# Power Button...hack I guess?



## TRaV MaNN (Dec 13, 2010)

Had some water damage to my computer and am trying to rule the cheap things out. The water landed on top of my case and didn't really get into the compartment, but a little dripped down the front. CD drives could be shot but the HD(located in the front on mine) was dry. 

Bascially I think the power button was messed up in the process(it sits on top). I need to figure out a way to simulate a power button to make my motherboard think it was hit. Lights turn on the motherboard so I'm hoping it's just the buttons that were affected.


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

If this is a desk top computer, that would be easy. Trace the Off/on wire down to the motherboard (front panel header) (pwr/sw) where it connects to the motherboard. Pull the wire (two wires) off from the two pins on the front panel header.....then take a screwdriver or paper clip and short across those two pins on the motherboard (only for a second). If it is a bad switch, the computer will turn on, and if it doesn't turn on, then start looking elsewhere for the problem.


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## TRaV MaNN (Dec 13, 2010)

Well that didn't work. How about checking to see if the PSU is faulty or not, or how woild I do that? I just bought it about 1 month ago. Maybe someone can tell me if I bought ***** products or not.

PSU is a Thermaltake TR2 600w: Newegg.com - Thermaltake TR2 W0388RU 600W ATX 12V v2.2 Power Supply

Motherboard is an IB9: Newegg.com - ABIT IB9 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

Shorting out only the power switch of a computer should have had no lasting ill effect at all; about all you would accomplish by doing this would be to turn off your computer.

You can purchase a plug-in power supply tester or use a multimeter to test the PSU but I wouldn't think a little water landing on top of your case and dripping down the front would affect it much. Water dripping down into the CPU socket or memory slots is another matter, especially if the computer was running at the time.

Unless you are absolutely sure that no water at all entered the case at all I'd remove the CPU and unseat the RAM and all cards then remove the motherboard from the case and let the system dry completely, for several days if need be.

A family member recently decided to wash an electronic appliance in the sink because it had some food on it. Afterward it was "turned on" but to no avail. I disassembled it and found water lurking in several places around the circuit board. After a few days sitting on the counter it dried out and now works just fine.


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## TRaV MaNN (Dec 13, 2010)

Guess I'll give the drying out idea a try. I can't say I'm sure because I was tired when I fugured out it wouldn't work and let it sit for about 12 hours so the evidence may have dried. Will take it out tomorrow and hope for the best.

Another thing if anyone has heard of. When building the computer, I had to tweak how far the screws that secured the mobo to the case would go in. If screwed in too tight, nothing would work. So a few of the screws were barely screwed in if at all. I know it's a separate issue but it just seems a little weird.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

TRaV MaNN said:


> When building the computer, I had to tweak how far the screws that secured the mobo to the case would go in. If screwed in too tight, nothing would work.


When your motherboard is out carefully examine its reverse surface. There may be a solder "tail" sticking out too far and grounding to a standoff or your case.

After you are sure that it is dry bench test your system on a non conductive surface per the instructions in the building forum. If it runs OK then you might try using slightly longer standoffs and/or or placing a piece of electrical tape over anything that looks like it is sticking out too far.

Of course it goes without saying that you should only place standoffs in your case directly below the holes in your motherboard. If there are "extra" ones it's a sure bet that some are grounding to your motherboard.


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## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f255/how-to-bench-test-your-system-171424.html


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