Computer power supply wasted?

[Carl Reade]

No sure if this has been covered, or maybe new to some.

How many of these extremely useful items have been scraped?

A computer supply is a very stable, cooled switch mode device giving 12V DC, 5V DC and 3V DC with high Amp output. A fairly simple procedure and general tidy up would give any observer a very cheap and reliable power source.

There are loads of links online showing how to convert them to regular power supplies by simply adding what ever connectors you require.

Of course SAFETY FIRST they are mains driven! If your not confident dont touch.

Im sure its impossible to count how many of these very useful items has been dumped.

Cheers Carl

[Gina]

Absolutely!!

[ZEbbEDY]

i made a rear cooling fan out of an old psu as it had a nice caged bit over the fan portion

[Macavity]

Dunno what their "order on demand" facility is like, but...

http://proto-pic.co.uk/atx-breakout-board-bench-power-supply/

Quite a useful firm for other (in stock) stuff though.

[astrofox]

Just about to order the kit Red Dwarf has highlighted. Have this old PSU having upgraded my computer.

[kirkster501]

I stumbled into this as well. That ATX breakout board is only 1.25A though so it says. That's nowhere near enough - or am I missing something? As a PC builder I have loads of these PSU's knocking around.....

[Macavity]

I stumbled into this as well. That ATX breakout board is only 1.25A though so it says. That's nowhere near enough - or am I missing something? As a PC builder I have loads of these PSU's knocking around.....

I'm not sure why they include 1.5A polyfuses - I guess the unit is intended for breadboard / prototyping etc. purposes. Clearly supplies are capable of delivering much more current - With due regard to safety! You'd have to be a careful re. running higher currents through the PCB tracks, if you decided to bypass the fuses.

I plan (eventually!) to solder the leads to binding posts. I finally found a source of multiple / different colours. Most manufacturers just do red and black, but these come in the whole spectrum...

http://uk.mouser.com...EqRYWtMrGOvAZks (Yellow ones) etc.

[Gina]

I got 4 colours from ebay a while back.

[IanL]

Don't think I've ever disposed of a PC that still had a working PSU. Most of my machines go through 3 or 4 PSUs over their lifetime (tend to get recycled to lower grade jobs like NAS or firewall duties once an upgrade is due). It's the weakest link in the chain of components, and even going for a high end PSU with plenty of headroom they tend to give up the ghost every couple of years (even with surge protectors, etc. the rural power cut kills a few, and the ones that end up being servers and on 24/7 just burn out on their own eventually). If I ever do end up with a spare I would certainly think about putting it in my portable imaging station (stanley toolbox with many holes, laptop shelf, etc.) In the meantime 15 quid eBay laptop PSUs are a lot cheaper than buying a dedicated PSU for a PC at 80-120 quid a throw.

[keithatrochdale]

These make a cracking power supply if you need more current, in the region of 47A at 12v http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HP-DL380-G4-Generation-4-Power-Supply-PSU-575W-338022-001-366982-001-367238-001-/221154284660?pt=UK_Computing_PowerSupplies_EH&hash=item337dd29474

Conversion details here http://www.rcmf.co.uk/4um/index.php/page,139.html