Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

[bluebeetle]

Here´s mine, made from a Antec Neo-He 430W:

Front:

Rear (switched the fan to a blue led one..)

Works like it should, tested at 23A (no more batteries to charge...)

 

[cliffhanger007]

I did my in fall 2008 with the same manual as posted the PS was great until last weekend when i was charging my batteries and when charging was done i just unpluged lipo from charger and just noticed that my power supply died .
Anyone has idea what could of happed in there?
Will build a new one this weekend."thumbsup"

 

[racerfred]

1. Maybe the power supply saw the disconnection as a short and
protected itself.

2. Check the fuse

3. Check to see if any thing has burned up (Resistor)?

4. Check power cable.

5. Check solder joints for the connections that you have made.

The use of a voltage meter is needed on 3 of the 5 listed.

 

[Heavy]

Hey all,

I've got a question for you electronics guru's out there. I converted a pc power supply like shown here and it works perfect. Great info in this thread.

Here's my problem. I had a wire coming off the pcboard labled "usb" so I taped if off and ordered a usb jack. Today the jack came in. I found a pinout online. 4 pins, from left to right, pin1 is your positive, pin 4 is your ground. 5.16 volts coming off the board.

Everything checks out, BUT, When I plug my phone in it doesn't recognize a charger. Is there something you are supposed to do with the other 2 pins on the jack to "tell" the phone it's hooked to a charging source?

Heavy

 

[cliffhanger007]

i'm building now new one becouse last one is gone!
And now when i plug into power i hear some buzzing(ticking) but no fan???

 

[Charlie-III]

I'm building a new one because the last one is gone!
Now, when I plug into power, I hear some buzzing (ticking) but no fan???

I would double-check your connections, the "ticking" may be an arcing connection.
Does the fan turn by hand?

 

[newblnc]

really nice post. i purchased a icharger 106+ last year and really dont want to spend $90 for a power supply. ridiculous if you think about it.

 

[racerfred]

really nice post. i purchased a icharger 106+ last year and really dont want to spend $90 for a power supply. ridiculous if you think about it.

I've got the 106b+ too it works perfect on my pc powersupply, how much did you get your charger for?

 

[newblnc]

i paid $125 for the charger. thats here in canada. i really just wanted a charger that would do all the batteries i would probably ever use. im not into any really big planes and the 106b+ does upto 6s so im set.

 

[racerfred]

EP Buddy has some good stuff http://epbuddy.com/
I was going to order from them but I got a good deal at the LHS.
If you sign up at their web site they will email you a discount.

 

[jetrod7024]

i built one. it works fine for me .i get 30 amps out of mine.no problems ,yet .

 

[mocrawlin]

hey guys, ive just taken a p/s out of an old dell i dont use anymore, it is a 250w version. has the 20 pin plug to the board like the first one in this thread. all i want this thing to do is power one charger, it says it puts out 14 amps@12v, so will i need the resistor in it to bring the voltage/amperage up? also, i only want one set of outputs to make 12 volts to charger, so what all do i need to hook up and what can i just cut out of there? lol and this thing hasnt been hooked up for a month or so, so it doesnt need discharged does it? i dont want zapped!! anyone have radioshack part numbers for an led and resistors and switch that are needed for these? i do have a volt/ampmeter so i can check the output after i get it all done.

 

[mocrawlin]

also, my p/s does not have a white wire, or brown wires, what i have is, 1 each of gray, green, blue, purple, 3 orange, 6 yellow, 7 red, and 15 black. so do i just not worry about the white since i just want 12 volt out anyway? my 20 pin plug, had 4 red, 3 orange, 1 yellow, 1 blue, 1 green, 1 purple, 1 gray, and 7 black to it. hope that helps with my questions as to what i need to hook up and what i can cut out. lol does this one have a sensing wire i need to hook to the orange? somewhere i think it said gray or brown, i dont have brown, and the grey goes to led, so do i hook a orange there to led also?

 

[MonkeyRiver]

I went to RatShack and got the stuff I'll need. Here's the list w/part#'s. It all came to about $7 + tax.

2 binding posts (making one 17v outlet) #274-662 $2.99
10ohm 10 watt resistors (pack of two) #271-0132 $1.99
220 ohm 1/2w resistors (5 pack) #271-1111 $0.99
Red LED lamp assembly w/resistor #276-0270 $1.99

I wasn't sure I needed the 220ohm resistors since the LED has one built in. I only got two posts because they only had black and red. I need to hunt down two more of different colors. I opted against the switch as the PSU I have already has one.

 

[MonkeyRiver]

Everything checks out, BUT, When I plug my phone in it doesn't recognize a charger. Is there something you are supposed to do with the other 2 pins on the jack to "tell" the phone it's hooked to a charging source?

Heavy

I posed that question on another forum and one respondent seems to think it needs data to charge. I sorta question that as phones charge on car adapters, so where's data there?
My solution would be to use a powered hub, screw it to the top and run it from a 5v lead.

 

[mocrawlin]

well, the dell one i had first must have been one of the 96 to 2000 year models with non standard wiring, even tho it looks the same, but i couldnt get it to power on. i dug up another one that has its own switch hardwired to it, and it works ok. get 11.5 volts out of it. i am usin a 10ohm/10watt resistor, should i step to a 25watt resistor to get the voltage up?

 

[Jmsideshow]

we the dell one i had first must have been one of the 96 to 2000 year models with non standard wiring, even tho it looks the same, but i couldnt get it to power on. i dug up another one that has its own switch hardwired to it, and it works ok. get 11.5 volts out of it. i am usin a 10ohm/10watt resistor, should i step to a 25watt resistor to get the voltage up?

If you can remember to never turn on the power supply without something hooked up, you don't need any resistors. I'm getting a steady 12v out of mine while charging 2 6s lipos. I combined all the 12v, 5v, and ground wires into their perspective bundles, then soldered away. Plenty of power and no problems so far.

 

[MonkeyRiver]

Anyone needing the multi-color binding posts, the least expensive ones I could find were on Ebay from seller fxpel. A set of 6 posts and a set of corresponding plugs cost just under $20 with shipping.

 

[stelerzman]

Ok, so i have read everything on this thread. If i understand everything right, if i combine all the red's and black's together ( or at least most of them ) the voltage should be up to where i want them. Correct?

 

[stelerzman]

Now i am really lost. After getting all the wires together and hooked up, i turned on the PS and a saw a flash directly behind the fan( located on the side), everything went dead. I grabbed another PS and checked everything twice. I connected 4 black, 3 red, 3 yellow and 3 orange and soldered them to the banana plugs . Soldered up the Power resistor, Connected the Gray and Green for power just as i did on the 1st PS. Now the confusing part, on the 2nd PS the label states that the white wire is P.G.( power good).The 1st PS white is -5v. When i connected the white wire to the Green ( PS ON) it went dead as well. What the heck am i doing wrong. Please help. Thanks