So I’ve accidentally ripped off the tiny SMT momentary switch from a mainboard. Pads seem serviceable. Or at least I can short them and turn it on. I need a replacement. I see three options:
find a suitable replacement SMT switch
solder on a wired switch (or maybe a 2-pin header / connector)
use Arya / CRImier’s input connector breakout
1’s okay, but I have no idea what to buy. Ideally something a bit more reliable and durable than the OEM one.
Plus, the end place for this (and others) is a “headless portable” case that I’ve designed. Battery + Mainboard + Wifi Card + Antenna + Speakers. The power button is by FAR the most finicky bit, so replacing it entirely with a wired switch may be a better option. If so:
3’s the cleanest, but kinda expensive just for a power switch header.
2’s fine but kludgy. And if I’m doing it for all mobo’s, it requires irreversibly altering the board.
Thanks. Yeah, the jumper wire (or wired momentary switch) will definitely work. I can short the pads with my calipers to turn it on. Was just hoping there was a viable fourth option like some hidden switch pads somewhere. Mostly because I’m hoping to use this opportunity to improve my 3d printed case design to eliminate the button “plunger” and I’d like to make it a “don’t irreversibly mod your mainboard” solution if possible.
My “button” is what caused the switch to pop off in the first place. That little switch is most definitely not intended to be used as anything other than a tool for testing the PCB.
The button is definitely tiny. And due to also being surface mounted, too much lateral force can shear it off the pads. A different button choice would have been better for users creating their own case designs.
But I have to mention that the CoolerMaster case uses that button. Seemingly without issue. As does the 3D-printable case that Framework has shared.
It may be that the board I have (an original i5-1135 that was provided for free long ago) had an old switch SKU or (more likely) a defective one. But it was finicky to the point of madness. Just pressing it with a flat object wouldn’t trigger it. It took a very specific angle and pinpoint accuracy. Any 3d printed button (including the framework one) would work sometimes and then not others due to the plastic deforming slightly if you pressed the button off-center. I’d been trying to perfect a button design that wouldn’t deflect (quite difficult since flexibility is needed for “pressing” and deformation comes with flexibility) when this happened.
I’m sure the injection molded CM case is fine since the tolerances and deformation characteristics are vastly superior to 3D printing. And again, maybe my board had a defective switch. But at least for me it was a pain-point from day 1 for what I’m trying to accomplish.
I’m receiving a new AMD board Wednesday. I’ll see if the same switch issues are present with that one.
It’s the same style, but my old one was definitely defective. This one is WAY easier to press. My original one really couldn’t be pressed with a blunt object. Had to get something in at an angle. I’m guessing it was defective to start with or damaged in production…maybe a frisky pick-and-place.
That said, it’s STILL not a great choice…in hindsight. I totally understand that the mainboard wasn’t designed to be a DIY’ers dream, and you definitely can’t just change it now that it’s got a DIY ecosystem surrounding it. But it would be nice to see Framework add a third option (button, input connector, ____) perhaps in the form of some solder pads. Or maybe even better, just a 1st party input connector adapter.
I’ll finish my case with a choice between built-in button and external, wired one). Choice is good. But I’ll be choosing the wired switch as my use case will require it to be kinda rugged. So it looks like Arya’s getting some of my business.
I’m working on a mainboard project at the moment, and I wanted access to the entire pinout from the male Amphenol 10156001-051100LF connector (i.e. switch plus other stuff) that Nirav cited.
Arya’s is great, but shipping from Europe is not a good long-term solution for me personally. @mrwm made a breakout board available through oshpark — just ordered a few, will update once I have them in hand, but thought it’d be nice to mention a more convenient alternative!
Thanks! That looks like a great solution for prototyping. I’m a bit space constrained so that particular one wouldn’t work for my enclosure, but may get one (or 3) for testing. Looks like it’s just the PCB, though. I wish that Oshpark did basic assembly as mounting that connector with so many tiny pins is difficult for me…
Turns out that board is very sloppily done, P1-P8 are all bridged (on the gerber). Soldering .5mm pitch SMDs is hard enough on its own, but becomes infuriating when you start wondering how the hell you’ve bridged 8 pins!
Yikes! Thanks for the update, and I’m sorry to hear that it’s not working well. And yeah, 0.5mm SMD certainly would be a near impossibility for me. Coincidentally, I just today received my shipment from Arya. Seems a nice board, though I’ve not yet soldered a switch to it. There’s a lot of room on the mainboard by the connector, so I wish that it were a bit bigger with true through-hole pads to make it friendlier for novice, fat-fingered solder dinguses like me, but I think it’ll work. Given that the entire thing is open source (https://github.com/CRImier/MyKiCad/tree/master/Laptop%20mods/framework_input_brkt_smol) maybe they can just as easily be ordered direct and preassembled by PCBway or similar.
