, there is then a switchplate that slides in between them and the slider. The external pins are also much larger than alps and its clones in keyboards.

When i have one spare to kill i will take some photos.
AK-CN2 or Type T1 switches do not use a switch plate, they have 2 seperate pieces that are held apart by the top housing and are a NIGHTMARE to reassemble. Here:
wiki/Alps.tw_Type_T1

andrewjoy

26 Dec 2017, 16:30

Its a similar idea yes , but there are 3 parts to the switch not two. So "compliated type 1" ??? :P

And yes they are a bloody pain to put back togther , thats why i dont want to take them apart incase i break them (you can take the click part out without disturbing the rest if you open the switch upside down).

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Daniel Beardsmore

26 Dec 2017, 16:38

They're pretty easy to reassemble if they are desoldered and removed. What's hard is sliding the lid back down when the switch is still in place, especially OA4/T1 with the chunky stationary contact that's a really tight fit.

Xiang Min use KSBG-C/N for the type with those weird terminals: http://xiangmin.myweb.hinet.net/keyboard.htm

Himake may also offer them, but it's hard to tell as those Taiwanese firms steal each other's part numbers making it impossible to tell who the manufacturer is when you find unbranded examples for sale.

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