psu question

[wollo]

People,

Does anyone know if it is easy enough to get the 5 and 12v supplys of a standard ATX power supply to supply power when not connected to a main board. I was kind of hoping to use a dedicaed supply in my enclosure to provide floodlighting with a few white cold cathode tubes. I haven't had any luck googling the subject though maybe I havent found a good search string yet.

What are you using for lighting, do you think you'll have any problems with the heat generated by the lights?

[SUBS17]

If you're after 5 or 12V DC you're probably better off getting a standard Transformer with DC output than playing with a powersupply from a PC. Its a Safer option and everything is sealed so no risk of a leak to earth with AC through anyone.

[Charos]

If SUBS17 hasn't talked you out of it, to use an ATX PSU you have to short pins 14 to 15 of the M/B connector.(further reading (http://www.laserlab.com/atx_ps_connector.php) )

Nikolas

[Growler67]

Making a jumper as suggested above works well. However, You can also use a Power Supply Tester as a jumper. I got a spare for cheap at a garage sale but they normally run $15-20. Of course using 2 inches of 18 guage wire is free if you have enough just laying around.

[wollo]

thanks for the info guys SUBS17 has indeed put me off. I found some info here: http://www.epanorama.net/links/psu_computer.html if anyone needs it

I'm thinking about a 5A 12V regulated laptop (or similar) power supply.
does anyone know if there would be any issues connecting 2 in parrallel to power my 12V systems?

I'm a bit rusty with 12V systems and equations as well. I think I'll need to spend an evening soon studying.

[Charos]

does anyone know if there would be any issues connecting 2 in parrallel to power my 12V systems?


Not a good idea.
(further reading) (http://www.electronics-lab.com/forum/index.php?topic=2942.0)

So both psu try to regulate the same voltage, causing their output to get very instable

Nikolas