What funny things I can do with old PC power supplies?

Discussion in 'Power Supplies and UPS's' started by fairy teller, Oct 2, 2010.

  1. fairy teller

    fairy teller Geek Trainee

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    I know it sounds stupid :). But really what can you do with them except throwing out? Can I do some funny (and safe) stuff, like "do it yourself" kind of thing?
     
  2. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    They are good to use around the house for anything that needs 5 or 12V. I use one to power my RC battery chargers.
     
  3. henry222

    henry222 Geek

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    FWIW, seems a bit extreeme to me....even older PC's had PSUs of 350w rating.
    It makes little sense to use one on loads under 10% (so that's 35W minimum load). Also there is a niggle in my mind that says you must load the 5v rail - so you need to something like 2A - this rail is used to reference the other rails, hence the load requirement to make sure the 5v rail is "working".

    By all means try whatever scheme you like, but bear in mind these PSU's are intended to be used in a particular way. They cost very little (per watt) and for low loads may be used without the fan (but make sure there is some airflow!).

    The other alternative is those small "plug-style" PSU's intneded for notebooks...often these are single rail, something between 12 and 20v at something like 4A. In addition they are quite samll and require no fan and can be regarded as "safe" since they are fully moulded....whereas a PC, PSU really needs to be in a box for protection.
     

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