Finishing Touches: The Power Switch

[SteveJ34]

I've been wrapping up a few finishing details, one of which is a single power switch for for all that is contained in the cab.

I have sourced ATX power supplies (mfr'd by POWERMAX) that have an additional power source for  plugging the power strip into which in turn provides power for marquee, TV, and speaker amp when the computer is switched on.

I have been unsuccessful in getting the Power On from Keyboard to work for my motherboard, an EPOX 8K7A+ (if you have a KBPO feature working on your EPOX mb model, please write me).

This is my preferred method so I can set a key in BIOS and just power on from CP, but when I enable this jumper on my motherboard and bios, I cannot get the darn thing to even power on using the main power switch on the front of the case.

So.... I am moving in the direction of just wiring a switch external of the case to the motherboard. I understand this needs to be a momentary contact switch.

Question: Can someone direct me to what type of momentary switch could be used for this application? Should this switch be normally open, normally closed, or does it matter?

Here's a link to momentary contact switches atRadio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/category.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F010%5F007%5F001%5F000&Page=2

Would any of these fit the bill?

I have an extra case button that I could use from an ATX case but it doesn't really have a "button". It is designed for a case with actual button being a part of the front of the case.

I look forward to any and all replies.

Kind Regards,

Steve

[Carsten Carlos]

Hi!

Normaly open would do the trick - as it is all low-power, the cheapest will do.

Didn't get the power-on-keyboard to work, too. I'll use a different mainboard anyway, so maybe I'll have more luck then. The current mainboard I have choosen can react on the right or left mousebutton, but i doesn't.

[Rick Osborn]

I think the easiest solution is this :

1) Get yourself a switch

2) Get a surge protector / power strip

3) Cut open and strip the wire casing on the power cord coming from the power strip.  Just expose 3" - 4"

4) Cut and strip the WHITE wire (there will be 3 wires - black green and white)

5) Cut 2 lengths of 18 gauge wire to whatever length you'll need to reach from the power strip to where you want the button mounted.  Strip 1.5" from each end.

6)  Twist the ends of each 18 gauge wire to  each of the white wires and finish with wire caps.  You'll have a long wire coming from each cut white wire from the power strip.

7)  Attach the other ends of the 18 gauge wire to the switch by using quick connects.

 Switch the power strip to the ON position and leave it always ON.  The switch you added to the length of wire will now control the power to the power strip.

9)  Set the power option in your PC bios to "Power on" when power is lost and then restored.

10)  Plug your PC and anything else that doesn't require constant power into that power strip.  Example, whatever you want to turn on with the master switch.

11)  The first time doing this you will have to switch the PC on manually.  But after that, just shutdown normally and then use the new power switch to cut power.

When you switch power back on, the PC will boot right up because it had lost power and now is getting power, so the bios will tell the PC to boot.

This is very simple to do and doesn't require you to hack your PC power or anything.  The only hacking is to a power strip wire.  Then mount your switch wherever.  use a project box from Radio Shack to keep it self contained and then just mount that box for a neater look.

Rick

I've been wrapping up a few finishing details, one of which is a single power switch for for all that is contained in the cab.

I have sourced ATX power supplies (mfr'd by POWERMAX) that have an additional power source for

[Lilwolf]

My bios doesn't have the option for turn on with the power is turned on..  

someone told me that if you cross two connections on the cable going from the powersupply to the motherboard, it will act like the motherboard sent the turnon signal.... it didn't work for me (and didn't blow anything luckly).

Anyone have a real solution for this?

[Jakobud]

I have to have 3 switches basically.  

1. Rocker Switch for Powerstrip (hacked like the one described above).

2. Button for cpu.  After turning on the power strip, my cpu, marquee light, and tv all have power.  Now I just press this button to actually turn on my cpu

3. Power button for TV.  I have no bezel on my cabinet using a tv because I am using a 24" Sony Wega.  It's silver and looks cool, so I just leave it as is.  The button for this is just the normal power button located on the front of the tv like normal.

I would love to figure out a one button solution...but it won't happen for me.  I couldn't get the keyboard power on to work for my mobo either

Jakobud

[JustMichael]

Have you guys tried pressing several keys at one time?  I believe the keyboard turn on feature requires a certain minimum amount of current to be drawn before it will turn the computer on.  It works with 2 or 3 keys pressed on my old Epox mobo.

[dgodwin]

I have two switches to turn on my cabinet, one for the computer, and the original one for the cabinet and monitor.  

To turn on my Computer, I have a pushbutton wired to the pwr jumper on the motherboard.  I don't have the motherboard in a case, but rather mounted to the bottom of the cabinet itself.  Since the computer is inside a cabinet, I didn't worry about the LED lights, or case speaker.   It works great!  

Daniel

[COBeav]

I don't take any credit for this idea, but I used a 12V relay controlled by the PC's power supply via the hard drive power connector which turns on when the PC is on.  This relay then switches on my 110V AC power strip which connects to the marquee light, monitor and speakers.  This way when I press the power button (mounted on my control panel) the PC turns on followed by the light, monitor and speaker.  When I shut down the PC these devices also automatically turn off.  This setup gives me a simple "one button" solution.

Let me know if anybody needs any more detail on how to wire this up.

Thanks,
COBeav

[genk]

i'm just wondering if you overlooked what i did with the KBPO feature. (probably not, you guys are smarter than me ) but you have to first turn the computer on with the power button, and the computer has to have constant power.  i'm not sure if this helps, but i had to read the manual to figure it out  :-/


-paul

[SteveJ34]

I've been wrapping up a few finishing details, one of which is a single power switch for for all that is contained in the cab.

Thanks to all that responded.

I gave up on KBPO feature and went with wiring an external switch to my case which is just mounted underneath my CP which has a top with hinge for easy access underneath. (This is also where I mounted speaker amp for volume control).

I acquired a 2 prong wire harness from an old case, spliced in some 22 gauge wire and ran this to a momentay push button switch from Radio Shack.

I replaced the p.s. in my case with a 300 watt POWMAX ATX p.s. (acquired from geekworld) which also has an external aux power connector (like what was so common on AT p.s.). To this I just plugged in a monitor power plug which has a regular plug on one end for plugging in the power switch.

I also completed mounting the marquee this weekend and now have single switch which fires up all that is in the cab.

The only item remaining for me is to complete the mounting for lexan which will cover the front....and then getting my kids to stop playing long enough for me to move the whole shebang into the house from the workshop.

Steve

[Jack]

COBeav,

Can you go into detail on how to wire the 12v relay?
Scott did something similar with his unicade, but he did
not go into detail.  I am very interested in hearing how you accomplished this.

[COBeav]

COBeav,

Can you go into detail on how to wire the 12v relay?
Scott did something similar with his unicade, but he did
not go into detail.

[yo]

man

you guys make things so tough...just use reguler push buttons with microswitch...
spice up all the wire to atx power supply..and strip the wire that goes to front of your computer..then spice those 2 wire on normal open and ground...then press 1 arcade button and you cabinet turns on...easy aint it..hope i am helping..good luck

[ErikRuud]

Hey Yo,

Splice, not Spice.

Your idea works, if the PC power supplie already works from a "Momentary" pushbutton.  Mine does not, it physically clicks on and off.

[Jack]

COBeav,

That would be great!  I have been looking for instructions on wiring a relay for quite a while.

Thanks

[ampapa]

Jack,

Just thought I would throw my 2 cents worth in. I use a relay as well to turn on and off my cabinet. It's not very difficult to wire in the relay, the hardest part I thought was finding the correct relay to use because your mixing low voltage with high voltage.

In a "rough" outline, I used a standard power strip with a rocker switch, because it's what was lying around. I removed the rocker switch and installed the relay in it's place. The relay is a DPDT (double pole double thow). I got it from Radio Shack for about $7 (#275-218C). The DPDT relay is needed because it gives you 2 sets of contacts, 1 for the 12 volt power supply the other for 110volt of the power strip if I remember correctly. By using a 12volt connection from your power supply of the PC it acts like a "switch" for the 110volt. You simply install the relay where the rocker switch once was 1 set of contacts for 110volt and the other set of contacts go to 12 volt. Just test it before you apply use it...

Let me know if you need some aditional information. I also have some pics on my website of my relay installed... www.webajm.com/ajmconsulting

[COBeav]

ampapa,

That's the same relay I used and I agree that it's not very difficult to wire up if you know how to read the diagram on the back of the package.  I'll post some pictures this weekend to show people exactly how to wire it up if they are at all confused about this.

I first tried to put mine in the power strip like Scott did, but I ended up breaking my power strip when I tried to take it apart so I just stuffed it into a socket receptacle enclosure along with the socket and then plugged the powerstrip into it.

BTW, I like your cabinet.  I also used Scott's Unicade as the model for my cabinet and I'm very happy with it.

Were you able to contact Scott via email?  I sent him a few emails last year with questions, but he never replied.

Thanks,
COBeav

[ampapa]

COBeav ,

I was able to get in contact with Scott, he was a great help in describing how he created his power on /off switch and why to use a DPDT relay. It's hard to realize and visualize some things without some inside information and descriptions,  not to mention it makes progress go quicker...

I'd be interested in your write up when finished.

Thanks for the remarks...

ampapa,

[COBeav]

I built another power outlet which has one socket which is always on and the other which is switched on when the PC is turned on.  I haven't completed my write-up describing how to do it yet, but I've finished taking all the pictures and I threw together a "web photo album" so if anyone wants to take a look at the pictures just go to http://home.bendcable.com/werstlein.

I plan on creating a "real" web page in the next day or two with text describing all the details.  If anyone has any questions about the pictures feel free to email me at mwerstlein@yahoo.com.

Thanks,
COBeav