ContraptionMaker writes – “This project was inspired by this excellent wiki entry and Matthew Beckler’s project found here…” – Link.
Previous: HOW TO – ATX -> Lab Bench Power Supply Conversion – Link.
8 thoughts on “ATX Power supply to bench unit mod”
Comments are closed.
This is quite a neat idea! But I thought I’d better mention that some switch-mode power supplies will misbehave when run without a load. Some will fail to start up, while others will produce voltages that are well out of spec. No doubt, with PC power supplies, there’ll be a lot of variation from one type to another.
Best to check voltages with a meter before relying on the PSU to supply an accurate voltage.
Thanks for the encouragement! You are right a psu does need a load to stay on, and that’s what the power resisitor is for. It creates a load on the circuit anytime the power is on. Thus the need for the resisitor to be attatched to a heat sink. And I agree, you should always check your voltages with your meter.
I built mine to power 12 volt automotive accessories so I built in a cigar lighter socket:
http://www.vonslatt.com/images/bus/atxps1.jpg
Jake.
My Kerosene Lamps
Just as an FYI regarding this and similar conversion projects posted here….. Dell power supplies use a nonstandard color coding scheme and won’t work for this project! I found out the hard way…..