is it easy to make the wiring for the vandal bulgin switch?

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chronic9

Supreme [H]ardness
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well iam deciding on dropping 30 clams on a power switch for my pc..... yes its VERY sad.

well heres my question is it easy to make the needed wirring for this switch? i dont want to pay another 12 bucks in simple wiring.
here is the 1st cable -
http://www.frozencpu.com/ele-176.html
I guess I can cut the power switch off my case and get 2 of those lil rubber fork things and put it on and done right?

the 2nd one is harder to make thou since it has an inveter -
http://www.frozencpu.com/ele-177.html
I guess i can buy this one, unless all i need is that resistor that i can get at radio shack for like a buck and some 24 gauge wire - which i already have. get my sodering iron out and woola???



well if u read this far and wondering "wut the hell, hes talking about"
heres the switch it self.
http://www.frozencpu.com/ele-70.html



So is this easy to do or what?
 
Hum, looks cool, never seen that before.

Looks fairly easy to do to me. Just as long as ou can find that switch :/
 
I see no resistors anywhere in those kits. Considering how little power your motherboard's headers already put out, I'd be really surprised if you'd need it.

Many, many people used these switches (bought from electronics wholesalers, not pre-mod shops) before these mod shops started carrying these. Do you think they had wire kits? Nah, just wire it yourself and you'll be fine. Don't even need the connectors if you're really good with a soldering iron.
 
I've done the Vandel buttons on my PC.

pretty damn easy to be honest. All i did was take off the old switchs and wired up the vandel one in its place and wired up the power led from the mobo to the led part of the switch. No resistors or anything, I dunno if I got a different vandel compared to yours though.

I got 2 vandel switches one does POWER on/off and system on LED GREEN
The other does RESET and HD activity LED RED

Only problems I had was putting the LED wires the right way round (+/-) other than that easy. Either use the existing wires you have in your case or go out and buy electronic wires from Radio Shack(USA) or Maplins(UK)
 
i think i saw your case before. do you have the powder coated shuttle? i remember seeing a pic of a shuttle or something with two of those switches on the front. i think i will jus use the existing wiring from my case, i will just cut it off from my case switches and stick it on to this one. frozencpu says its neccesary to have the resistor since you might screw up the LED. how much would 1 of those resistors cost thou?

crazybee said:
I've done the Vandel buttons on my PC.

pretty damn easy to be honest. All i did was take off the old switchs and wired up the vandel one in its place and wired up the power led from the mobo to the led part of the switch. No resistors or anything, I dunno if I got a different vandel compared to yours though.

I got 2 vandel switches one does POWER on/off and system on LED GREEN
The other does RESET and HD activity LED RED

Only problems I had was putting the LED wires the right way round (+/-) other than that easy. Either use the existing wires you have in your case or go out and buy electronic wires from Radio Shack(USA) or Maplins(UK)
Click to expand...
 
Chronic, I have bought a few of those before. They are somewhat easy to install, the hardest thing is getting the wires in the right spots (like the LED wires and the momentary switch wires) You are pretty much on your own as far as that goes. As for a resistor, if you are going to be plugging it into a header (the power led header) then you dont need a resistor. Headers are 3.3V and the switch's led is rated for 3.4.

Good luck!

I get mine at PerformancePc's.
 
I've got four of these in a case I'm modding. Since they're momentary switches, I'm having to build a flip-flop circuit to make latching switches out of three of them. The fourth I'm using as a momentary function to change the lighting scheme on my memory. But the hook up was very easy. There will be four posts on the switch. Two for the switching action and two for the LED. I'm powering the switch LED off the motherboard--straight wired, no resistors and I've not had a problem. In fact I think the scheme they're using on the Frozen site would have the LED show hard drive activity (rather novel concept).

But you don't need to buy anything special. You can wire this up yourself--and most of the time motherboards and/or your case will have the wires you need.

EDIT: Something like those insulated female connectors would be a good idea because the posts on the switch are pretty close together and you don't want your connections touching.
 
well i wouldnt mind if the light would blink to show HDD activity, that wouldnt be such a bad a idea. would i need an inverter for that or no?

willie92 said:
I've got four of these in a case I'm modding. Since they're momentary switches, I'm having to build a flip-flop circuit to make latching switches out of three of them. The fourth I'm using as a momentary function to change the lighting scheme on my memory. But the hook up was very easy. There will be four posts on the switch. Two for the switching action and two for the LED. I'm powering the switch LED off the motherboard--straight wired, no resistors and I've not had a problem. In fact I think the scheme they're using on the Frozen site would have the LED show hard drive activity (rather novel concept).

But you don't need to buy anything special. You can wire this up yourself--and most of the time motherboards and/or your case will have the wires you need.

EDIT: Something like those insulated female connectors would be a good idea because the posts on the switch are pretty close together and you don't want your connections touching.
Click to expand...
 
That is a good idea, you dont need in inverter, the HDD header supplys the same 3.3V.

As for those plugs DO NOT get them. They are not the correct size, instead for it to plug into the header get ONE of THESE and FOUR of THESE.

Good luck!
 
The motherboard LED header is rated at 3.3v, the LEDs in the Bulgin Vandal Resistant switches is rated at 3.4v. You're fine. There's no need for an inverter, that's not CCFT or EL... it's just two LEDs mounted behind a piece of diffuser.

Wiring is a cakewalk... hardest part, as said earlier, is figuring out which terminals are for the LEDs and which are for the switch. Just do it by trial and error. Took me two tries then it was all set.
 
well i gotta figure out which connectors to get for the switch side. as you said thats not the correct size, so i have to figure out which size i actually DO need. i am not sure i wanna use those parts listed below it'll be a bitch to put all that stuff together, i think i will just cut the wires off my current switch and just get a pair of those cover thingies and woola. unless i can find a wire thats already pre-made. or maybe one of u wanna send me out one? ill cover shipping lol

DaRkF0g said:
That is a good idea, you dont need in inverter, the HDD header supplys the same 3.3V.

As for those plugs DO NOT get them. They are not the correct size, instead for it to plug into the header get ONE of THESE and FOUR of THESE.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
 
BellaCroix said:
...

Wiring is a cakewalk... hardest part, as said earlier, is figuring out which terminals are for the LEDs and which are for the switch. Just do it by trial and error. Took me two tries then it was all set.
Click to expand...
Took 4 and a multimeter here :p

Chronic, those links I gave you are to be used with the LED AND the Wires that go to the button. They are universal.

HOWEVER, since it seems that you are feeling lazy, you COULD take some old header plugs (perhaps off of an old switch or USB cables(header type)) and splice them together into the Vandal switch. <-- That was the way I did it :p

Oh and those "cover thingies" are called wire nuts ;), or if you want to go all out you can solder and shrinkwrap the wires together.
 
okay, so before i go spending 20+ bucks on 1 switch. i wanna get everything right.

1. i cut the original wire off the CM power switch
2. i attach the cover thingies to original CM power switch wire
3. attach the finished product to Vandal switch as the power connector
4. find a old case and cut off another set of wires that will be used as the HDD activity light
5. attach the cover thigies to that
6. attach finish #5 to the vandal switch
7. done

am i right?

heres my old thread where i was asking about the same thing i asked here.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=893645

heh, funny how long it takes me to buy a 20 dollar switch heh? lol


DaRkF0g said:
Took 4 and a multimeter here :p

Chronic, those links I gave you are to be used with the LED AND the Wires that go to the button. They are universal.

HOWEVER, since it seems that you are feeling lazy, you COULD take some old header plugs (perhaps off of an old switch or USB cables(header type)) and splice them together into the Vandal switch. <-- That was the way I did it :p

Oh and those "cover thingies" are called wire nuts ;), or if you want to go all out you can solder and shrinkwrap the wires together.
Click to expand...
 
I am having a little bit of trouble understanding you so Ill explain it my way what you need to do:

1. Buy the vandal switch :)
2. Remove the old power button from your case
3. Once you recieve the valdal switch, modify your case to make it properly fit
4. Find TWO old HDD led lights or old power buttons and cut their wires off (which should also have the little black plugs on the end)
5. Strip the ends of the wire so bare wire shows.
6. Screw them into the correct terminal screws <-- This is the hardest part. When you get the switch you will see 4 screws on the back, if I remeber correctly you need to put the LED and Power Button wires so they are diagonal from each other.
Like this:
1 | 2
--------
3 | 4

(LED wires go to something like 1 and 4, and power go to 3 and 2.) Like I said I THINK this is the way they went, its been a long time)

7. After that just plug the wires into the appropiate headers and you are good to go!

There you go, no spade plugs (by the way if you but those orange plugs you NEED the tool to crimp them onto the bare wire) Just do it the way I told you above and you wont need the orange thingies ;)

Hope this helps! Remeber if you run into trouble the forum is always here to back you up :)

Good luck!

PS. Heres Bulgin's website, they are the ones who make these switches.

I got bored (really bored) so I made a diagram:

EDIT: REFER TO POST BELOW FOR CORRECT WIRING
 
nice explanation :) and the drawing too.

which orange thigies are the correct ones? i have the crimping tool here, so thats not a issue.

i will see tommorow if i can snag some cables out of a few old machines at work, if not. i guess i will order the spade connectors and such from the same site as the vandal switch. how thick of a wire would i need? i have a spool of 24 gauge in the closet somewhere.

edit: well i have decided, if i dont find any cable at work later today, i will buy 4 of these - http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=190&products_id=1730 and 4 of these http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=190&products_id=1740
and maybe these? http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=156&products_id=994

otherwise ill get the caps at radioshack.
 
Got one of those switches here (2 actually) used it for a remote power button. Love the switch, but a little to firm on the trigger for my taste. When you get the switch you will notice there is an inner and an outer set of male spade connectors on it. the Outers are for the led, the Inners are for the switch. I ended up using telephone wire for my setup but have found that I should have gone with a good stranded 18 gauge. Only reason I used telco line was because it has 4 separate strands in it, and it was free, and at the time I did not care much. I like free.

Got mine when they first hit the market, paid $40.00 each for them! I remember some of these guys got them free! You *&$#^heads! I drooled on them for a entire year and a half before I used one and whadaya know, they still work. lol
 
HippieCat said:
...When you get the switch you will notice there is an inner and an outer set of male spade connectors on it. the Outers are for the led, the Inners are for the switch...
Click to expand...
Well there you have it, this is how you hook the wires up. I knew it was something odd like that.

Chronic,

I still dont understand WHERE you are going to use the orange spade connectors. They are used in places where you need to extend the length of a wire like:

Button-----------------(Spade connector)------------------Motherboard header

Maybe you want to do it this way, keep in mind you WILL need MALE AND FEMALE connectors for this to work. The ones you showed in the link are female.
 
arent the spade connectors used to plug into the forks on the switch and the other end will go to the mobo.
so 24 gauge wont go? i guess i can order a few feet of 18 gauge.

DaRkF0g said:
Well there you have it, this is how you hook the wires up. I knew it was something odd like that.

Chronic,

I still dont understand WHERE you are going to use the orange spade connectors. They are used in places where you need to extend the length of a wire like:

Button-----------------(Spade connector)------------------Motherboard header

Maybe you want to do it this way, keep in mind you WILL need MALE AND FEMALE connectors for this to work. The ones you showed in the link are female.
Click to expand...
 
chronic9 said:
arent the spade connectors used to plug into the forks on the switch and the other end will go to the mobo.
so 24 gauge wont go? i guess i can order a few feet of 18 gauge.
Click to expand...
Nope, you havent seen the back of the switch yet. It has screws on it, you loosen the screws, slide the end of the bare wire in, and tighten the screws. For the end that plugs into the motherboard you are going to have to buy or find those little black square plugs (like in the link above).

Edit, shit I scare myself sometimes, look what I found.... I dont want to hotlink the picture so ill give you the link instead:

http://prudhoe.codeword.com/mnpctech/tantrum/Oct/Bulgin/wiring.jpg

It looks like my theory on the wiring was correct :)
 
wata bout this pic. http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/detail_secondary_hires/ele-175_3.jpg

DaRkF0g said:
Nope, you havent seen the back of the switch yet. It has screws on it, you loosen the screws, slide the end of the bare wire in, and tighten the screws. For the end that plugs into the motherboard you are going to have to buy or find those little black square plugs (like in the link above).

Edit, shit I scare myself sometimes, look what I found.... I dont want to hotlink the picture so ill give you the link instead:

http://prudhoe.codeword.com/mnpctech/tantrum/Oct/Bulgin/wiring.jpg

It looks like my theory on the wiring was correct :)
Click to expand...
 
Oh yeah I forgot that Bulgin does make tabbed ones. It all comes down to personal prefrence I suppose.

In that case you can get the orange plugs. I would recommend buying them at your local hardware store, they are ALOT cheaper there.

With the screw terminals you dont have to worry about any crimping or loose wires though.
 
I emailed frozencpu today and this is the response i got:

I was wondering what size of spade connectors do you for the vandal switch wiring and what gauge of wire is used for the wiring as well?

Thank you,
Stan

----------------
Hi Stan,

The wire is 18AWG Red, Black and Yellow (depending on the cables) - though it switches to 22AWG just before the motherboard connectors. The spade connectors are 1/4" Fully Insulated Female Spade Connectors (Red). You might want a slightly smaller size for the best fit; that was just what we had. It works this way, but it does require some careful placing to make it fit. See the photo: http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/detail_secondary_hires/ele-175_4.jpg
Click to expand...

so what do you think of his response. i know that putting the capacitor or w.e on the wire is usuless but i didnt realize that it switches from 18 to 22. do you think i should follow his instruction? or no?
 
On normal computer wire it doesnt switch, so I have no idea what he is talking about. As for wire for the bulgin switch you can use either 18 or 22. 22 is smaller and I like to use it more because its easier to work with and hide. Its your choice.

As for the capacitor, its not called a capacitor. Its called a resistor. If you wanted to you could stick one in there just to be safe. It never hurts to have one in there. This resistor will most likely have to be soldered to the wire and insulated with shrink wrap to prevent it from tourhing the case and possibly shorting out.

So the answer to your question. In your case (having the correct tool and being determined to use spade connectors) yes you can do it this way. Really if you have the crimper you dont have much to loose, just be sure to make a secure crimp thats all :)

Oh and make sure to get the right resistor, you probably want a 5.6 ohm one (barely any resistance :p )(This is assuming the LED in the switch is 20mA)

Hell if for some reason you didnt want to plug the LED wires into the mobo headers you could always use a wire going to the 5V line (red wire) on your PSU. BUT you would ABSOLUTELY NEED a 100OHM resistor.
 
okay thanks for the info. which of the wires fits better into the little USB header 22 or 18? i bet 22 right?

DaRkF0g said:
On normal computer wire it doesnt switch, so I have no idea what he is talking about. As for wire for the bulgin switch you can use either 18 or 22. 22 is smaller and I like to use it more because its easier to work with and hide. Its your choice.

As for the capacitor, its not called a capacitor. Its called a resistor. If you wanted to you could stick one in there just to be safe. It never hurts to have one in there. This resistor will most likely have to be soldered to the wire and insulated with shrink wrap to prevent it from tourhing the case and possibly shorting out.

So the answer to your question. In your case (having the correct tool and being determined to use spade connectors) yes you can do it this way. Really if you have the crimper you dont have much to loose, just be sure to make a secure crimp thats all :)

Oh and make sure to get the right resistor, you probably want a 5.6 ohm one (barely any resistance :p )(This is assuming the LED in the switch is 20mA)

Hell if for some reason you didnt want to plug the LED wires into the mobo headers you could always use a wire going to the 5V line (red wire) on your PSU. BUT you would ABSOLUTELY NEED a 100OHM resistor.
Click to expand...
 
so i should go with 22 gauge from light to resistor then go with 18 gauge to the mobo right?
 
Are you going to get the spade terminal switch, or the screw type (like the one at performance pc's)?
 
well after ordering all the stuff i needed. i went onto radioshack.com to find a suitable resistor. the weakest i could find is 10 ohm 1W 5% Metal-Oxide Film Resistor pk/2
http://www.radioshack.com/product.a..._name=CTLG_011_002_014_003&product_id=271-151

just about twice as much as prescribed in the upper posts. lol

so when i solder the resistor in do i attach both wires to the resistor or just one?

what happens if i dont put a reistor in at all? how high are my chances of the LED burning out?
 
Im not sure how specifically a metal oxide resistor differs from a carbon one. This would be the one that I would get.

To be honest, you shouldnt even need a resistor. Ive never bernt out the LED in a switch before. They can handle a pretty good amount before they blow out.

Maybe someone who knows more about resistors can help you out if you want to use the 10 ohm ones you bought. I doubt there will be any visual difference between a 10ohm and a 5 ohm resisor (5 ohms is like nothing :p).

Anyway to install the resistor on the spade switch go:

Button----spade connector-----wire----resistor-----wire----mobo header
OR
Button--- spade connector---resistor---wire----mobo header
OR
Button---screw---resistor---wire-----mobo header (how mine was setup)
(I would recommend soldering the resistor to the wire in both methods)

lastly remeber that the resistor only needs to go on the positive side of the wire (not the ground), so you should only use 1 resistor.

Good luck! (off to bed for now ;) )
 
i didnt buy the resistor yet, iam thinking of not using one at all. I guess i will use 18 gauge wire straight through. and then jus cut of some of the strands off once i get to the mobo header to make the wire fit into the lil male headers - 22 gauge.

off to be my self, hopefully if all goes well i will have my PC fully moded up by end of next week.

case feet, 2 more CCFLs and the button.

DaRkF0g said:
Im not sure how specifically a metal oxide resistor differs from a carbon one. This would be the one that I would get.

To be honest, you shouldnt even need a resistor. Ive never bernt out the LED in a switch before. They can handle a pretty good amount before they blow out.

Maybe someone who knows more about resistors can help you out if you want to use the 10 ohm ones you bought. I doubt there will be any visual difference between a 10ohm and a 5 ohm resisor (5 ohms is like nothing :p).

Anyway to install the resistor on the spade switch go:

Button----spade connector-----wire----resistor-----wire----mobo header
OR
Button--- spade connector---resistor---wire----mobo header
OR
Button---screw---resistor---wire-----mobo header (how mine was setup)
(I would recommend soldering the resistor to the wire in both methods)

lastly remeber that the resistor only needs to go on the positive side of the wire (not the ground), so you should only use 1 resistor.

Good luck! (off to bed for now ;) )
Click to expand...
 
Its you can just use 22 to make things easier. Believe be when its carrying that small amount of current the awg really doesnt matter.
 
got my stuff today. came pretty darn fast. well its from FL to NJ...



 
Looking good, you still didnt need those spade connectors though, you bought the screw type terminals. It might have been smart to buy a few extra of those little pins, it took me a few trys to get them to crimp onto wire, you can play it safe and go to your local electronics shop and get a even smaller gauge wire to make it easier to crimp the pins on, but its up to you.
 
ya i should have, i have a 24 gauge wire spool that i got from radio shack a while ago, i think ill try with the 22 and if it doesnt work out too well, ill use the 24.


DaRkF0g said:
Looking good, you still didnt need those spade connectors though, you bought the screw type terminals. It might have been smart to buy a few extra of those little pins, it took me a few trys to get them to crimp onto wire, you can play it safe and go to your local electronics shop and get a even smaller gauge wire to make it easier to crimp the pins on, but its up to you.
Click to expand...
 
Lol except youll find yourself on Performance PCS buying new pins, they only can be crimped once or they break :(

Atleast their shipping is extremely fast :) Im in PA so we probably have the same arrival time.
 
hey chronic9, do you mind taking some staged photos of the wiring process just so i get a visual.. i'm trying to do the samething myself and I think I understand.. but just wanna see..

if you don't mind.. :)
thanks
gw
 
Sorry I dont have any pics, I kind of sold the case that I put the vandal switch in :p
 
sure thing, if i can zoom in close enough and have a clear image. i tired to take pics yest of me crimping the little pin thingies and it was blury even in digital zoom. its VERY straight forward. just buy more then enough wire and more of those USB pins and some extra headers. dont need the spade connectors since performance PCs ships the screw in type.
iam gonna try to wire the button as a power switch tonight and see if it works. and prob. by friday i will post pics of the switch in place.


gwildor said:
hey chronic9, do you mind taking some staged photos of the wiring process just so i get a visual.. i'm trying to do the samething myself and I think I understand.. but just wanna see..

if you don't mind.. :)
thanks
gw
Click to expand...
 
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