My computer broke, so I fixed it. With duct tape.

Quizzical · September 2014

Yesterday morning, I tried to turn my computer on and nothing happened. Power button goes down, power button comes up, and nothing happens. No lights, no noise, nothing. Fans didn't spin, monitors didn't power up, and so forth. The room lights were on, so it wasn't a power outage. I checked the UPS that the computer is plugged into, and it was working fine.

Any guesses as to what was wrong?

I didn't have time to deal with it yesterday. Today, I took it apart and found the problem: the power button wasn't attached to anything. The case had an external button as part of the front of the case, and an internal button with a wire that connected to the motherboard to tell it that the power button had been pressed. Ordinarily the external and internal buttons were attached, held together by two small clips so that pressing the external button forced the internal button down. But one of the clips broke, so they no longer touched. The other clip was fine, so the buttons only came apart at a certain angle. I used duct tape to hold the wire at a different angle, and now it seems to be fine.

I don't know how long this will last. If it breaks again, I'll probably replace the case. But I wouldn't be that surprised if it holds until I replace the computer entirely, which I'm tentatively planning on doing next year.

Curra · September 2014

I had a similar problem about a year ago. I could have purchased a new bezel complete with power
button for around $20 from Thermaltake but my wife glued the broken bits with Tarzan's Grip and
I've had no problem since!

WaldoCorn · September 2014

Far out fix man.

I keep threatening to build my own case. Sick of all the plastic breaking stupidity, and jimmy rigging things back together.

But I never will, gone are the days of mocking, fabricating, and testing, for me.

Besides, Superglue, and sheet metal screws, and Velcro, and Duct tape,,, tell a story of a marvelous journey......

Oh hell with it, well done. lol, glad ya got it fixed

syntax42 · September 2014

I'm using a power switch from a computer case from the late 1980s. They made those thing so durable they last for millions of presses. It has a nice clunk, click sound when it is pressed and released.

I have the button zip-tied to my custom case that I hacked together from another old computer case and a pelican case. If aesthetics don't matter to you, the power "button" could be as crude as two wires you manually short together when you want to turn the system on.

Ridelynn · September 2014

I've had computer cases be the box the motherboard came in. I don't recommend it, but cases aren't exactly high tech. I've always wanted to make one out of Legos, but I'm afraid that would cost a lot.

You can just jump/short the power on pins on the motherboard header momentarily to start the computer without a switch. I used to use a pocket knife, screwdriver, or a penny.

Nice fix - definitely better than needing to jump start your motherboard.

Unknown · September 2014

Front panels and external buttons are overrated! My PC wouldn't fit in the desk's cabinet with the front panel on. Simple fix, front panel moved to trash.