I’m looking at the microswitches at focusattck and there are 3 listed, not sure if there are others too?
Anyway, the sanwa sw-68 according to that page says it could be swapped for PS-14-G switches used in the PS-14-K. When you click on the PS-14-G link, PS-14-K isn’t listed under it, it is actually listed under PS-14-D, so something is not right. Can anyone tell me which one is compatible with sw-68?
Also, will replacing the switches with sanwa switches actually make them feel like sanwas? I notice the seimitsu buttons, or at least some of them(?) are taller than sanwa buttons. I’m asking this just in case I end up not liking the seimitsus. Right now I’m looking for clear buttons to put artwork under.
Sanwa buttons (except the RG which are considered “long”) all have “small” switches. PS-14-K, P, and PS-15 also have small switches. PS-14-G, GN, and KN all have “large” switches. Small switches can be switched with small switches and big switches can be switched with big switches. PS-14-G is the big one. PS-14-D is the small one.
iNENDOi is absolutely right about switches. The info is faulty on the page but it seems like you figured that out already.
As for your second question putting sanwa switches in a seimitsu button won’t really make them “feel” like a sanwa button, but that is by my opinion. Its like modding a stick, no matter what you do to it, as much effort as you try to make one stick feel like another, you wont get the same experience as the compared stock stick, but just a modded stick. In another thread darksakul described that sanwa and seimitsu buttons have the same activation point, whereas the main difference between the two is the operation force that gives seimitsu a tighter feel. However “feel” is also subjective to the regarded person and essentially one could “feel” a difference if there mind makes a distinction. So you may or may not feel a difference between the two, or you might feel a difference right away.
PS-14-D MICROSWITCH is the Seimitsu microswitch that’s swappable with the Sanwa SW-68.
PS-14-G microswitches are NOT cross-compatible with the SW-68! Take it from someone who has flipped these microswitches…
The PS-14-D Microswitch is what these Seimitu buttons use –
PS-14-P “Pearl” button (out of production, basically unavailable now; most comfortable stock Seimitsu buttons I’ve used; the only 30mm Seimitsu buttons that felt good to me with the stock microswitch)
PS-15, the thinnest 30mm Japanese-style buttons on the market ( <= this is the button I switched micros on; much more comfortable to use with the SW-68!)
PS-14-D/24mm plug-in buttons, and more…
To repeat, any button that uses the PS-14-D microswitch is cross-compatible with the SW-68. I wouldn’t bother with modding the Pearl buttons (if they were available at any rate) but the other 30mm’s can be swapped out micro-wise very readily. Likewise, Rollie pushbuttons and the newer Hori Kuro buttons are cross-compatible with SW-68 microswitches.
I get tired of repeating this stuff so just go to Akihabarashop’s homepage ( http://akihabarashop.jp/ ) and look under “Arcade”, scroll down to “Buttons”. There is a pull-down menu next to the pictures of the joysticks and buttons.
Look through the pulldown’s and compare the microswitch the buttons use. There are probably slightly more than half the Seimitsu pushbutton designs that use the PS-14-D microswitch – all the 24mm buttons, plug-in Skeletons (PS-14-K), and what I listed above use the PS-14-D micro. Every other Seimitsu button uses the PS-14-G (larger) microswitch.
With Seimitsu, you have to be very careful with what you buy or plan to mod. There are two microswitches and what makes the situation even more confusing is how Seimitsu names its parts.
There are PS-14-D microswitches as well as PS-14-D buttons!
You can’t go by the “PS-14” prefix because Seimitsu uses all kinds of Japanese suffixes to differentiate among the buttons… EXAMPLE: there are two styles of 30mm “Skeleton”/transparent buttons that Seimitsu makes. The original is the PS-14-K plug-in that uses the PS-14-D microswitch. What that “K” in PS-14-K means, I couldn’t tell you. (It might be an abbreviation for the Japanese word for “transparent”.) However, the other 30mm “Skeleton” button is the PS-14-K-N which uses the larger PS-14-G microswitch. In that case, I can assure you that the “-N” suffix probably stands for “screw in” or Japanese words to that effect since every Seimitsu screw-in button (regardless of its microswitch) uses the “-N” suffix/modifier.
Again, refer to what Akihabarashop has listed online. You can’t go wrong with their product listing.
Why Seimitsu has two microswitches in production, I wouldn’t know… The company is inexplicable for a lot of its product offerings!
Sanwa makes slightly more sense!
The outer shape of the button and internal structure make an absolutely huge difference on how a button feels – in addition to the microswitch and type of plastic used for the button’s body and plunger.
The PS-15 is probably the closest button Seimitsu makes in (plunger) shape to the Sanwa OBSF-30 series but feels utterly different with the stock PS-14-D microswitch. I found the PS-15 to be too painful to use with the original switch so I swapped them out for SW-68’s. After a day or two of settling in, the PS-15 was only slightly less comfortable than the OBSF-30 was to me. Before the part swap, the same buttons felt like hitting bricks to me…
As for the Seimitsu Pearl buttons –
hands-down, the most comfortable Seimitsu buttons I’ve used… with the original microswitches installed (PS-14-D’s). Amazing that the same microswitch would feel godawfully hard in the PS-15 and yet the PS-14-P button (also a PS-14-D micro user) feels only slightly harder than the OBSF-30. Very, very comfortable button without the hyper-sensitive activation issues that trouble many people on the OBSF-30. Also compatible with the SW-68 but I don’t see the point in swapping the original micro out… Too bad that the buttons didn’t sell better or Pearls would still be offered today… (I’ve seen that Rollie makes its own Pearl buttons but you don’t see these get offered on any American websites. Not since PonyBoy’s website dropped off the face of the earth…)
It’s all in the shape (internal and external) and type of plastic they use.
I think the PS-14-K button uses a similar (if not identical/same) mold to the out-of-production Pearl button but I have heard more complaints about comfort levels on the transparent buttons (from BOTH Sanwa and Seimitsu). Issues ranging from bad part (rims or plunger) fits to just not being as comfortable as the solid-colored buttons. I don’t know about the effect of swapping microswitches in the PS-14-K plug-in buttons since I don’t own any at the moment. I have mostly Sanwa buttons with a mix-in of Seimitsu (mostly 30mm) buttons in 3 joystick cases.
Wow, I didn’t know they sold the Hori buttons, they aren’t on paradise or focus and I didn’t know any other place to look. They are 25 shipped for a set of 8, that’s a really good deal o.o
Thanks for also pointing me to akishop.
You put into words exactly what was going on in my head with the previous paragraphs, spent some time figuring out what all the seimitsu button codes were.
Ah man, that’s really bad news. I just read from one post that the sanwa clears are not very durable/flexible and the tabs will snap on you once you try to remove them. I was excited about the idea of being able to replace the artwork somewhere down the line if I ever wanted another look and not keep buying more buttons! That post also said that the PS 14 K would be more durable and not as prone to breaking apart like the sanwa clears. I have no idea how true this is… now you mention the comfort issue and I could see how this could be true also. This sucks =/
Yeah, I really just want to see how it’s like “on the other side”, but still have a chance of going back. I can’t go back to my current buttons though, they are horrible x.x If money wasn’t an issue I’d go with the PS 14 KN to see how they feel…
On a somewhat related note, Canadian Joysticks still seems to have some Seimitsu PS-14-P Pearl buttons in-stock, albeit at a pretty limited color selection…
Besides the different switch and the screw in vs snap in are the K and KN identical? I’m thinking about ordering 6 of each since I only use 6 buttons anyway I can fill the 2 slots that I don’t use with the buttons I don’t want. As long as the buttons look identical though I don’t know if my OCD will kick in…
Which -K and -KN are you talking about?
Note what I said about Seimitsu’s product codes being confusing.
You have to be precise about what you want otherwise it will come back to bite you when it comes time to order spare parts or replacements.
People have wasted money – lots of it – ordering the wrong parts because they didn’t do the proper research and read. Unfortunately, when it comes to Seimitsu product, you have to be very aware of the line and what the key differences amongst all the parts are. With the Seimitsu LS-joysticks alone, there are at least FIVE different springs that have different lengths/sizes and tensions! That’s not even getting into the issues of mounting plates and restrictor gates.
As for the transparent buttons, NO, they are not identical…
The PS-14-K uses the PS-14-D microswitch.
The PS-14-K-N/PS-14-KN (screw-in version) uses the PS-14-G (larger) microswitch.
Different microswitches, slight changes in the button cases and plungers means the buttons will NOT feel the same.
“Feel” is a matter of opinion.
Some people like the plug-in Skeleton (PS-14-K) buttons better.
Some prefer the screw-in buttons (PS-14-K-N)…
The only one of the skeleton buttons that IS cross-compatible with the Sanwa SW-68 microswitch (in case you DO NOT like the feel of the PS-14-D microswitch) is the PS-14-K. Keep in mind that the “-D” and “-K” suffixes make a huge difference when you’re ordering parts!
Repeat: the SW-68 microswitch and the PS-14-G microswitch are NOT cross-compatible. The PS-14-G is physically bigger and the retainer space for it is shaped differently than what the PS-14-D/SW-68 plug into. Also, according to reports, the plungers of the buttons that use PS-14-D/SW-68 type microswitches will NOT fit properly onto the “stalk” of the PS-14-G properly.
With the 24mm Seimitsu buttons you don’t have to worry about different microswitches… ALL the 24mm Seimitsu plug-in and screw-in buttons use the same microswitch, the PS-14-D.