Reliability of stomp box 3PDT foot switches

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blackba

blackba

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I have read before that the 3PDT have had reliability issues. I have a pedal that is about 1 year old, not been used that much. Yesterday the 3PDT went out. It is stuck in the bypass position. Thankfully my power-all supply reset itself as the switch was failing as there was some dead shorts I think. I have another pedal that has had some intermittent issues with the 3PDT switch, but recently has been fine.

Anyway, are these 3PDT switches known to have issues? Anyone else had issues with them?
 
blackba":dbhon7bx said:
I have read before that the 3PDT have had reliability issues. I have a pedal that is about 1 year old, not been used that much. Yesterday the 3PDT went out. It is stuck in the bypass position. Thankfully my power-all supply reset itself as the switch was failing as there was some dead shorts I think. I have another pedal that has had some intermittent issues with the 3PDT switch, but recently has been fine.

Anyway, are these 3PDT switches known to have issues? Anyone else had issues with them?
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Any mechanical component has a life span and since you're stepping on a footswitch, chances are good that reliability will go down. Between dirt from your shoes getting into the switch and the general fact that you're dropping a hundred pounds onto the assembly several times a night you just cant get infinite reliability.

That said, proper assembly and care can go a long way. I've been through hundreds of these switches and had a pretty small number of faulty units. Quick and effective soldering is key. If you heat up the switch too much the lugs get loose and that causes problems. You also want to instal the switch as low as possible on the threads because this keeps your attack on the switch as direct as possible. If you install a switch very high, you tend to get more lateral force when switching and that can lead to premature failure.
 
I've had a bunch of 3PDT True Bypass boxes since 2002 and NEVER had a problem with any of them. Both boutique, and home made.
 
Marykelly":5y330lej said:
Any mechanical component has a life span and since you're stepping on a footswitch, chances are good that reliability will go down. Between dirt from your shoes getting into the switch and the general fact that you're dropping a hundred pounds onto the assembly several times a night you just cant get infinite reliability.

That said, proper assembly and care can go a long way. I've been through hundreds of these switches and had a pretty small number of faulty units. Quick and effective soldering is key. If you heat up the switch too much the lugs get loose and that causes problems. You also want to instal the switch as low as possible on the threads because this keeps your attack on the switch as direct as possible. If you install a switch very high, you tend to get more lateral force when switching and that can lead to premature failure.
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This particular switch failed after less than 50 cycles. The pedal is always covered after use and I don't stomp on it hard. It was mounted pretty high by the supplier. I just didn't expect it to fail so soon. I remember reading years ago that some suppliers didn't want to use 3PDT switches due to their poor reliability, but at the time, I thought this was just an excuse to get out of paying more for the 3PDT compared to a DPDT switch.

Anyway, thanks for the comments, I will keep my soldering iron set low when I replace the switch.
 
lately those blues ones? they have a high rate of failure. could have been a bad batch.. big batch...cause ive had several bad ones.
 
Some of those switches are better than others. I would recommend the Cliff variety when replacing a faulty one. They have a tougher and thicker epoxy holding the lugs in place while some of the other brands have a thinner glue that doesn't provide as much support.

Sometimes you just get a dud too. I can confidently say that the switches are not crap though. With any similar product you will have some failures in a large batch. There is just no way to know which ones they are until they... fail.
 
All the 3PDT switches I have ever seen have been blue.

Here is the one I have in stock that I am going to put in. http://www.smallbearelec.com/Detail.bok?no=20

Good to know they are not inherently unreliable. Thinking of taking apart the bad one to see how they are built. I work with relays all the time and like to slice one apart to check it out too :)
 
Dont buy 3PDTs from smallbear. Steve jacks the prices up to double the price of his competitors because he doesn't want to take business away from Aron at DIY stompboxes. Get your 3PDTs from pedalpartsplus and you'll save 50%

Yes all the switches are blue but they aren't all exactly the same. Some are better than others.
 
Marykelly":ams2esjn said:
Dont buy 3PDTs from smallbear. Steve jacks the prices up to double the price of his competitors because he doesn't want to take business away from Aron at DIY stompboxes. Get your 3PDTs from pedalpartsplus and you'll save 50%

Yes all the switches are blue but they aren't all exactly the same. Some are better than others.
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Thanks for the tip, will keep that in mind for future orders. :thumbsup:
 
I dont like the 3PDT's anymore for my wahs.Too noisy mechanically and they tend to cut out more than other types.I'm using Carling DPDT's now
 
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