Is this fixable?

[V800]

I've found this power strip at home. The switch has been broken but I think it's OK in the inside, so my questions are:
How do i fix it? and what do I need?
Thanks.

 

[Hayato213]

Probably not worth fixing it, since it is just an outlet.

 

[rocoloco321]

I think you can fix it if you just put a ball of tinfoil paper where the switch used to in, might be a bit risky tho specially if the live wire runs trough the switch.

 

[V800]

I think you can fix it if you just put a ball of tinfoil paper where the switch used to in, might be a bit risky tho specially if the live wire runs trough the switch.

I don't dare to do that.

 

[FAST6191]

If you don't know what you are doing then they sell these things for pennies in household goods shops and any second hand shop/place where people sell/donate the possessions of their dead relatives. Not worth electrocuting yourself or burning down your house.

Several things to check.

1) Fuses. Depending upon where you are in the world these might be in the plug, in the extension itself (possibly easy to replace, possibly not), or indeed both. Replace as necessary.

2) Burned wires. If someone decided to plug several high draw devices (few heaters and a vacuum cleaner) into the thing then it might get a bit melty inside it if it is more designed for light use (as most things are).

3) The switch could be a problem. Though I will note the little red light that some get in them can burn out and in most cases not influence operation at all if you are expecting that. Anyway yeah you can bypass a switch. There are two main switch styles.
Double pole in which both the live and neutral are switched. Technically it is a safer way of doing things but that mostly only matters in workshops.
Single pole in which usually the live is switched (I have seen neutral switching before in some things).
Earth wires should never be switched and just pass straight through.
Bypassing the switch then involves taking the relevant input wire and connecting it to the other side. There are a thousand connector options out there, all variously good at what they do. For domestic stuff chocolate blocks, wago connectors, push fit connectors and more exist, and plenty have soldered wires or used crimp on connectors as well.

4) Fancier ones (which that could be) might include some kind of voltage spike/surge prevention. In most cases this is some kind of varistor (likely a little blue disc about the size of a coin) which have a bit of a tendency to fail open after too many surges. Bypass in much the same way as above, or if you are really bored you can figure out what part failed and fix that.

5) Connector/socket elasticity. European style ones are usually not so bad but US ones can see the connections become poorer over time owing to it being light spring pressure holding it connected. Do also see if the connectors are oxidised (most things being copper then dull copper or, worse still, blue/green oxides).

6) Quality of the lead. Depending upon how radical you want to get there are lots of faults you could see when inspecting things (outer covering providing full contact, strain related issues at ends, cuts/cracks in outer covering making it only whatever insulation the internal wires have, yellowing of lead from heat... and much more).
Similarly check the plug end.

Also congratulations you have saved yourself 15 Euros if https://www.amazon.es/alargador-electrico/s?k=alargador+electrico is anything to by (maybe less if you had to go get some connectors). If you do this and your house burns down you better hope your fixes burn up too as the insurance investigator will probably try to say bad fix caused everything and avoid paying out. Likewise if you take it into a school or something and it electrocutes some idiot kid and it becomes apparent that you fiddled with it (maybe even bypassed a safety system*) you are going to have a fun time in court justifying yourself (I can if I have to, if you are asking this on the proverbial gaming forum then probably not) and I bet you did not even get a PAT test or local equivalent which is going to start you on the wrong foot.

*the lawyers might not care that it is irrelevant to the facts of the case, your surge protector doing nothing at all to prevent electrocution even in perfect working order (woe betide you take out an effectively pointless secondary RCD that the installation should have provided), if it is indeed so.

 

[V800]

If you don't know what you are doing then they sell these things for pennies in household goods shops and any second hand shop/place where people sell/donate the possessions of their dead relatives. Not worth electrocuting yourself or burning down your house.

Several things to check.

1) Fuses. Depending upon where you are in the world these might be in the plug, in the extension itself (possibly easy to replace, possibly not), or indeed both. Replace as necessary.

2) Burned wires. If someone decided to plug several high draw devices (few heaters and a vacuum cleaner) into the thing then it might get a bit melty inside it if it is more designed for light use (as most things are).

3) The switch could be a problem. Though I will note the little red light that some get in them can burn out and in most cases not influence operation at all if you are expecting that. Anyway yeah you can bypass a switch. There are two main switch styles.
Double pole in which both the live and neutral are switched. Technically it is a safer way of doing things but that mostly only matters in workshops.
Single pole in which usually the live is switched (I have seen neutral switching before in some things).
Earth wires should never be switched and just pass straight through.
Bypassing the switch then involves taking the relevant input wire and connecting it to the other side. There are a thousand connector options out there, all variously good at what they do. For domestic stuff chocolate blocks, wago connectors, push fit connectors and more exist, and plenty have soldered wires or used crimp on connectors as well.

4) Fancier ones (which that could be) might include some kind of voltage spike/surge prevention. In most cases this is some kind of varistor (likely a little blue disc about the size of a coin) which have a bit of a tendency to fail open after too many surges. Bypass in much the same way as above, or if you are really bored you can figure out what part failed and fix that.

5) Connector/socket elasticity. European style ones are usually not so bad but US ones can see the connections become poorer over time owing to it being light spring pressure holding it connected. Do also see if the connectors are oxidised (most things being copper then dull copper or, worse still, blue/green oxides).

6) Quality of the lead. Depending upon how radical you want to get there are lots of faults you could see when inspecting things (outer covering providing full contact, strain related issues at ends, cuts/cracks in outer covering making it only whatever insulation the internal wires have, yellowing of lead from heat... and much more).
Similarly check the plug end.

Also congratulations you have saved yourself 15 Euros if https://www.amazon.es/alargador-electrico/s?k=alargador+electrico is anything to by (maybe less if you had to go get some connectors). If you do this and your house burns down you better hope your fixes burn up too as the insurance investigator will probably try to say bad fix caused everything and avoid paying out. Likewise if you take it into a school or something and it electrocutes some idiot kid and it becomes apparent that you fiddled with it (maybe even bypassed a safety system*) you are going to have a fun time in court justifying yourself (I can if I have to, if you are asking this on the proverbial gaming forum then probably not) and I bet you did not even get a PAT test or local equivalent which is going to start you on the wrong foot.

*the lawyers might not care that it is irrelevant to the facts of the case, your surge protector doing nothing at all to prevent electrocution even in perfect working order (woe betide you take out an effectively pointless secondary RCD that the installation should have provided), if it is indeed so.

Thanks for the extensive explanation. I'm obviously not risking my life nor endangering others in the process of fixing it. I believe the thing is perfectly fine aside from the lack of the red switch button (which popped up and got lost in unknown circunstances). I tried to find that specific part but it seems they only sell the whole switch and changing it requited tearing apart the outlet. Giving that it doesn't have screws but bolts, it's more of a hassle than I'm can bother with, actually.