New Power switch that is a slide not a rocker.

[crisalan44]

I just wanted to share this to the people here. I have been using a new Slide switch I got from digikey instead of the rocker switch that has been a go to for years. This switch allows the user to still experience that old school slide feel when powering on their colecovison and is a huge improvement over the original. This switch just snaps right into your colecovision in the existing hole with zero cutting needed. I have been using it for a few days now and have been real happy with it. It is not a replacement for the rocker switch at all which is still a great solution but more of another option for people, especially the old school ones who hate to stray from the original feel of their console power switch. While not original it is very close to it and a good alternative to a rocker imo. Cheers

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by crisalan44

[Ikrananka]

While that's a very nice find I'll once again be the dissenting voice that begs the question as to why so many people believe one needs to replace CV power switches with modern ones.  I am a firm believer that in the vast majority of cases, simply stripping down, cleaning and re-greasing the existing switches is sufficient for them to behave like new for many years to come.  The power switches in the CV are quite robust and there is nothing inherently wrong with them.  They are of a classic design type used in many other products, including the Intellivision.

 

Personally, I have yet to encounter a CV power switch that, after refurbishing, has not performed flawlessly.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

14 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

While that's a very nice find I'll once again be the dissenting voice that begs the question as to why so many people believe one needs to replace CV power switches with modern ones.  I am a firm believer that in the vast majority of cases, simply stripping down, cleaning and re-greasing the existing switches is sufficient for them to behave like new for many years to come.  The power switches in the CV are quite robust and there is nothing inherently wrong with them.  They are of a classic design type used in many other products, including the Intellivision.

 

Personally, I have yet to encounter a CV power switch that, after refurbishing, has not performed flawlessly.

In my particular case I replaced out my decently working original switch with a rocker solution so that I wouldn't have to deal with refurbishing it. A sealed switch solution isn't nearly as likely to get debris or corroded internally requiring any maintenance at all. Although I do like this slide switch that has been shown above as that does look like a pretty slick alternative.

 

[Ikrananka]

7 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

A sealed switch solution isn't nearly as likely to get debris or corroded internally requiring any maintenance at all. 

These switches are far from open to the atmosphere and I have yet to see one with corrosion on the contacts.  The black deposits that are a common mode of failure are a product of the metal contacts sliding against each other and not from external dirt or debris.  Just take a look at any used pinball machine and you'll see the black dust everywhere.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

15 minutes ago, Ikrananka said:

These switches are far from open to the atmosphere and I have yet to see one with corrosion on the contacts.  The black deposits that are a common mode of failure are a product of the metal contacts sliding against each other and not from external dirt or debris.  Just take a look at any used pinball machine and you'll see the black dust everywhere.

I get it...you don't like using different power switches. I had cleaned the original switch on my personal one many times but could never get lasting consistent results. It might work great for a day or two and then I'd come back a few days later to fire up a game and I would have minor graphic corruption again. Pressing reset would clear it up but then occasionally playing a game they might appear again and it was annoying and frustrating. I actually did the +5 ram modification prior to replacing the switch thinking that might have been a contributing factor if I had flaky ram, but that didn't solve it either. I even reformed the contacts on the switch a bit to make better contact and used de-ox-it followed by 99.9% alcohol to clean them up and then reapplied new dielectric grease. Again, it never seem to last. Since putting in the rocker switch that I now offer for those that want them, I've not had any of these power on issues since. Doesn't matter if the CV sits in the closet for 6 months... I can plug it up, power it on and it just works now. 

 

Then again I never grew up with the CV and I didn't know anyone or have any friends that owned one bitd as we all were VCS owners and then NES. So to me I haven't any real nostalgia towards the aesthetics of the system and just want a reliable working system that requires little maintenance. But this is of course my opinion and does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of my peers.

 

PS. a replacement rocker switch matches better with your pause kits too in the end so if a hole and switch is needed for that, what is the difference in wiring in a replacement power switch as well?

Edited August 25, 2020 by -^CrossBow^-
Additional thoughts and opinions added.

[Ikrananka]

7 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I get it...you don't like using different power switches......

 

10 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Then again I never grew up with the CV and I didn't know anyone or have any friends that owned one bitd as we all were VCS owners and then NES. So to me I haven't any real nostalgia towards the aesthetics of the system and just want a reliable working system that requires little maintenance. But this is of course my opinion and does not reflect the thoughts and feelings of my peers.

 

Yep - you got me.  I still have my original CV from 1983, amongst many others now, and I have strong nostalgia for the system and games as a whole.

 

14 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

PS. a replacement rocker switch matches better with your pause kits too in the end so if a hole and switch is needed for that, what is the difference in wiring in a replacement power switch as well?

Touché.  Well, I guess my main point is that in the vast majority of cases I believe that a replacement switch isn't necessary and that refurbishment will be successful.  For some bizarre reason the CV power switch seems to have been singled out as a problem for automatic replacement when most of the time all it really is naturally dirty contacts that can be cleaned.  I don't follow the Intellivision community, but is a similar approach taken there as that systems power switch is essentially the same design (an honest question as I simply don't know the answer)?

 

I searched long and hard for a different switch for my pause mod, but the one Yurkie found and used (from Radio Shack) was the best I could find.  I would much rather had a latching push button switch with aesthetics similar to those existing in the CV but could find none that met my criteria.  While my pause mod is a compromise aesthetically, I'm just not a fan of automatically replacing the power switch unless absolutely necessary.

 

Anyway, apologies to the OP, I honestly do like the switch you found.  I just always want to make sure that anyone new reading threads like this is aware that a power switch replacement is not necessarily justified or required.

[Ruggers Customs]

That's a nice choice of a switch.  I doubt I'll ever switch to it since I'm partial to my mini rocker.  Different choices are good though!

 

Ikrananka, I plan to spam you with pics of colecos with rocker power switches from now on!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, Ikrananka said:

I don't follow the Intellivision community, but is a similar approach taken there as that systems power switch is essentially the same design (an honest question as I simply don't know the answer)?

I've never had an Intellivision switch that required cleaning or even being an issue although I'm sure it has been needed. I would suspect that my original statement about debris getting inside them etc still seems to happen more to the CV if only because that switch is soldered flat to the main board. On the Intelllivision that switch is floating and attached to a bracket with wires going to it. So anything that falls in through the switch hole is going to the bottom of the case and not as likely to sit around the switch and possibly get inside the switch itself. In any event, the Intellivision doesn't seem to be as prone to issues on initial power up and possible random values in ram and such occurring as it does with the CV.

[doubledown]

I always preferred the NKK pushbutton switches I use to use:

 

 

For a bit of flash... with illumination...but obviously available without (like the RESET button in the pic), and they fit in the existing rectangular holes.

[Ikrananka]

5 hours ago, Ruggers Customs said:

Ikrananka, I plan to spam you with pics of colecos with rocker power switches from now on!

???

 

3 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

I've never had an Intellivision switch that required cleaning or even being an issue although I'm sure it has been needed. I would suspect that my original statement about debris getting inside them etc still seems to happen more to the CV if only because that switch is soldered flat to the main board. On the Intelllivision that switch is floating and attached to a bracket with wires going to it. So anything that falls in through the switch hole is going to the bottom of the case and not as likely to sit around the switch and possibly get inside the switch itself. In any event, the Intellivision doesn't seem to be as prone to issues on initial power up and possible random values in ram and such occurring as it does with the CV.

Thanks for the info.

 

1 hour ago, doubledown said:

I always preferred the NKK pushbutton switches I use to use:

 

 

For a bit of flash... with illumination...but obviously available without (like the RESET button in the pic), and they fit in the existing rectangular holes.

What took you so long? ?

[crisalan44]

10 hours ago, Ikrananka said:

While that's a very nice find I'll once again be the dissenting voice that begs the question as to why so many people believe one needs to replace CV power switches with modern ones.  I am a firm believer that in the vast majority of cases, simply stripping down, cleaning and re-greasing the existing switches is sufficient for them to behave like new for many years to come.  The power switches in the CV are quite robust and there is nothing inherently wrong with them.  They are of a classic design type used in many other products, including the Intellivision.

 

Personally, I have yet to encounter a CV power switch that, after refurbishing, has not performed flawlessly.

I agree with you 100% and all my Colecovisions have the original switch but I buy Colecovisions broken and then refurbish them and flip them on eBay. I have found out(the hard way) that most people are not mechanically inclined enough even to open a colecovision let alone fix a dirty power switch. So to avoid return fees or issues for my customers that are not as inclined to clean a switch sand to make it easier for their Colecovision to last them longer without dirty switch issues it was better for me as a seller and my conscious period. I had to be talked into changing the switches out by a friend who said it was a good customer thing to do and I did not like the rocker switch at all and was not convinced that that was the only solution so I searched high and low for something I though would be as close to the original slide switch as possible and have a longer shelf life. This switch is probably the 6th or 7th I tried before I found it and it is more enclosed than the original and should last longer which is good for my purpose while staying as true to the original as I can. That my 2 cents. Cheers

Edited August 25, 2020 by crisalan44

[doubledown]

6 hours ago, Ikrananka said:

What took you so long? ?

Figured I'd let the suspense build!

 

Keep this in mind, in the end...it's your console, or hardware, or art project, or music, or whatever...so do whatever you want with it.  Just know though...that if you post it publicly...you will get feedback...whether you want it or not.  That's my 3 cents!  ?  

[crisalan44]

22 hours ago, doubledown said:

Figured I'd let the suspense build!

 

Keep this in mind, in the end...it's your console, or hardware, or art project, or music, or whatever...so do whatever you want with it.  Just know though...that if you post it publicly...you will get feedback...whether you want it or not.  That's my 3 cents!  ?  

I appreciate the feedback both ways(thank you for taking the time to comment ) and I hope my last comment did not come off as negative cause that was not my intention at all! My main reason for posting was to give something back to the Colecovision community that Has given me so much(pay it forward) and I thought there might be some people out there who would like this option if they were inclined to change their power switch. Thanks for all your comments and all you guys do for the Colecovision community! Cheers.

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Looks good! Got a part #? I wouldn't mind giving one a shot.

 

I too like the Nkk switches and have them installed in one of my CV's.. They're pretty much a perfect fit and they look great.

[crisalan44]

3 hours ago, SiLic0ne t0aD said:

Looks good! Got a part #? I wouldn't mind giving one a shot.

 

I too like the Nkk switches and have them installed in one of my CV's.. They're pretty much a perfect fit and they look great.

Here is the part number and a link for you

CKC5105-ND

Cheers.

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/c-k/S802C21S207Q/CKC5105-ND/181457

Edited August 28, 2020 by crisalan44