Power button removal and replacement

Dan, many thanks for your advice!

For the benefit of others, I applied heat to the outside computer casing using an electric paint stripping gun. To be honest with you a good quality hair dryer would also have worked. The glue released easily and I was able to remove the switch intact. The wires had broken 1 cm from the switch, which left plenty of wire to re-solder back to the switch terminals.

Thanks again for your help Dan!

Thanks for your help ! I also snap the power button cable when I removed the speaker ! I had to apply heat for a good 2 minutes with a heat gun at high setting before being able to remove the button. I guess they put a stronger glue on this model ! The cable snap 2 to 3 cm from the switch so I just weld the wires together back where it broke and put some electric tap for insulation ! Works like a charm now :)

My tech accidentally tore the cable trying to move the speaker out of the way to make a new SSD install easier. At first we were unsure why the machine wasn't turning on but then we found a teardown video warning of the cable and we put 2 & 2 together. Then ifixit and it's awesome community saved the day like usual.

Thanks for the post @danj !!

Mine kind of tore in a funny way and tore the wires at the solder while stripping the last 1/4" of cable. The cable has almost 2 inches of un-necessary length overall. I was able to cut the cable about 1/2" from where it was soldered to the button, strip the tips of the two wires off and re-solder the wires to the button. This gave me a much cleaner look than a splice and splicing wires this small sucks anyway. Also the adhesive was not doing it's job after the button was removed so I used some T-7000 glue overnight with a rolling cracker tool as a wedge to make sure it was secure.

Is there any particular orientation to the wires? Have the same issue with mine breaking, mine broke right at the cover to the back of the switch.

It's easy to break the cables when pulling out the left hand speaker, and fairly easy if rather tedious to fix.

I detached the power supply but left it connected while I warmed the button from the outside. Another time I would probably try doing it without moving the power supply. When it's hot to the touch around the button press gently and you should feel the double sided tape giving slightly.

You can then prise it out from the inside, unscrew the three black screws in the plastic assembly and resolder the connecting wires.

I cut away a little of the black plastic to make the wire an easier fit and hopefully reduce the risk of the cable breaking again. As the current to the switch is AC trickle current, it does not matter which way round the two wires are connected .

Fixed but I will be really careful to avoid next time!