What type of selector switch do I have?

[aaronml]

I have an old stereo receiver with a broken selector switch I want to try to replace. It is a 5 position switch that has 2 "wafers" with terminals. One of the "wafers" has terminals on both sides but no terminals on one side appear to be electrically connected to any terminals on the other side. On the other "wafer" there are also terminals on each side and at least some on one side are electrically connected to others on the other side. Is this information sufficient for someone tell me the number of poles this switch has? Do throws also come into the picture?

Thank you, Mark

 

[duffy]

Go to Digikey or Mouser. Type "rotary switch" into Search. Select "Number of positions" = 5. Start digging through pages of images - hopefully you will find one that matches.

 

[alec_t]

What you have is, not surprisingly, known as a wafer switch. The central disc which rotates has projecting lugs which pass between sprung contacts fixed to the wafer. Count the number of lugs. That number, n, is the number of poles. You already know it's a 5-way switch. So search for an n-pole 5-way wafer switch.

 

[duffy]

The number of lugs around the wafer, minus one, might tell you the number of throws (not poles) - but even then, this is not a given. For instance:

5 throws (positions), 2 poles, 10 lugs.