EMac power button workaround

Question

Hi,
My emac is a 2003 model, 1Ghz processor, and the power button kept getting dodgier and dodgier over the last year or two, so I started just leaving the emac running and/or relying on the scheduled wake-up to start it.  Then my two-year old decided to shut off the power strip it was plugged into recently, and the battery is dead, so the scheduled start wasn't happening, and the button just wouldn't turn it on.  I took the shell off to check out the power button, and when I tried to push the button through the ring it sits in the button and the little disc of circuit board that's part of it separated from the rectangular plastic connector piece that connects it to the cable.
I found an archived thread in this community that addressed bypassing the button, with solution identified from another site as follows:
"The only way to turn it on now is to place a wire (I used a wire twist tie.) that connects the Black and Red leads on the connector for the power button. This is done by placing the wire on the top of the connector where you can see metal showing. This will turn on the Mac."
"Spudnuty" on this site then agreed as follows:
"You have to strip the wire and plug it into the red socket and short it to the black. You can also access these at the exposed locking tabs on the side of the connector. Connections are electrically made."
I've tried this with no luck.  First problem is the cable to the power button has two black wires (one narrower and shiny, the other slightly larger and dull) and one red (narrower and shiny).  But I tried shorting all combinations and nothing seems to be turning the thing on. 
Does that mean my problem is more than the power button? I had the shell still off when I was trying this - is there some kind of safety system keeping it off when the shell is off?  I'm loathe to spend $40 on a new emac button when something for $3.50 from radio shack to short two wires will do the trick.
Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks,
kfdc

Answer 1

kfdc,
Here's a pic of the back of the switch itself with electrical connections noted.
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=eMacSwitc hcircuitboardback.jpg&jwidget_action=album
and a pic of the side you push with the cover off:
http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll306/spudnuty/?action=view&current=eMacpower switchactionside.jpg&jwidget_action=album
As I recall the shiny black wire is a shield lead, dull black is ground and the red is B+.
You can tell by the way they're connected to the back of the power button.
BTW as I recall the wire I used to do the shorting on the female plug from the eMac was a single strand of wire teased from an 18 GA stranded wire. That thing is teeny!
Also this is from the service manual for the 800-1GHz model. The other was the 1 and 1.25 GHz.
"9 Verify the battery is good before replacing modules. A drained battery may be indicative of a
crashed Power Management Unit. Does the battery measure at least +3.5v? If not, replace
the battery and reset the PMU (see next step)."
"5 Touch the metal surface inside the computer. Then unplug the power cord.This helps protect the
computer from damage caused by electrostatic discharge. Important: To avoid electrostatic
discharge, always ground yourself by touching metal before you touch any parts or install components
inside the computer. To avoid generating static electricity, do not walk around the room until you have
finished the procedure and closed the computer."
"6 Press the PMU reset button (shown below (It's to the right when the PRAM battery is to the left-spudnuty)) once and then proceed to step 7. Do NOT press the
PMU reset button a second time because it could crash the PMU chip.
7 WAIT ten seconds before connecting the power cord and powering the computer on. If the
computer powers on, go to the next step. If the computer does not power on, there is something
else wrong with the computer, refer to the symptom/cure, “No Power” in this chapter."
The other problem could be that that connector assembly is bad/broken. It's very easy to damage that little lead when you take that outer  case off (Did that!).
Spudnuty