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

[forbid89]

I really hope you didn't combine all the red, blacks and yellows into ONE plug, because that is what it sounds like to me.

 

[stelerzman]

No, i bundled the colors together and soldered them the corresponding plug post. I only have 2 PS left. Any other ideas?

 

[racerfred]

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

The red and black go to the power resistor, green to black for power on, brown to orange if there, the power good white or gray may not be needed.
See here
http://web2.murraystate.edu/andy.batts/ps/powersupply.htm

What kind if power supply is it?

 

[RedEarth Innovations]

My boss bitched at me for making one of these at work a few weeks ago. He ate his words this week when it came in handy more than once.

 

[racerfred]

My boss bitched at me for making one of these at work a few weeks ago. He ate his words this week when it came in handy more than once.

What do you do for a living?

 

[RedEarth Innovations]

What do you do for a living?

Im a Product Design Engineer; I design Smokers, Fryers, BBQ Grills, etc.
I am working on a project that uses LED's; and it came in handy to prove a point to the boss.

 

[xxgg]

Using a PC ATX PSU is good but I highly recommend using a server PSU.

For example, I have found out that the 12v PSU from MaxAMPs
http://www.maxamps.com/Power-Supply-12V.htm ($79)

PSU they are using isn't a in-house built but a server PSU from HP DL380 series of a server machine. It's a PSU series 135 with 575Watts with 47A on 12v rail. Exactly same spec shown at maxamps site.

This is a extremely easy to mod PSU, in fact there is absolutely no modding required. Simply short some pins to allow it to self power on, solder some wires to its 12v pin + GND = DONE!

Great part is... this exact server PSU can be found online for under $20.(refurb/Used)

In fact, I bought mine at a local computer server parts store for $15 only.
Even at near full load, 12v rail would not drop below 12volts too.

Hardware wise, it is a absolutely solid... so no need to worry anything about that.
So I guess if you want to buy from maxamps, you would be paying extra for pretty skin, pre-solder wire with plug, power cable and its great warranty service.

It almost makes me want to get me a higher quality charger. Like... Revolectrix Cellpro PowerLab 8 ,
Or I'll just run two charger off it.
Hmmm... imagine parallel charging 8 5000mah packs in 1hr (1C) !! or faster.

Enjoy!

 

[racerfred]

Ep buddy is a good source for the high power supplies (24v)
http://epbuddy.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=5
For me a computer ps is good enough for what I do ;-).

 

[rims003]

tires and rims

rims
tires and rims

This is a extremely easy to mod PSU, in fact there is absolutely no modding required. Simply short some pins to allow it to self power on, solder some wires to its 12v pin + GND = DONE!

 

[98sahara]

so i have a turnigy accucell 6 here are the specs

Spec.
Input Voltage: 11~17v
Circuit power: Max Charge: 50W / Max Discharge: 5W
Charge Current Range: .1~6.0A
Ni-MH/NiCd cells: 1~15
Li-ion/Poly cells: 1~6
Pb battery voltage: 2~20v


so if i need the 11~17v which plugs do i need to use on the power supply i made (+5,-5)?. it is a hipro 300w psu

 

[98sahara]

nevermind i got it. i was just kinda timid because i didnt want to burn up my charger:lmao:

 

[RcBro]

I just did this mod to a power supply. All the outputs show correct voltage. But once I hook a lathe to the outputs the power supply shuts off. Any ideas?

 

[Xordac]

Binding posts finally came in. Finding a place that sells them for cheap was hard. SparkFun.com was the best place I could find and they only had black and red. Making the holes was a pain. Had to move the fan to the outside since there wasn't much room inside the PSU since it is from a tiny HTPC.
Left some PC plugs to test HDDs.

Anyways here are some pics:

 

[RcBro]

I ended up finding out that mine would only work if I left it off, plugged in my desired electronics then turned it on.

I assume my resistor is not pulling enough wasted energy for the PS to see a drain. For now it works, I may fix it later.

 

[Charlie-III]

I just did this mod to a power supply. All the outputs show correct voltage. But once I hook a lathe to the outputs the power supply shuts off. Any ideas?

Overloading it?? What voltage are you using, I'm guessing 5VDC?

 

[RcBro]

Check the post above

 

[racerfred]

I just did this mod to a power supply. All the outputs show correct voltage. But once I hook a lathe to the outputs the power supply shuts off. Any ideas?

The power supply shut off becuase it saw the connection as a short and cut off to save its self. Most PS will do that, just connect charger\lathe first.

 

[RcBro]

Already posted that, thanks!

 

[stelerzman]

I finally got my PS working. I went thru 3 before i had a tech check it out.
An internal cap. failed . $3.00 later up and running."thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup".
I'll post some pic's later.

 

[stelerzman]

All works very well. I use my PS to power my Battery charger, test electronics and to power my motor lathe. Here are some pic's.
Thanks for all the info on this thread."thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup""thumbsup".\\
Pic's.