Electromechanical Switch Endurance

Are you an engineer? Worried about the reliability of your switch in a hostile and challenging operational environment? Then you’re concerned about electromechanical switch endurance.

Failure of the switch in applications like safety interlock switches, limit switches, door open/close switches and many others can cause massive downtime, safety hazards or damage to more expensive equipment that are not easily replaced. Electromechanical switch endurance refers to the ability of your switching solution to perform as expected for a long time despite conditions of ice, water, dirt, oil, vibration, sand, salt spray and shock, and extended duty cycles. Not to mention extremes of high and low temperature and submersible requirements.

Despite afore mentioned hazards, electromechanical switches can run anywhere from 1 to 5 million cycles, and require tight specifications related to travel parameters and electrical requirements.

How Does CPI Make Reliable Electromechanical Switches?

For over 50 years, CPI has been meeting operational switch requirements at the absolute limit. Key to being able to design for electro mechanical switch endurance of over 5,000,000 cycles is an extensive knowledge of how every switch design parameter affects operational reliability at the limits. Also, we’ve learned how electrical configuration can prevent contact freezing at low temperature, how to prevent contact chatter in vibrational environments and how to handle startup electrical loads that contribute to early switch failure.

Over the years, we have deployed a broad array of actuator, travel and mounting configurations to solve these problems. Nearly 2000 configurations are available. Once our skilled and professional engineers select and design the combination of elements that befit your needs, it’s time to field test in the application. Time and time again we have seen that no amount of bench testing can duplicate field trials where unforeseen (and often unspecified) requirements are imposed on the design. Solving these issues finally leads to better reliable switch operation and delivers more reliable parts all around.

The best part that keeps us in the top is our reliable manufacturing and testing of custom parts in production quantities. Even though CPI produces and manufactures many standard parts, custom manufacturing is where we excel. We never outsource design or primary manufacturing, and all our design and manufacturing is done in the USA. Not only does this insure higher quality and consistency, but our 50 years of experience building switches has allowed us to pioneer techniques that keep us cost competitive, even at low volumes.

At CPI we’re proud of the engineering tradition we’ve built, and committed to remaining a “Made in the USA” company.

Please contact us to discuss more about electromechanical switches or visit www.cpi-nj.com