A customer who produces electronic finished products for offshore equipment discussed with us a question about how to prevent the metal dome membrane touch switch manufactured by Niceone-tech from malfunctioning or to reduce the probability of malfunctioning. If marine equipment fails, life safety accidents are prone to occur.

Before that, we need to know the possible failures and causes of the Metal Dome Membrane Switch at sea, and provide Niceone-tech's solutions to the problems:

1. Metal Dome Membrane Switch is corroded due to the high water content on the sea and the high moisture content of the circuit, and the high salt content of the metal:

In the marine environment, the most common problems encountered by electronic components are moisture and sea salt corrosion. If the metal membrane rubber dome switch is one of the electronic accessories, it is damp and corroded by sea salt, not only the life of the product will be reduced, but the dampness will cause the circuit to short-circuit.

Solution:

A. Design the product to be a waterproof frame design above IP67: This type of design can prevent moisture from invading the circuit, thereby avoiding the problem of circuit short-circuit and adhesive blistering.

B. The panel adopts Autotype material or silicone rubber keypad as the panel material: the advantage is that these products have strong resistance to most corrosive substances.

C. Use 3M adhesive: strong adhesiveness, and can adapt to the changing temperature of the ocean.

D. Choose a Flex copper circuit or Printing control board as the circuit: Compared with the silver oil circuit Membrane switch, the product circuit is not easy to be damp and oxidized to cause the circuit to short circuit.

2. If the Metal Dome Membrane Switch is exposed to sunlight for a long time, the product will age and its performance will gradually lose.

Marine products are often used under the sun. Direct sunlight represents high-intensity ultraviolet rays, which cause physical and chemical changes to the product. Product performance is gradually lost and the product begins to age.

Solution:

A. Use anti-ultraviolet panel materials such as Xe material or anti-ultraviolet Silicone rubber keypad to directly protect all the underlying materials: this type of material has strong resistance to ultraviolet rays, so it is often used in outdoor and marine products.

3. Metal Dome Membrane Switch loses tactile feedback with prolonged use, causing problems with electronic devices.

The main reason is the choice of shrapnel, the wrong choice of embossing height and structure

A. Metal dome selection: Gold-plated or nickel-plated metal dome is preferred. The advantage is that the resistance of the product will be reduced and the sensitivity of the product will increase. The size of the metal dome is between 8mm-12mm, and the life of the Metal dome in this size range is the longest. This approach increases the life of your product.

B. The height of embossing: Since most of the panel materials are between 0.125-0.25mm, the choice of height is best controlled within 0.3-0.5mm. If the thickness is too low, although the product life will be relatively extended by 10%, the tactile feedback is poor. If the height is greater than 0.5mm, the material will be severely stretched and the pigment will be broken. Even if it is shipped to the customer and used for a period of time, it will not have any effect. However, as time goes by, the ink will be broken, or even the material will crack. Open question. At the same time, when the bump is too high and the Metal dome cannot be touched, the product will feel malfunctioning. To solve this kind of problem, it is necessary to increase the touch point above the Metal dome.