Old & New Rotary Switches
Cor, F-A-Duck ! Has anyone seen the cost of modern Rotary(Wafer) Switch assemblies recently ?
Referring to the "Roberts" valve tester thread in "Test Eq"., decided to delve into a huge plastic box of mainly an NOS RS Switch Construction Kit, plus a decent handful of salvaged/recovered/given older "yaxley type paxolin & ceramic wafer switches. Was looking for single pole/10 way wafers, plus some lesser combinations, for the "Roberts Revival Hybrid" which might(or might not)go ahead.
I've just got an old set of RS Catalogues from 2008, and was amazed by the cost(even back then) of individual(or in 10's) wafers, and all the mechanical switch assembly bits & bobs. Just leafed through a page or two & quickly got to a rough estimate of £100 for just a couple of handfuls of wafers. Then roughly estimated the rest, plus all the mechanical bitties - total = what - 300 to 400 effing quid !
Originally, the wafer kit came mainly in 5 of those lovely big yellow RS 6" x 10" 18 compartment plastic boxes with clear Perspex lids. But I needed them for heaps of nuts, bolts, washers, wee bulbs, etc.
God forbid that anyone needed to replace a switch or two in an AVO VCM, or HP gear, etc. with more robust ceramic or modern composite insulated wafers, instead of RS's basic plastic ones.
PS. The old Roberts switches are in the bottom l/h corner of the table.
Regards, David
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