***Gersung “A2” from V series switches, is levered **and thus rated at 120gf OF
*JLF switch is Omron V series is pin plunger type, at 200gf OF.
Trust me you do not want a pin plunger switch , JLF style, in your korean stick. It needs a hinge lever (medium size lever) switch as in a …JLW. JLW’s omron V has same OF digit (5) as omron switch in JLF, but being levered it has a different rating on the chart (OF digits for OMRON read as with Gersung: only for pin plunger. To know real Operating Force you need to have access to the chart or assume roughly 40% reduction in OF ) .
*Omron levered switch for use in JLW is rated at 1.23N ~ 125.4gf
JLW switch is barely stronger to actuate (5gf more) than a Gersung A2 (both levered) . Interesting detail : Gersung and Omron have virtually same pretravel (4mm) , overtravel (1.6mm), reset distance (1.5mm max) and operating point ( 15.2mm starting from bottom mounting hole) so it comes down to which brand you find more reliable and which one is available in your country. IMHO Gersung V switches are Omron V clones from Korea.
Charts seem to indicate only different operating forces, but everything else is similar in terms of actuation and it is possible that Gersung simply rounded off the operating forces (some are not even specified on the catalog for hinged levers, you need to guess).
Panasonic didn’t discontinue a few days ago, it’s poor communication fed by arcade manufacturers who wanted to hide the inevitable, truth is it is the stocks of the latter that are depleted just NOW, as production stopped YEARS ago. It has been announced in 2014 that last “buy” from customers would be possible until end of March 2015.
All Panasonic AM5/QV sold by Seimitsu, Crown, IST, Myoungshin etc was simply NEW OLD STOCK bought years in advance in bulk, part of it being relabeled with custom digits.
Farnell Mouser and other similar sites do not have many panasonic QV series left, they stock almost none as they prefer to propose the ABV series by Panasonic.
Panasonic/Matsushita AH7 were excellent quality, produced before the AM5 series, now you can find AH7 “for arcade purists” at extremely high prices(15USD/piece wo postage fees), sold by people who take advantage of the memorabilia trend, you cannot even check if they are second hand or really NOS.
The same will probably happen soon with the AM5 switches.
Good luck buying the last items.
Sticking top and bottom parts of a datasheet, look at the announcement :
the last two digits “9N” or “3N” can be completely ignored and have no interest for us.
PANASONIC AM5 0.187 type ,HINGE LEVER, 1.77N ( 180.5gf) :
6A and 11A current rated switches do not have the 180.5gf actuation force option (at least in the latest catalog)
16A rated:
AM51632C63N (SPST NO, BOTTOM COM,the one that was relabeled with custom digits for Korean arcade sticks )
AM51612C63N (SPDT, BOTTOM COM )
AM51662C63N (SPST NO, SIDE COM)
AM51642C63N (SPDT, SIDE COM)
(edit: I skipped a line, relabed switch is a spst n.o., not a spdt, now corrected)
Korean joysticks sold today** uses switches with SPDT option with “Bottom COM” , but could in theory use also 0.187" Side COM connector type versions** because the plastic nubs of the joystick base do not prevent the switches with these connector configurations to be mounted correctly.
To compare, Seimitsu sticks such as LS-40 can only use side COM style switches since the nubs get in the way (unless removed by modding).
If interested in softer switches at 1.18N ~ 120.3gf ,16A rating, you can use (same order of connector types as in previous list ) :
AM51632C53N
AM51612C53N
AM51662C53N
AM51642C53N
GOOD LUCK on Digikey, Mouser, Farnell etc. (or use a search engine specialized in components)
Advantages of Panasonic AM5 switches:
Comparing a Gersung at around 200gf (A3 , hinge lever) with a Panasonic AM5 at 180gf, Gersung is stiffer ,engages later and resets later too = less sensitive. Do the math.
no problem. I just skipped a line when copying and pasting the equivalent “relabeled with custom digits for Korean arcade sticks” , it is evident that the switch in question is a bottom com spst n.o. and not a bottom com spdt, it’s now corrected in the original post
Hope the list helps for finding the last units. In the end it makes a total of 12 possible subsitutes for the exact same feeling and operating properties of a “special label” AM51630C69N (not present in any catalog) while being compatible with the korean joysticks , too bad arcade parts vendors didn’t think of it sooner by stocking them before it was too late.
A few more details:
gamers took the habit of saying “a levered Gersung A2 , A3 or A4 switch” for example concerning Gersung V-series switches ( A= 0.187 solder tab ; 2 ,3 or 4 = operating force of pin plunger type only) .
Following the same logic, for Panasonic AM5/QV, the switches could be then called “C5 , C6 or C7” concerning the 16A rated switches (C = 0.187" connector ; 5, 6 or 7 = operating force for pin plunger, but when hinge lever is mounted, respectively 120.3gf, 180.5gf and 239.6gf ) .
FA store says the AM51630C69N ( a “C6”, 180gf) is similar to a ls-32/ls-40 switch, but the LS-40 has a C5 switch (120gf) .
6 is not a custom number for an undisclosed operating force, it corresponds to 180gf (1.77N) in the catalog, but digit 0 is, concerning actuator type ( 0 = pin plunger normally, which is a mistake I pointed this out before, since we have a “hinge lever” which means we should have “2” as 2 = hinge lever) . Perhaps the lever has a small modification (material, length?) but to me it looks like a standard hinge lever from panasonic AM5.
By ‘similar’ perhaps the webstore implied the switch was from the same series, same amp rating with same hinge lever type, and thus compatible for the joysticks mentioned (although opposite is not true, you can’t put “the” panasonic from a korean stick ( bottom com) into a seimitsu ls32/40(side com only)).
I’m interested in trying out a korean(-style) lever/arcade stick but I’m having a very hard time actually finding arcade sticks of that type in Europe.
I’ve found a few places selling the the Crown levers (303, 305, 306, 309) but not a single one selling the Myoungshin Fanta nor a place that sells actual arcade sticks which can house a Korean lever.
I don’t generally have the tools or materials to mod or create my own housing either so I feel like I’m kind of stuck.
The other option would be importing one from other continents but even then the choices seem limited and expensive. E.g. The only Myoungshin I could find for example was Laugh’s Etokki but that’s $200 for the stick, $50-$60 for shipping and who knows what in import taxes.
Do any of you have any recommendations for a newcomer to the Korean arcade stick world living in Europe?
To anyone else who was following the purple HelpMe lever, Focus Attack customer support said they should be carrying it and new colors in the future as a separate item from the stick.
In the meantime, I used koreanbuddy.com to middle-man from the link The Phantomnaut (tried to link your name, but couldn’t figure it out with the space in there) provided. They even went out of their way to confirm ahead of time it being purple. $29 plus shipping to the USA. Not too shabby. Thanks The Phantomnaut!
