Axim X5 went for swim- Power button broken?

[Wizzard]

My boss's Axim X5 went for a swim with him- Salt water!!
Would not work. Put in storage for a few months.

When I got to it, I knew there was a good chance I could fix it for him. Opened it all up, scripped out some corrosion, and viola- Power and a boot screen.

Most of the damage was around the right access buttons, near a memory chip. Fully cleaned.

Here's the problem: The unit only works and powers on when the power button is held, when released it powers off. Unit is 100% functional otherwise.

Does anybody know what the problem may be? Hopefully, it's just a mechanical problem inside the button. I'm hoping its not a blown transistor somewhere- SM stuff is hard! That, and my other option is to hack in a switch to keep power on, I hope it doesnt come to that.

Anybody had any experience with a broken power button of this kind?

[Mahstah]

Does anybody know what the problem may be?

It's probably salt water corrosion in the power button.

What I would try- cleaning the power button's internals with alcohol. It's likely beyond repair and only a new button will fix it, but worth a try. A hard stream of alcohol from a sprayer would work best to ensure it gets in there but make sure it doesn't get anywhere else. Dry thoroughly and test after all has evaporated. If it still doesn't work the last resort other than replacing the button via microsoldering is to clip something to the power button that squeezes the back to the button. Good luck,

-Mahstah

[Wizzard]

Thats exactly what I did! I have a document clip from the front of the unit into the CF slot... Works for the time being. I think I may end up replacing the power switch with a standard latching power button- I dont think the mechanics are flawed, I think the flaw may be electronic. I will try your suggestion, though, thanks!