Computer repair

My son took his computer into a computer repair shop early last week and his
wife collected it yesterday. It had a broken on and off switch,
he has two teenagers who are rather heavy handed, the shop charged £66.00
and it is no better!!! The shop does not open until Monday when he will be
taking it back.
Is it easy to fix this problem yourself?? My son is very capable as he
repairs cars and motor cycles??
(Note to BoyPete - this shop is in Bexleyheath). Any advice please.

pmj...

Most On/Off Switches(Buttons) on a PC are actually just a (Spring
Loaded) thing on the Front of the Case, which then presses on the
actual On/Off Switch.

The switch itself may not have actually broken, but the Button which
presses onto it often breaks (or the Spring which is behind it breaks
or goes off centre).

Also, the "Spring" is sometimes not actually a proper metal Spring,
but just a bit of "springy" plastic, which can easily shear & break.

The actual switch is (usually) an "industry standard" type Switch,
which costs about 10 or 15 pence, but the Plastic Button Assembly on
the front Panel will be different for each different type of PC Case.
& can be very expensive to obtain a replacement for (that's *if* you
*can* actually get a replacement at all)

They (the Button which presses the actual Switch) can be virtually
impossible to repair so would need to be replaced & they can also
be very difficult to replace, cos the plastic "spring" bit is
heat-welded to the rest of the front panel, so you have to replace
the whole front panel, which can't always be done, if you can't get
a new front panel, so may firms end up trying to do what is basically
just a "bodge" type repair.

As it happens the Button on the front of my (Medion) PC is suffering
that same problem.
:-(

The Plastic "springy" bit that makes the Button on the Front return,
when you Press it has broken on one side, so the Button itself no
longer presses in in a straight line & so it "binds" up.

But the actual Switch itself (which is *behind* the Button) is OK.
I have just (temporarily) taken the Plastic Button off & just press
directly on the actual On/Off Switch behind it.

Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°°6 +...

I suppose it depends how it has broken Jackie. I 'broke' the onr on my

neil...

£66 sounds reasonable for a small job - including time, overheads, admin,
vat calc and all the other stuff businesses have to do, even if the switch

pmj...

& also, to cover the times when someone brings it back (cos the first
repair didn't work out) & so they have to do a *second* repair, Free
of Charge.

just needed popping back into place. Like a visit to a garage to have a new
brake-light bulb installed.

Rabbit...

If my nice garage man charged me anything like £66 to replace a light bulb I

Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°°6 +...

Me neither!

wouldn't be back.

just a thought, how about getting a new case ?
retail for £20 to £100 - Maplin, Scan, Dabs, Misco ...
might get a nice colour one...
it's easy to move things across, just need to keep all the little screws
(4/40 mostly)
but Maplin, RS and Farnell do a range of them, and the little plastic
standoffs if needed.

If he fixes cars then the mechanical side of it should be a total doddle -
the most difficult problem I can think of is the motherboard might have
different number of support bits (m3 tapped studs usually or plastic clips.
Almost all PCs made in the last few years have pretty standard fittings for
drives and motherboard. The new case will most likely include a power
supply - need to make sure that the plug to go to the mboard is the same as
there are a couple of varieties.
Motherboards are pretty standard too, just a couple of variants which the
new case will cater for.

Jackie...

Hello Neil, nice to meet you.
He would not have minded the £66. charge if it was fixed but it isn't, still
does not work.
He will be in the shop tomorrow to sort it out.
Thanks for the help, I did think about a new case.

Windows 98 pooter a couple of years ago by depressing it too firmly. In
fact all hat had happened that the underlying switch had beenpushed out of
it's plastic retaining clip. Once I had gained access to the rear of the
front panel, it was just a matter of simply pushing it back into the clip.
I suppose that different towers have different means of entry, some being
more difficult and time consuming than others, but £60 seems steep tp me,
even if the switch was genuinely broken and had to be replaced. I would
think they only cost a few pence. I would ask the shop for an itemised
bill of all parts that had to be replaced and the time and labour that were
needed to do the job.

Jackie...

He is going back to the shop Monday, see my reply to BoyPete for how it is

Flyiñg Ñuñ 2°°6 +...

Sounds like it's a bit worn then. Or again it could still be only badly
located (or loose) behind the push button that is a separate item from the
switch itself. Well it is on my tower.

broken.

BoyPete...

Name the shop............I don't know any in B/heath.
Every case has a different size/shape switch and getting a replacement can
be a problem. However, if one is available, fitting is easy.
Just how is it 'broken'?

Jackie...

Not sure of the name of the shop, my son lives opposite the Woolwich and the
shop is just a few doors down near the pub!
He says the switch is worn sometimes it starts up and others it does not
start it all properly.

BoyPete...

Oh right, I know the place but have never been in cos there is nowhere to
park.
What make is the poota and how old?

Jackie...

Sorry I can't answer that now, I think it is about 3 years, possibly a Dell
and I am away on Monday - know what I mean!!!
Just hope the shop sorts it out for him. The shop is supposed to have fitted
a new switch!!