Talk:Mercury switch

German version of this page
The german version of this page has a nice animation of a mercury switch in action http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Quecksilberschalter-ani.gif It might be of use on this article but I can't add it to this article as either i'm too dumb or wikipedia doesn't let me. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.242.149.159 (talk) 17:18, 17 August 2010 (UTC)

Untitled
ok...but what are the characteristics of a mercury switch that make it attractive? it's wet, so it doen't arc like a dry tilt switch?

Use in car bombs
Is there any evidence in records as to how these switches were used to set off car bombs? Were they attached internally to parts of the car that would tilt or turn during use? It seems more likely to me that the mercury switch would be internal to the bomb enclosure, as that would be faster to attach to a vehicle. In that case, would it make sense that the mercury switch would be placed at a slight angle, with the contact-end raised up? It would function then as a crude accelerometer, as a sudden movement would cause the blob of mercury to roll upwards towards the contacts. I assume it'd be easiest to orient the raised end towards the front of the vehicle, so that it would be positioned to sense deceleration, as most drivers brake harder than they accelerate. Does anyone have any hard facts on how they've been used? Alvis 07:57, 4 January 2007 (UTC)


 * In the case of Airey Neave the switch was attached to the bomb itself. Neave's car was parked in an underground car park, and when he drove up the ramp to leave the car park the mercury completed the circuit in the bomb and exploded. In other cases they have been used as anti-handling devices to try and prevent bombs being defused. One Night In Hackney  303  17:45, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

better picture
A possible better picture is at (I'm not sure how to properly link to Commons images) Ian01 23:40, 9 June 2007 (UTC)

Use in pinball machines
I seriously doubt that a mercury switch would be used in a pinball machine as a tilt sensor. The vending machine use in general is suspect, though less so.

Mercury switches are only sensitive along one axis. A vending machine probably has two axes of concern, while a pinball machine has all three (corresponding to the player picking up the front of the machine (to reduce the angle of the playfield, i've seen people play with their shoe wedged under one leg), or moving it from side to side (to move the flippers under a ball headed down the middle), and finally pushing the machine away from the player (for a "bangback" or "death save" in which enough force is applied to bounce a ball out from under the flippers)). Also, the tilt settings are almost universally adjustable, allowing operators to make the game harder if they are having problems with players abusing the machine, or more forgiving.

In a vending machine, the main direction of concern is the user rocking the machine towards them, and a more rigorous method of tilt sensing is generally needed (as compared to pinball), so mercury switches might be usable, assuming rocking the machine side-to-side is not a problem. I've never managed to tilt a vending machine though, and i've been pretty aggressive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 38.113.0.254 (talk) 20:42, 17 February 2010 (UTC)
 * They were used despite your personal doubts. 75.41.110.200 (talk) 05:42, 21 March 2010 (UTC)

Featured picture scheduled for POTD
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