3PDT foot switch recommendation for breakout board

giovanni

Well-known member
Hey guys, I tried to search on the forum but couldn't find the answer, so I am going to ask. I bought some 3PDT breakout boards and now I am in the process of ordering a bunch of 3PDT foot switches. I just want to make sure they switches are good quality and fit the board. Do you guys have any recommendations? And most of all, anything I should definitely avoid? I was planning to order some stuff from Tayda and some from LoveMySwitches.
Thank you!
 
I am *loving* StompBoxParts’s new “Pro” footswitches, pretty sure they’re the same as the old Mammoth Pro Switches (green body, softer “click”), and the epoxy they’re using can take a *lot* of heat

 
Thanks all for the recommendations! I assume these will all solder fine in the ppcb breakout board?
 
Interesting! The ones I have are labelled "AH4." I just checked again and of the 3 I have here, one fit on (but *very* tightly) and the other two were no-go.
Same here. They fit the Aion board, but not the pedalpcb ones
 
The 3PDT board was recently reworked to fit more switches.

I'm going to order each of the switches above today, and if necessary I'll make more adjustments.

I'm trying to keep the mounting holes as tight tolerance as possible so less solder / heat is required so switches are less likely to be damaged while soldering. I suspect a large percentage of footswitch failure is caused by overheating the lugs.
 
The 3PDT board was recently reworked to fit more switches.

I'm going to order each of the switches above today, and if necessary I'll make more adjustments.

I'm trying to keep the mounting holes as tight tolerance as possible so less solder / heat is required so switches are less likely to be damaged while soldering. I suspect a large percentage of footswitch failure is caused by overheating the lugs.
I'd say that's probably entirely accurate. Unfortunately, I imagine that adjusting the holes will mean that the one that currently fits best (the generic blue base) will end up having the loosest fit and it also happens to be the one that takes heat least well (in my experience).
 
The most recent change involved widening the slots horizontally, not so much vertically. So while there was more side-to-side play, the slots were still just as tight on the lugs.

Some switches (like the low-profile or Super Premium Demonts) will just require a dedicated board...
 
I'm using the LMS feather soft / Gorva switches (which feel amazing. This is the only switch I'm ever gonna use. Well worth the $)
I had to bend the lugs a tiny bit but the fit is super tight which I think is what we want given the perks @PedalPCB mentioned above.


https://gorvadesign.com/products/mechano (SmallBear also carries them)
 
✅ Perfect Fit
Ross from StompBoxParts was kind enough to send over a couple of their "3PDT Footswitch Pro - Latching" footswitches for a test fit. I can confirm that these fit the current breakout board perfectly and appear to be great quality footswitches



✅ Perfect Fit
The standard "Taiwan Blue" 3PDT footswitches from Tayda Electronics are a perfect fit.



✅ Perfect Fit
The mini 3PDT toggle switch from Tayda Electronics are a perfect fit.



⚠️ Tight Fit
The red "Dailywell Electronics FK Series" 3PDT footswitches from Tayda Electronics fit without any modification, but the first was extremely tight. Normally I would say this is a good thing, but any manufacturing tolerances could result in a switch that does not fit.



🚫 Did Not Fit
The black "Alpha" 3PDT footswitches from Tayda Electronics did not fit. I probably could have forced it without bending / modifying the lugs, but that defeats the purpose of reducing stress on the lugs. I will make some slight adjustments to the footprint to hopefully accommodate these in the future.
 
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