Greetings, My power switch seems broke (won't p

[BrianS]

Greetings,
My power switch seems broke (won't power up, doesn't slide smoothly). I'm emailing support so I can get a RMA number, but I can't get an estimate on repair costs. Obviously, if its a lot and could try to rig something else, or buy a used unit (I wouldn't think it would cost that much). I bought my unit in 07/2003 so its out of warranty.

So, has anyone repaired this themselves or had gone through this process and have an estimate on what it cost?

Otherwise, the unit has been great to this point.
Thanks in advance.

Brian

[ChrisParis]

Yes, I did my own repair on this. Let me draw out a quick diagram of what I did, and you can do the same. All you need is a pen cap and some dogged determination.

Might void the warranty, though, because you have to open the case. Or not. Not sure.

Give me an hour or so to repost here.

[BrianS]

I would appreciate it and would save it for future reference. I just got back from UPS to ship it back. We'll see what happens.

So if you get this before you begin drawing it out, I'll leave it up to you to invest the time. Thanks though for your response.

Brian

[JCP777]

Chris,
If you have time, I would like to see a drawing of your fix.
Thanks,
Jim

[ChrisParis]

No problem.

Here's what your switch looks like in cross section, if you were to take the back off and look down:

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It is one piece, but the part highlighted in red is thin and is what probably broke (as it did in my M1300.)

When you slide the external switch to the right, it pushes an internal lever that is on the motherboard. That is the "real" power switch.

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If the tab is broken, the external switch just slides back and forth, and does not push against the motherboard power switch. If the little tab gets stuck in there, it may even be difficult to push, or may not move at all.

Here's what you have to do. First, take out your battery and unplug your tablet so that it has no power. Ground yourself. Then, take apart your Motion with a hammer and chisel. Just kidding. Unscrew all the screws on the back, pry off both plastic end caps, and the back should pop off. You may have to disconnect two cables, but they are easy to put back on later.

Examine where the power switch is inside. If your problem is the same as mine, the tab will be broken off entirely, or bent. Using tweezers, you need to break it off completely and pull it out. It's not doing you any good as it is anyway. Be careful not to disconnect the spring from the external power switch... that will be a bear to get back in place if you do.

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Then, you need to replace the tab with something that will fit into the space left behind by the removed tab, but which will also allow the switch to move back and forth and press against the motherboard lever.

What I did was carve a small cube of plastic from a pen top and stuck it in the space. I took my time so that the piece was the same width as the broken plastic tab, but a bit taller so it wouldn't fall out as soon as I closed up the unit.

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Sure it's tricky, but you have opposable thumbs and higher brain functions, so just imagine how hard it would be if you were a lemur.

Once you get something inthere to replace the broken tab, slide the switch to make sure it works. Be aware that if you have your unit plugged in, or if the battery is in, the tablet will come on. And because you still have those two cables disconnected, it may explode. Well, I'm just guessing that's what would happen, I didn't try it.

Once that's all done, put the back and end caps back on and you're all set. My switch is now more robust and error-free since I did it.

A bit harder than making a paper airplane, but definitely less difficult than a home vasectomy.

[JCP777]

Chris,

Thanks for the drawings. They might come in handy some day.
A similar thing happened on my HP2500 printer. "Cheap plastic tab that spring attaches to brings down expensive printer" was the title of that headline.

Jim

[ChrisParis]

Yes, the external power switch on the Motion really should be aluminum or something sturdier.

[Jim Artis]

Your explanation and sketches are very good Chris [thumbsup]
All done with a tablet, no less.

[jcaldwell]

Chris,
I am impressed. Have you done anything more invasive?
Brian, please give a followup report as to the outcome.

[BrianS]

...and one that actually powers up.

Brian

[BrianS]

jcaldwell,

I will give updates. UPS reports it left Indy this morning. Motion should receive by EOB tomorrow (I picked 2nd day air). I've been emailing with Motion (Martin) and he's been very responsive. He indicates I should get it back by Tue/Wed of next week.

Brian

[BrianS]

Chris,
I looks like I'll be using your drawing after all. Motion just called and wanted $646 to fix the power switch. After I caught my breath (thinking I'm in the wrong business), I told them to ship it back. My limit was $200.

Paulr, a couple of feedback items:
1. I had asked for a quote before sending. Martin could not give provide me one (I let him know it was out of warranty). I paid to ship it and I lost a week. I would think some repair schedule could be published indicating common repair costs.
2. I called back and talked to Shane asking if I would receive a tracking number when it was sent back to me via email. One would think this could be provided.
3. I love my Motion... but I will have to re-consider vendor when I upgrade.

But all is not lost. My wife has fallen in love with me again... since I have not had my 2 hands all over 'Tabby' for the past 5 days.

Brian

[Jim Artis]

What a story. [8D]

Brian is in LOVE [with his wife] and Chris deserves at least 50% of Motion's repair cost.

[BrianS]

After taking some time to cool down and think straight, I called back to ask what exactly was wrong with the unit (my above post still assumed it was the power switch and I didn't realize to ask during the initial call). "Motherboard and Processor".... not to many options at this point.

Paulr... I retrack my above comments. My wife approved the repair, but at a cost of delaying my refresh by a year. So who knows which vendors will be providing Tablets in 2.5 years.

Brian

[Jim Artis]

You have us hooked. [pirate]
What else did they say was wrong [?]

Sorry Chris, looks like no 50% :(

[BrianS]

Thinking about this more, on Sunday night I was using the system. I had to go to work so I slide the power switch to put it into Standby. It didn't work after several tries. Not thinking, I used the the OS to go into standby, which it did (this tells me the motherboard and processor were working fine). I got to work and it wouldn't come out of standby and hasn't since, thus my shipping back on Monday.

So I just called and talked to Shane. I asked to have the diagnoses re-evaluated, since the OS was running fine. I also asked that someone call me and I gave them my cell phone number. I've sent a separate note to Paulr with the case number.

Anyone have any other thoughts? I'm totally at the mercy of the technicians/company doing the repair.

Thanks,

Brian

[ChrisParis]

Be careful! If your problem isn't the broken-switch-tab thing, you'll have to send it back again!

[Jim Artis]

Well,

Knowing that, I would have attempted to isolate. I guess not coming on, means not coming on. If the BIOS Splash does not show, that says dead, if it does, I would have tried a USB boot. I'm taking from what you have written, THE TPC DOES NOT COME ON. That says power or the "jumper--power switch" that causes the TPC to return from suspend or hibernate [here I may have removed the HDD to see what happens when turned on, again to isolate].

Other ideas are forthcoming...

[BrianS]

Chris,
I agree. That's why I'm not totally against paying for the repair if it IS the motherboard/processor, but considering I suspect the switch because it wouldn't put it into standby while it was running, I'm asking Motion and technician to make sure that's the problem. I know I'm at their complete mercy, but I still believe the switch failed Sunday night while the system was running. But could something of happened during shipping.

Jim, it does not come on. No splash screen. No sound/beeps... the only sign of life was the amber, then green light for charging the battery. But I'm pretty sure the motherboard isn't controlling that.

Thanks,
Brian

[ChrisParis]

That does sound a lot like the broken switch... those are the same symptoms. Basically the external switch is sliding back and forth, but the interior switch isn't moving, so nothing's happening.

[BrianS]

Motion called back today. There are 2 problems:
1. The switch is broke.
2. My PCMCIA slot is broke. This will require the motherboard to be replaced.

Since I didn't even know the PCMCIA slot was broke and I haven't used it in a year and a half, I asked that they fix the power switch and send it back.

Now hoping for a quick turnaround and no problems with it when I get it back.

Brian

[ChrisParis]

I hope they didn't break the PCMCIA slot trying to fit the switch.

[DNAtes]

Once again all of you have saved my life. I woke this moring and turned on my tablet and the slide moved but no little lights blinked. Having read this post just before I ordered my M1300, I just looked it up. Thanks Chris.

I would send it in, but I am leaving the country for Tonga and I need it to travel with me. I hate gateway. I'll post again on how the fix works.

DNAtes

[DNAtes]

Good news Started the repair, but noticed that the switch was not broken. I think it got unset. I put some pressure on it and then I put it back together. Now it works and the switch feels sturdier.

[ChrisParis]

Great. Good to know that this doesn't always require a complicated fix.

[LonBe Me]

I did almost the same exact operation and it works like a charm.

I wonder if Motion would just sell the part for us to replace?

[stergios]

For anyone that wants to replace a broken power switch
on a M1300, the part number would be:

Panasonic: ESD-165226
Digikey: P11158SCT-ND

It is a $2.12 smd switch.
The area on the pcb near the switch is clean
and the pads are relatively large and spaced.

[LonBe Me]

Thanks, but it's the plastic outer part that broke. THat's the part # that would be great now.
Good to know the other one though just in case

[BrianS]

After my repair in December, the power switch broke again today. An hour later it was fixed thanks to Chris' drawing and a section of a Q-Tip (plastic). I also had to send my M1300 in back in March because of the Sudden Death Syndrome.... so I'm not to happy with the failures.

[ChrisParis]

Glad to see my lame-o drawings were helpful! I wanted to take pictures of the repair, but I was on the road at the time and had to work with whatever I had in the hotel room.

[aarondahl]

So I had the same problem with my Tablet. I had the machine on, and could not get it to go into hibernate (as I have it set to do when I hit the power switch), but this has previously been a XP problem, so Ctrl+Alt+Del and power down, then I couldn't get it back on.

I dug out my old laptop and logged on to this site. After reading the above, I figured I could tackle it. Instead of the plastic cube, I used a small nail (as in hammer and..) and wrapped it with electrical tape. Using a tweezer, I applied some Krazy glue to the fashioned nail, and stuck it between the remaining stub of plastic on the unit switch and the little, tiny, plastic power tab on the mother board. I was a bit tedious, but it got the job done.

If you have this problem, be thankful that it involves no loss of data, and it is something a novice can fix, bad news is, you have to take the back off the unit (I did not have to disconnect any cables, I was able to do it with the top and bottom half somewhat close - sort of siamese if you will..). You have to be a bit patient with it. Total time would have been about 1 1/2 hours from start to finish if I didn't have to run to the store to get glue.

[Jim Artis]

Thanks Chris Paris,

My Motion M1400 survived its 1st year and in now 13 moths old.

Yesterday my M1400 would not come on. I called Motion Technical Support, spoke with Rick. Through our telephonic diagnostics, he felt the problem was likely the motherboard. He issued an RMA. I did more diagnostics and determined the external power switch slider depicted in Chris' drawings above is broken.

Rather than apply the fix described here, I thought I see if I can purchase the part from Motion. NO LUCK!

The tech and tech supervisor says Motion does not send out parts for repair and does NOT grant exceptions. I estimate the part to be a dollar part. For Motion repair, I must send them the TPC. If the cost estimate stated above are near correct. This does not pass the common sense test.

I have disassembled my M1400. I can replace the switch. I will now apply Chris' modification.

I find it amazing that Motion expects the consumer to return their TPC for them to replace a part that cost a few dollars and the consumer incur an expense of several hundred dollars in doing so.

THANKS again Chris [thumbsup]

[daigo]

Just wanted to say "thank you". This post helped me repair my newly purchased used M1300 and I thought I'd add a quick thought... on my tablet, at least, I think can GENTLY pry the power switch off from the outside without opening the case. You have to be careful to not break off the retaining tabs but it would certainly seem to be easier than disassembling the whole tablet. For me I slid the power switch to the "on" position (toward the power jack) and held it there and I was able to slide a small regular screwdriver into the gap and pry gently. Of course, I didn't realize I could do this until I had the tablet fully apart, but still. This also let me get the stylus point into the gap to let me get my notes off until I could get home to repair the switch.

I wound up hooking the spring around the power switch slot while I took the power switch itself away for repair. A little Goop and a piece of BIC pen-cap later, my tablet is back in action... since the spring was accessable from outside I didn't even have to open the tablet back up.

I did take some measurements with a dial caliper... perhaps if I get motivated I can make myself a new power switch out of aluminum. Seems a pity that a $.30 piece of fragile plastic kills my beautiful magnesium-encased tablet.

[acronym]

so today my m1300 wouldn't turn on for the first time ever. Full battery lights, no beeps nothing. Power cable pluged in showed battery charging. I have enough experience with this to know it is something mechanical. Followed this thread and just finished with the epoxy. What a terrible design !! Why didn't they use a larger stud? why is half the cavity empty? This should be stickied, as I'm sure it'll come up even more as time goes on. And motion? shame on you for not recognizing this as a simple fix and charging $650 for your design flaws. There is no excuse.

[acronym]

oh, and thank you chris!