Looking for a replacement IC for a battery powered LED

August 9, 2023 7:20 AM

I bought this cheap LED light with motion sensor and the ON switch was broken. I was able to get a refund and I didn't need to return it, so I opened it up and found this chip. You can clearly see that one of the buttons on top is cracked. My question: Just for fun, can I actual find the chip to replace the broken one to get the light working again? On the back (second image) you can see the text "MZ-K1803" but my Google-fu was not strong enough to find a matching chip.
posted by gwint to Technology (2 answers total)

Best answer: What you're calling a 'chip' is actually a printed circuit board (PCB). That PCB has the MZ-K1803 number silkscreened on it and is probably an internal assembly number from the company that made it, along with a date that I'm going to guess is the release date of the design (not the manufacturing date) since that's screened onto the PCB when it's made and not at final assembly.

All you probably really need to do here is replace the button at the top that is broken. That's a surface mount side-activated microswitch, sometimes called a 'tactile' or 'tact' switch. Here's an example.

You will need some soldering skills to remove the broken piece and put a new one on. Ask your local makerspace/hacker den if they could show you how to do the repair if you haven't worked with PCBs before.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:42 AM on August 9, 2023 [2 favorites]

Best answer: You can probably desolder that switch and just wire up ANY microswitch to that, but finding one of identical size may prove a bit challenging. I don't have a ruler but this may be something of similar size: SparkFun Right Angle Tactile Button
posted by kschang at 9:26 AM on August 9, 2023 [1 favorite]