Where do I find power button wires for sale?

[capt_taco]

By this, I mean the set of wires that runs from the power button on the front of the case to the front panel pins on your motherboard. Nobody sells them.

I have a system that won't power on because there's a problem somewhere with power button itself or the wires that connect it to the motherboard. Yes, the power supply is OK; it works with other systems and has been tested out OK at a professional repair shop.

The motherboard is OK; I've had no boot and no power with three different boards: an Intel DP45SG, ASUS P5Q3 and AUSU P5E3 Pro. The motherboard power LED comes on in all circumstances, but no components including case fans attached to a separate controller come on when you hit the power button.

The power switch itself was tested at the repair shop and discovered to be faulty -- i.e. all my components worked indivudually, but the system would not power on. In a different case with a different switch, they powered on and worked fine. Eventually, they discovered that you could get my system to power on fine in its own case by rigging the reset wire to the power pins. That worked for a few weeks and then stopped; my system won't power on at all.

I ordered a new power switch assembly from the case manufacturer (no wires available from them) and installed it in place of the old switch. No difference; system won't power on. This leads me to believe the issue is with the wires themselves between the power button and the mobo --- BUT NOBODY SELLS NEW ONES.

The only other explanation I can think of is a fried CPU, but that doesn't make sense, since the CPU was tested to work fine in another system when I brought this machine into the shop. This is garbage. If anyone has any pointers, I am just running out of patience at this point.


Oh yeah -- specs are:

CPU: Intel Q9550
board: ASUS P5E3 Pro
RAM: 4x2GB Patriot Viper DDR3 1333 (1.7V)
GPU: VisionTek HD 4870 512MB
PSU: NZXT 800W

 

[jsc]

First step, does the system power up if you momentarily short the power switch pins on the motherboard?
If yes, the rest of the system works. If no, you are troubleshooting the wrong problem.

Second step, when you place ohmmeter leads on the end of the switch wiring and someone presses the power switch, does the ohmmeter reading change from an open to a short like it's supposed to?
If no, continue.

What you can do is buy one or more of these:
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1835/ele-187/FrozenCPU_Standard_Motherboard_Power_Switch_Extension_Cable.html

Cut off the pin end and solder it to the case power switch, then use however many you need to reach the motherboard header.

I use a piece of heatshrink over the junctions to keep them securely fastened together. But not everyone has heatshrink available.

 

[HVDynamo]

www.digikey.com
www.parts-express.com

Both of those will sell pretty much any little component or wires you are looking for.

 

[Paperdoc]

Wires is wires. If you really do need ONLY to replace the wires from switch to mobo connector, any two wires will do the job. They do NOT need to be especially heavy because they carry only a small current briefly when you push the button. Just don't make them too heavy - hard to manipulate and solder to contacts. Polarity is not important - the switch merely provides a momentary short circuit between two pins.

The trickiest part may be soldering to the tiny 2-pin connector at the mobo end of the line. It can be very difficult to remove the metal connector pieces from the end of the wires and solder them onto your new wires. Probably easier to cut the existing wires near the litttle connector, then splice each wire to the new cord's wires, and tape up the splice points to insulate.

By the way, have you checked whether the little metal pieces inside the connector at the mobo end still have enough springy force to grab the mobo pin and make a good connection?

 

[capt_taco]

By the way, have you checked whether the little metal pieces inside the connector at the mobo end still have enough springy force to grab the mobo pin and make a good connection?

I'm thinking that's what the problem is -- since the system originally worked for a few months and then the power switch quit working ... but when I re-wired it so that the reset button went to the power pins on the mobo, it worked fine (for another couple of months, then quit). It seems like maybe the contacts in the wires' connector pieces aren't very good and get bent out of shape easily, like an old NES system's cartridge slot.

I think I'll try jsc's first couple ideas to power on by shorting the power pins and test the wires. I'm pretty confident it'll pass the first test, though, since it powered on with all the same components in a different case. However, since I couldn't have that case and I'd rather not buy a new one, I'm hoping I can fix the problem without that.

One bit of good news: The case manufacturer (Logisys) finally wrote back this morning and said they think they can get me a new set of wires. When I asked them for a replacement switch, they said they could get me the switch but not the wires, and I'd been arguing with them ever since trying to get a set. I just do not like soldering and splicing, especially with wires that small. Also doesn't help that this particular case uses a single connector at the switch end instead of four individual wires. Would probably be pretty simple to figure out what goes where, but then I'd have to replace (and splice/solder) all four wires and not just the power one. Which I would definitely NOT be looking forward to.

 

[capt_taco]

By the way, have you checked whether the little metal pieces inside the connector at the mobo end still have enough springy force to grab the mobo pin and make a good connection?

Well, just wanted to let everyone know this problem has finally been resolved and thank you for your help. Shorting the pins powered on the system as expected ... the replacement power button wires finally arrived from Logisys, and after installing those, the system powers up and works like new. Looks like the connectors on the old set were worn out and not making a good connection, first on the wire from the power button and then later on the wire from the reset button.

Man, what a pain that was to diagnose, but I'm glad it's finally over. That system had been giving me random little problems like that for months. Now, back to L4D and Dragon Age: Origins.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey