Cover guard for buttons to prevent accidental pushing?

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

I'm going to wire my MAME cab's PC's power button to one of the standard arcade buttons on my SlikStik Quad.  Of course, I don't want to have somebody press it accidentally & shut off the computer in mid-game.

Are there products like this http://purplecranium.com/wsm/i-160_froogle.html or http://www.action-electronics.com/switches.htm#Safety that can be used in conjunction w/ arcade buttons?  They have the added cool-factor of looking like an important button, like a nuclear missile launcher or something... :]

Thanks,
-J

[leapinlew]

I suppose you could wire the ground to another button that has to be pressed to activate and then it would take 2 buttons to power down.

In fact, you could make them both keys. Turn them both at the same time to turn off the machine - like a nuclear missle silo.

Most of us just hide the button though.

[Flip_Willie]

In fact, you could make them both keys. Turn them both at the same time to turn off the machine - like a nuclear missle silo.

  That is a great idea.  I will have to do that on my next project!

Just as it is,
Flip Willie

[Tiger-Heli]

You could:

1) Just wire the purple cranium button as is into the power supply and mount to the arcade cab.

2) Recess the button below panel level so it is harder to accidentally push.

3) Hide the button on top of the cab or under the marquee area or under the CP.

4) Combine two buttons together like lew said.

[grundle]

That Purple Cranium button is meant to easily turn OFF.  You have to have the switch cover up to flip the switch on, then when you close the cover, it automatically turns the switch off.  So I would imagine that accidental power offs will be more likely.

[Tiger-Heli]

That Purple Cranium button is meant to easily turn OFF.  You have to have the switch cover up to flip the switch on, then when you close the cover, it automatically turns the switch off.  So I would imagine that accidental power offs will be more likely.

Unless you wire it backwards so that down is ON and you flip the guard and flip the switch to turn it OFF.

[Extreme8]

That Purple Cranium button is meant to easily turn OFF.  You have to have the switch cover up to flip the switch on, then when you close the cover, it automatically turns the switch off.  So I would imagine that accidental power offs will be more likely.

You could use a momentary contact toggle with the switch cover.
Push the toggle up to fire up the pc, release and let the switch snap back, close the cover. Now it's protected against accidental shut-down.

I'm building a new CP now using one of these to cover the "esc" switch. It's a Nascar theme and I'm integrating a panel with several toggles for FE navigation, johnny5, etc.

I hope it will look similar to a race car ignition/accessory panel. If it doesn't I guess I just won't mount it.

FYI, my power switch is recessed into the back of the cab. That's where I seem to remember them being in the olden days.

[DarkBubble]

You could always recess the button and add a hinged, flushmount door painted with the old black/yellow danger stripes.  I was thinking of doing that with my standalone control panel, but to cover the ethernet patch panel that will probably make its way into it.

[grundle]

You could use a momentary contact toggle with the switch cover.
Push the toggle up to fire up the pc, release and let the switch snap back, close the cover. Now it's protected against accidental shut-down.

I'm building a new CP now using one of these to cover the "esc" switch. It's a Nascar theme and I'm integrating a panel with several toggles for FE navigation, johnny5, etc.

I hope it will look similar to a race car ignition/accessory panel. If it doesn't I guess I just won't mount it.

FYI, my power switch is recessed into the back of the cab. That's where I seem to remember them being in the olden days.

That's a great idea.  I hadn't thought of that.  This is definitely what you should do.

[horseboy]

Here is a good example.

[jasonbar]

Thanks for all your ideas & feedback.  Here are some further criteria that led me to my solution:

1 - I want the power switch easy to find but hard to activate, so putting it on top of or behind the cabinet didn't sound attractive.

2 - Using the toggle switch & toggle switch cover idea that I mentioned wasn't good, since closing the cover activates the switch, plus a toggle switch left in one position may power off the computer (holding power button for 6 seconds shuts it down--I don't know if I was clear before, but this will be wired to the PC's "soft" switch, not an actual power interruptor in the A/C voltage).

3 - I don't think the average Joe would be familiar w/ a sprung momentary toggle switch.

4 - I didn't want to build up a fancy cover--I've got enough work ahead of me on this project as it is--yikes!

5 - I'd rather not have keys that could get lost/broken



So, I found this pair of products that should do the trick.

A neat little momentary red low-profile pushbutton:
http://www.itcelectronics.com/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=26&products_id=3726&osCsid=9cb6cae20c25039c503507bf6244aff1
and a low-profile sprung cover meant for key switches:
http://www.marvac.com/detail.aspx?ID=25108


The only catch is that the switch is meant to snap into a thin metal control panel & I'm burying it into a .800" deep pressboard panel, so I'll probably end up using prodigious amounts of glue, since I can't get a nut on the back to cinch the switch down snug.

-Jason