why would you want to remove the cable from within the psu!?

just swap the switches themselves.

imi wrote on 2020-07-05, 02:44:

why would you want to remove the cable from within the psu!?

just swap the switches themselves.

Maybe I explained this bad, my fault. I meant, can you remove the *case* around that little switch. I don't want to remove the cord. Just wondering if that white box thing can be taken off so that I can put the 4 little pins to a different switch?

Most of the PSUs I find have a similar switch already attached, so I wanted to ask people who know better than I before I buy.

Normally the AT switch is attached to the power supply cable using spade connections that you can pull off (with some effort sometimes)

Rarely are they soldered in place (and when they are, you can simply unsolder if you need to)

Just be very careful doing this, as it is 120 or 240V live switch, wire it up wrong and you will at best pop a circuit breaker, at worst, fry something (or yourself)

The AT switch is often a standard switch, so I would always try to unscrew the existing switch and replace it with the switch that comes with the power supply before i change them over.

If you want to use an ATX power supply, an older older one with -5V rail is the best option, however, if you avoid ISA cards that need -5V, you can usually get away with a more modern supply without the -5V rail. It is not optimal, but there is usually enough engineering margin in everything that it ends up working fine.

Hmmm, ok, my post is probably a little off.

Your example post is something I've never seen on a PSU before. Normally, the power switch for a PSU is on the end of that black cable, and is attached to the switch with spade connectors. You would just remove the switch by pulling off the spade connectors.

Yeah I've never seen an AT supply with a detachable switch-cord either.
Is there a particular reason you want to keep the case switch? For example, if it's a rocker switch rather than a pushbutton switch that could be a good reason.
AT cases often came with a power supply included for this reason. The pushbutton switch is fairly standard but not universal.

Thanks for the replies so far.

Here's a pic of the case + button I want to keep. Yeah Jake, I like the rocker a lot, so if I can find something to use that, it would be great.

The second pic is of the connectors I want to ensure I have. The current PSU I have is an Athena Power one, but I've read a few posts saying they have been suspect and subject to quality control issues. They're pretty damn cheap, and it is VERY light weight.. Don't really want to use it.

Yeah, those are the spade connectors I was talking about.

Any AT power supply you purchase should be have those spade connectors to hook up your switch. The photo from your OP just doesn't show this though for this particular AT PSU.

@Mattyice1994, I understamd what you're trying to do but unless I'm mistaken the small white box isn't what you think it is but is in fact ferrite (core) choke like this one I removed from an AcBel PSU from an IBM server.

PC Hoarder Patrol wrote on 2020-07-05, 04:17:

@Mattyice1994, I understamd what you're trying to do but unless I'm mistaken the small white box isn't what you think it is but is in fact ferrite (core) choke like this one I removed from an AcBel PSU from an IBM server.

PSU Ferrite Choke.jpg

Looks like it to me, as well.

The existing switch seems to be off screen to the right on the OP. Most likely spade connectors as that's standard.

You'll need a continuity tester to change switches. Both are a ganged DPST switches intended to break line and neutral simultaneously and we need to figure out which pin connects to it's mate when each switch is closed. One set of pins will break neutral and one will break line. You need to transfer wires on each set of pins to a set that also close wrt each other when the switch is on and open when it's off. Get it wrong and you'll generate a dead short across the switch contacts. You will also know if your outlet is a fire hazard as wired.