Antec power switch mod

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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lenny
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Antec power switch mod

Post by lenny » Thu Mar 02, 2006 9:18 pm

I got tired of opening the case to press the power switch, and my motherboard doesn't allow me to power up the machine using either the power key or a key combo (it's any key or nothing). So I did this:

Image

Basically that's the original reset button transplanted. The original power button is too big to fit into the lock's hole.

There's no clean way to mount the switch properly. I glued the switch to a 1/4" thick piece of plastic, and glued the plastic to the case. It doesn't hold as securely as I would like it, so I had to wedge something on the other side of the case (the air opening side) to make sure the switch doesn't move. It's ugly, which is why I'm not providing pictures :-)

I saw a product once - looks like two strips of putty. You knead them together, and after some time they harden. Not sure what that product is called, but I think they might work better than what I did.

If anyone wants instructions on how to remove the reset switch without breaking anything, here they are. The switch is made up of two parts, the silvery button and the actual switch mechanism. Remove the front bezel. Push the silvery button in hard, until it moves in a little. On the other side of the front bezel you can see two little clips holding the switch in. Use a pair of needle nose pliers and very carefully push them apart. Using another pair of bent nose or needle nose pliers, pull the switch out. The button part will pop off. Be careful not to break those two clips if you want to restore the button in the future.

BrianE
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Re: Antec power switch mod

Post by BrianE » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:12 pm

lenny wrote: I saw a product once - looks like two strips of putty. You knead them together, and after some time they harden. Not sure what that product is called, but I think they might work better than what I did.
That sounds like two part epoxy putty. Use that and it's not going anywhere.

Looks nice. :) I also get annoyed by cases where you have to open the door to push the power button.

geekbanter
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Post by geekbanter » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:53 pm

I saw a product once - looks like two strips of putty. You knead them together, and after some time they harden. Not sure what that product is called, but I think they might work better than what I did.
You might be thinking of JB Weld. It comes in two tubes, one has tan goop, the other gray (I think). Epoxy resin might be a better choice in this situation anyway.

Nice mod, guess I'll have to do something like that with my sonata sometime :wink:

lenny
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Post by lenny » Fri Mar 03, 2006 12:28 pm

BrianE - thanks! That's the name I had trouble recalling. I merely recall the tag line "Kneads like (something - putty?) / Hardens like steel".

geekbanter : I have a Sonata too (guess I'm a sucker for Antec marketing) that's now mainly used as a semi-online file server. I use Wake On LAN to power it up, Remote Desktop Connection to control it and the "shutdown -s" command to power it off. It's a little messier with the Sonata, since the lock is on the door. Let me know if you come up with a nice solution without drilling.

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