Rocker Switch Failure for Hydraulic Ldg Gear

[NWILSON]

I went to retract the gear and the switch had a strange feel to it just before it became "floppy" with neither function (extend or retract) available.
The top cover (the rocker) was easily removed to find the problem....the switch is operated by a plastic pin on the bottom of the rocker. This pin is less than 1/4" in diameter. It broke off flush with the bottom of the rocker.
Of course this isn't a locally available item so a little ingenuity was required. The first attempt was gluing the pin back in place. JB Welds to the rescue. I decided that probably wouldn't work for long. I was able to drill a small hole in the broken pin then through the rocker (the JB failed during the drilling process!) I then pushed a small aluminum nail through with some plastic cement. When the cement cured I trimmed the nail to the proper length.
The switch is now functional again but I have no idea how long my repair will last. The failed rocker is not available by itself from either Heartland or Lippert. They wanted $32 and $28 respectively for a replacement switch. (The club discount didn't make for a better deal this time). The customer service rep at Lippert said she had sold a number of the switches and mine has been superseded so, hopefully, the new part will be a little less prone to failure.
Has anyone found a source for just the cover or a less expensive switch?

 

[jnbhobe]

Its just a DPDT momentary switch and you should be able to find a replacement at a good electric supply store. But it still may be expensive.

 

[Garypowell]

It has been a number of years since I had one fail on SOB but found the replacement at Granger.

I know it will be a pain but you might consider swapping the rear landing gear switch with the front landing switch. At least the way I use them the rear switch gets a lot less use and if it fails again doing the rear manually is a lot easier than the front.

If/when it does fail again you can then purchase the expensive replacement.

 

[danemayer]

A friend of mine said he replaced his switch last year with this one from Altex.

 

[porthole]

I usually end up at West Marine for switches. Blue Seas make excellent products.

Just an FYI, the switch Dan linked to shows up as a on-off-on switch. Whatever brand you buy make sure it is a "momentary" on-off-onn type.

The title of the linked switch states momentary, but the specs do not re-iterate that. And the pictured switch is a non momentary.

 

[NWILSON]

Thanks to all for the input!
At this point my switch is ok it's just the plastic rocker that failed. Any kind of round pin (screw, dowel, nail, etc) will operate the switch with the rocker missing. I may buy a cheap switch to see if the rocker will interchange with mine. It's not like the switch gets used enough to wear out very often.

Thanks again!