How Easy is it to Re-Loacate the power on button

[bob-hepple 48]

Hi

I am A Wheelchair user and want to Re-Locate the power button to the Printer, can anyone tell me if this is possible EASILY in this day and Age UM and Apple have one thing in common other than White, They seem to think its better to put Power button at the back of the machine for some stupid reason.

 

[IRobertI 434]

The absolute easiest way would probably be to connect it to a power strip with an on-off switch that you can put somewhere convenient.

Other than that you'll have to get the soldering iron out and remove the switch from the board and extend it with wires.

Or maybe you could get one of those plugs that you control with a remote? I have no idea what the power rating is on those though.

 

[ultiarjan 1,112]

or maybe put the printer on a lazy susan ? I guess you need to be able to acces the back also for fillament change...

 

[Dim3nsioneer 426]

I recommend you install an easy to reach external switch on the AC side of the power supply. It's any way better to switch the power on the primary side as the PSU itself also draws power if the printer is switched off. And the current is much lower on the AC side.

 

[bob-hepple 48]

Thanks all for the suggestions it is as I thought more involved than I want to spend at moment, Soldering and all that is not a problem, but when there are other Projects on the go, times limited. I have tried the remotes option but when they go Faulty they go off so keep away from them with mills, computers ect. At moment I use external switch on the AC side at power block.

Thanks for the suggestions though as always appreciated.

 

[Titus 170]

I believe you "could just" snap the wires from the switch, desolder them, use proper wire, and relocate the switch to where you want. That being said, you need a basic understanding of soldering and electronics to not mess up things.

The external power switch is advised.

 

[nallath 583]

Re-soldering shouldn't prove to be that hard. But you are right. We totally did not think about wheel chair users when designing this. Kinda feel stupid now. I'll pesker the hardware people next time to at least take it into account.

 

[Daid 285]

I agree with Nallath here. We should improve this (actually, we should be sure to include the "standby" function in the next machine, so you don't even need to use the power button, it will just go into super-lower-power mode on it's own)

Anyhow, for the hacky method. You could just solder 2 wires to the switch, and connect a 2nd switch on there which actually switches the machine on and off, and just leave the button at the back at the off position.

 

[tymon_te 0]

hi. i have a related question. i would like to connect the switch to a relay, that i can control remotely. unfortunately i'm a total noob when it comes to electronics.

i understand that i can solder two wires to the switch, without having to desolder the switch.

but why does the switch have 3 pins, not 2? which ones do i solder?

it should be really simple but i'm scared of ruining the main board.

please advise.

 

[nallath 583]

I'm not very good with electronics, but I believe that the switch has two states; pin 1 connects with 2 on state 1 and pin1 connects with 3 on state 3.

 

[aviphysics 9]

I'm not very good with electronics, but I believe that the switch has two states; pin 1 connects with 2 on state 1 and pin1 connects with 3 on state 2.

 

*Fixed*

Easiest way to figure with pins to use might be to solder wires to all three pins and probe the voltages with the machine on.(the wires are just so you can have the machine assembled while you probe with the power on). The wires that are at the same potential with the machine on (will read 0V relative to each other) are the one that you want to wire the second switch across. You can just cut out the third wire. Turn the machine off and probe the wires again to find out which is + and which is -.