Coolermaster N500 power button not working

[Anubrata Khan]

Hi! I have a Coolermaster N500 case and I am using it for the past couple years but lately the power button is creating a lot of problem.Most of the time pressing the button wont start the computer until I press it really hard at the corners and it's getting worse by the day.Each time I have to press 5 or 6 times and try different positions before it actually powers up the system. Could you please suggest a fix for this? I really dont want to carry it miles away to the service centre and that too when it's out of warranty.
Thanks

 

[tsnor]

These switches fail.

For some cases power buttons are not hard to replace. I bought my replacement for $5. You need an INTERMITTENT switch, but if you search for PC power button your will find them easily.

First see what your current switch looks like, remove it from case. That'll tell you if you can just insert a generic replacement. For example, some of my PC cases the button comes off with one nut, and it's clear that any shape button will work. For some of my other cases (HP refurbs) only an HP button will work. That you could get used on ebay.

 

[tsnor]

oh, forgot. On some cases, if you have a RESET switch on the case you can swap the leads from the power button and the reset button where they attach on the MB, and just use the reset as the power switch. The cases where this works is ones with seperate leads for power and reset. The ones it won't work on are the one where all the leads are wired into a single plug the goes on a MB header.

 

[Anubrata Khan]

I removed the front panel and the circuit looks like this - https://goo.gl/photos/ANumXUrLm737fUfs7
Coolermaster won't sell me this thing and generic switches would look ugly so all I can do is use the reset switch as the power. 🙁
Never buying CM again.
Sorry for the late reply.

 

[tsnor]

Glad the reset switch worked for you. Surprised CM didn't stand up for product and send you the replacement part. Assume you are over a year so out of warranty. Did they even offer to sell you something? (Sometimes these things are so integrated that they can't sell you anything except 1/4 of the case, but you'd think they'd have a $10 assembly that would work for you.)

Suggest you send a few emails pointing at this thread to CM, hit their website to see if you can post something. Costs nothing, and maybe their social media team will help. Suggest you also start updating the product reviews on Amazon, newegg, etc. with reviews says your power switch failed, you can't find parts and wish CM would help.

Good luck.

update: final thought. The knobs that control volume on guitars sometimes get noisy. You spray the inside of the pot attached to the knob with "Contact Cleaner" and everything starts working again. I suspect your switch is just broken inside, but if it is just coroded and you can see a way to spray inside it you might be able to get the switch going again. Be careful about overspray into your PC, MB etc if you try this. This is contact cleaner, read the reviews: (the link is not working, search for this on Amazon: DeoxITLiquid, squeeze tube 100% solution 2 mL, $6.50 ) I use a spray can, the liquid i linked might be easier for you.

 

[Anubrata Khan]

Thanks tsnor! Sorry I was busy lately and couldn't reply and also I didn't receive any notifications...
Well it's a good idea to contact coolermaster on this. I will reach out to them on their Facebook page or something.
And do you think the contact cleaner would work in my situation? I will definitely give it a go though...
BTW did you take look at the image that I linked? What do you think about that switch?
Thanks again.