Advice on how to turn on a cocktail machine.

[VespaGuy]

Greetings.

I built a cocktail cabinet about 2 years ago. There's very little space in the cabinet so while I was building the cab, I was forced to disassemble my PC and I fried/shorted it in the process. I got a second PC and was a bit more careful and finished the cabinet without any more issues.

That was until a few weeks ago. Lightning storm. Power surge. A bunch of circuits tripped and I lost my arcade cabinet (and a garage door opener ). Turn it on and I get nothing. Since I'm not a super-handy PC guy, I wouldn't even know where to start to attempt a fix. Instead, I decided to just buy a small form factor PC that would fit into the cabinet without having to take the thing apart and expose all of the delicate electronics. I settled on a cheap Acer AspireRevo. It fits perfectly and the price was right.

But here's my new problem. The old PC had a simple on button that was easy to hack - i just wired the two leads to a button. The new PC power on button isn't as simple and to be honest I really don't want to go busting this case open and kill a brand new machine (and I'm not much of an electronics guy to go messing about). Also I wired up a fan and some lights to the old PCs 4 pin 5/12v connector. The Acer doesn't have that. I know that I can purchase an AC to 4pin connector and I should be able to turn that on from a simple power strip, but does anyone have any suggestions on how to power up this new small form factor PC without having to reach into the cabinet?

Thanks in advance.

[Marsupial]

you might have "power-on USB" in the settings. If you put the machine in standby instead of shutting it down, hitting any key (your pushbuttons are USB?) then you'd be all set.

its a matter of putting the machine to sleep instead of turning it off. Or course, you have to initially turn the thing on to put it to sleep, but once that is done, you're pretty much set as long as its powered.

IMHO anyway.

[The Lumberjackass]

crack open the new pc and tap into the power on cables /switch.

if you managed to splice / tap into the previous set-up then i'd reccomend you do it again. remember you didnt damage the last one through any fault of your own , it was the weather that did that for you.

having an open pc within a cab isnt harmful , provided you have taken proper basic precautions that is . but just because a wire is spliced or modified , it doesnt mean its attributing to the breakdown or frying of components. the only thing the power switch and its wires are supposed to do, is send a signal to the psu to switch it on. no more no less.

also, have a look at the fuses your using in your plugs.  ( power strip too ).
if your pc psu is a 500w model for instance , then change the fuse to match your voltage. eg - if you have 120v power , use a 5amp fuse in the pc plug , 5Amps x 120volts = 600 watts.

then try to match the total power draw on the strip. eg - pc / monitor / speakers / = average of 1,200 watts draw, or there abouts , so use the likes of a fuse which can handle that combined power , eg a 10amp fuse . 10amp x 120volts = 1,200 watts.

if your a uk user , it works like this : 5amp x 230volt = 1150 watts.

this can help from further lightning damage if your worried about it , but a good power strip with proper protection should save any attached appliance. only use compliant power strips that guarantee you 100% protection and dont buy power strips that are cheap or in bargain bins.