Power Switch Advice

[deadn0tsleeping]

Hello there.

 

I am working on completing a PC built in the shell of a 90's payphone. More info - 

 

 

So while I wait for the parts to arrive I'll be working on the Power switch and getting the Handset to work with the PC. 

 

I have done some research and know I need a momentary switch and have seen a whole lot of ones like these - https://www.newegg.com/p/0X6-04KT-0UVZ4?Description=momentary switch&cm_re=momentary_switch-_-0X6-04KT-0UVZ4-_-Product

 

Thing is, I have my "switch" already, I just need to find out the best way to make it work for the power. Here is the mechanism on the back side of the Coin Return lever - https://imgur.com/a/Xem1A8K

 

So now I need to find out how to turn that mechanism into the momentary switch. My first thought was to just buy one of the above PC 'buttons' from Newegg and just mount it in a way that the L shaped metal piece will press the button when I pull the lever. Other than that, I don't know how I would do it. Anyone have a better idea? Any thoughts? Thanks in advance.

 

[Windows7ge]

Since the return knob in itself is already a momentary mechanism I wonder if you couldn't just modify the existing bumper to touch two pieces of wire together. I think it'd withstand more cycles than modding factory momentary switch into the system.

 

I'll explain my idea more in a little while.

[deadn0tsleeping]

27 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Since the return knob in itself is already a momentary mechanism I wonder if you couldn't just modify the existing bumper to touch two pieces of wire together. I think it'd withstand more cycles than modding factory momentary switch into the system.

 

I'll explain my idea more in a little while.

Makes sense. I appreciate it, I knew there would be an easier way. I wonder if I could pull the power button out of an old PC and just use the wires. I really appreciate the input and feel free to explain more, I'm definitely a noob when it comes to wiring. 

[Windows7ge]

22 minutes ago, deadn0tsleeping said:

Makes sense. I appreciate it, I knew there would be an easier way. I wonder if I could pull the power button out of an old PC and just use the wires. I really appreciate the input and feel free to explain more, I'm definitely a noob when it comes to wiring. 

Well there's literally nothing special about PC front panel switches. They just touch two conductive wires together. I wonder if you couldn't just mount a conductive material to this roller/bumper looking thing and have it touch another conductive material where it looks to rest when actuated.

 

 

Solder wires leading to each conductor and you have a coin return momentary switch .

 

Any chance you have a 3D printer? It could be really useful here.

[deadn0tsleeping]

6 hours ago, Windows7ge said:

Solder wires leading to each conductor and you have a coin return momentary switch .

 

Any chance you have a 3D printer? It could be really useful here.

No 3D printer yet. On the horizon, though. Been practicing soldering a bunch lately, fixed my old Samsung LCD TV recently. Thank you for your input, I haven't gotten a lot of feedback but yours has helped immensely. I have a few trash PC's to cannibalize, I think I can get it done.

 

My next stage is to find out if I should just buy a USB payphone handset for $50 and swap it for the current one or figure out how to convert my current handset to interface with a modern PC mobo. Know anything about that? On the 6th picture of the 'gutting it' album, it shows the 4 wires coming from the payphone handset. From my research, 2 are Speaker and ground and 2 are Mic and ground. Would it be easy to convert this to interface with the mobo to be a speaker and mic or would it be easier to just swap the handset with a usb I can plug and play?

 

I appreciate your help.

[Windows7ge]

For the speaker you may need an audio amplifier. I don't know how much resistance the speaker coil has but I have a hard time believing you'll be able to drive it off the small onboard amp. You can try it but I don't know if it might damage it.

 

The Mic might work as is. Again I don't know how it works or how much power it needs. Or how it would sound to people on the other end. You might need to boost the power to get a more audible input signal.

 

What I might do is gut the insides of the handset and gut an inexpensive but decent headset/mic. Then you just mount one speaker and the mic into place. It would be much less headache to drive and you could keep the original exterior portion of the handset.