ATX PSU with displays

So I've been working on a Power supply that will be able to power my creations during development. I went online and found some cheap current displays and voltmeter. using an ATX power supply, and a spare 24V 4.5 amp power supply. I built this. It is capable of delivering 5+amp from 3.3V, 5V, and 12V. the variable control allows for 0 - 18V and can source 5 amps Max. Also have a -12V supply and -5V supply.

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Former Member over 10 years ago +3

I like your random hole drilling work for the air flow Nice job indeed to re-purpose cheap PC PSU. Got inspired to re-use old 600Watt'r without a host
michaelkellett over 10 years ago in reply to kidiccurus +3

You need to take care with PC supplies - although cheap and powerful you don't have any current limiting so you can easily fry your prototypes. When I start up a new board with micro or other low voltage…
benheck over 12 years ago +1

Nice work! PC power supplies are very useful! Cheap, and plenty of power.

benheck over 12 years ago

Nice work!

PC power supplies are very useful! Cheap, and plenty of power.
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Former Member over 10 years ago

I like your random hole drilling work for the air flow
Nice job indeed to re-purpose cheap PC PSU. Got inspired to re-use old 600Watt'r without a host
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kidiccurus over 10 years ago in reply to Former Member

That is a very nice build! My only question is about the accuracy of the voltmeters. Are they precise enough for most jobs or do you need to use a more accurate master to get a useful measurement?
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michaelkellett over 10 years ago in reply to kidiccurus

You need to take care with PC supplies - although cheap and powerful you don't have any current limiting so you can easily fry your prototypes.

When I start up a new board with micro or other low voltage stuff on it I usually set the power supply current limit to a few mA and slowly wind the volts up, you have to increase the current limit according to the circuit you are testing as the volts go up but that first 0.5 - 1V at a few mA is good for finding shorts or reversed parts.

You can put a resistor in series with the 3.3V supply to start things up - not quite the same as a current limit but will help you find quite a lot of faults while keeping the magic smoke where it belongs.

Once things are working having a cheap beefy supply is nice.

MK
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Workshopshed over 10 years ago in reply to michaelkellett

That's a good technique
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