PRINTED VS. ETCHED COVERS

1. Night Readability

The main difference between our printed rocker switch covers and our laser-etched rocker switch covers is the ability to read them at night.

They both look great during the day.  But the reality is with a printed cover its white ink being printed over opaque plastic, and a lens… it just does not illuminate well at night.

Laser etching, on the other hand, removes the opaque top layer, revealing the translucent core material.  Only what is etched illuminates, making a stunningly readable switch in the early morning or after dusk cruising.

See the graphic as we fade from light to dark with examples of each switch cover

laser etched versus printed switches

2. Multi-Switch Backlighting

 

Since backlighting is such an awesome feature, most of our customers want to have all the switches backlit for night readability.

Backlit for night readability

To do this we add a second light to the switch and move the indicator light to the bottom.  Now the top light can be triggered by any switch

Top = backlight
Bottom = Indicator

The backlights lights can be triggered by any switch.  Usually the Nav lights, or (as in the case below) a panel light switch.

(click to enlarge)

custom laser etched rocker switches

3. Customization

The third advantage of laser etching is it’s easy to customize in small volumes.  We can laser etch nearly anything you desire onto a single switch cover, with no minimums.

While we don’t sell them on this site, it has become such a popular product we’ve got an entire website dedicated to our custom laser etched rocker switch product.

Nearly unlimited switch customization is also available in our Fully Custom Marine Switch Panel product.