Inductive or Capacative Proximity Switches

[questionator]

Which is the better choice: inductive or capacitive proximity switches? If capacitive proximity switches can read almost anything, why not just use them for all applications. It seems like the capacitive switches are more versatile, yet inductive switches seem to be more widely used.

[3rdshiftguy]

Good question. Why not use capacitive proximity switches all the time? I would say because of the price in some cases. Capacitive switches have better range and are more versatile when it comes to sensing different materials, but what if you only wanted to sense ferrous metal in an environment where other material passed close enough to trigger the switch?

I think you would create confusion for the switch. I think this comes down entirely to your application because the difference in price shouldn't steer you from going capacitive.

I only use capacitive proximity switches to sense liquids. Other than that, I have mostly encountered inductive switches.