It’s Spring, and you know what that means: time to clean your summer switches. Spring cleaning isn’t just for moving furniture and cleaning out the fridge. It’s the perfect time to clean your appliances, especially the ones you use most during the summer, because the dirtier they are, the faster they fail.
Air Conditioners
Whether you run a window air conditioner or have central air, your air conditioner needs to be cleaned before it’s switched on every year. This prevents corrosive material from collecting on the electronic components. For a central air conditioner, use an AC comb to brush dust out of the AC fins and an air compressor or shop vac to blow debris out of the unit.
For window AC units, remove the filter, its cover, and the entire front panel, if possible. Wash with soap and water, using an old toothbrush to clean the vents. Again, use an AC comb to clean the AC fins and blow out any debris inside the unit. Replace the filter and reattach the front panel and filter cover. This regular maintenance will allow air to flow more freely through your AC unit and lower your energy usage.
After cleaning, you’ll want to test your air conditioner. There’s nothing worse than discovering the buttons to lower the temperature or increase the fan speed don’t work. This doesn’t mean it’s time for a new air conditioner, however. It’s likely you’ll find one of our many tact switches to be an affordable replacement and be able to complete the repairs yourself. It’s also a good bet your window AC unit has low-profile switches installed under those buttons on the control panel.
A common control panel configuration on window AC units allows for increasing and decreasing both the fan speed and desired temperature. If your AC’s control panel design features this configuration, with four buttons surrounding a fifth in the middle, our JS1300 Series 5-position navigation switch could be a perfect fit.
SPECIFICATIONS (Glossary of Switch Terms)
Contact Rating: 20mA 12VDC
Life Expectancy: 200,000 Actuations in Any Direction (X, Y, or Z)
Contact Resistance: 500mΩ
Insulation Resistance: 100MΩ
Dielectric Strength: 100VAC for 1 Minute
Operating Temperature: -20°C to 70°C
Operating Force: Center = 320gf +80 / -60gf
Tilt = 180gf ± 60gf
Travel: 0.25 ± .015mm
MATERIALS
Cover: Nickel Silver
Base: Nylon
Actuator: Nylon
Moving Contact: Stainless Steel, Silver Plated
Terminals: Copper Alloy, Silver Plated
Tape: Teflon
Fans
Whether ceiling, oscillating, or box, fans go mostly unused over fall and winter. They literally collect dust. But don’t just vacuum the blades and call it a day. Take a can of compressed air and blow out the housings for the electronic components on oscillating fans and mechanical housings of ceiling fans.
Spring is also a perfect time to flip the switches of your ceiling fans to spin counterclockwise, creating a downdraft. E-switch can deliver those switches and offers plenty of options with its 500 Series miniature slide switches. The 500 series slide switches are available in single and double pole options. You can also choose from 10 termination types and multiple actuator heights.
SPECIFICATIONS
Contact Rating: Gold – 0.4VA 20V AC or DC
Silver – 5A 120VAC, 2A 250VAC
Electrical Life: 30,000 Make-and-Break Cycles at Full Load
Contact Resistance: 10mΩ Max. Typical at 2-4VDC
100mA for Both Silver and Gold Plated Contacts
Insulation Resistance: 1,000MΩ Min.
Dielectric Strength: 1,000V RMS at Sea Level
Operating Temperature: -30°C to 85°C
MATERIALS
Case: Diallyl Phthalate (DAP) UL 94V0
Housing: Stainless Steel
Slide Handle: Nylon UL 94HB
Contacts: Silver or Gold Plated Copper Alloy
Commercial Refrigerators and Freezers
Home appliances aren’t the only ones needing spring cleaning. Grocery and convenience stores can also save considerable cash by cleaning commercial refrigerators and freezers and replacing all filters to allow cold air to move more freely.
All food should be removed from the area being cleaned, and all light switches should be cleaned with electrical contact cleaner. Almost all of these switches are either toggle or rocker switches, of which E-switch offers a vast variety with options suitable to the design of your commercial refrigerators or freezers.
Keep your appliances and their switches clean and they’ll last a lot longer, and consider E-switch for all your appliance switch needs.