Ultimate Power supply

[brushlessboy16]

So I had to replace my old pc powersupply when the fan stopped working and it fried after a few years of service, i came up with this idea a while ago, warmed up the soldering iron and got to work.



Started life as a 450 watt computer power supply, stripped it down to have a single 12v output for a charger, added copper rails for other chargers with alligator clips to run off of it, usb hub for charging phones, ipods etc :)

Has a 2 position switch between ground and the arming wire (green) for switch on and off.

Troubleshooting and Solutions
- First time I fired it up the power supply did NOTHING, wouldnt even spin the fan over. I found out that I needed to reconnect the sensing wires to the 3.3v and 5v rails respectively for the supply to keep tabs on its power output.

- Flipped the switch and it powered up! yay.... and then it died.
Flipped the switch a few more times and it did the same thing. It would power up for a few seconds at 12.02v and then die. After some snooping, i found that I needed to load the 5v rail of the supply to get the power supply to wake up. Got a 10ohm, 10watt sandbar resistor and thermal paste(d) it to one of the heatsinks already inside the Supply, and wired it between a 5v sources and a ground wire. viola! Now she idles at 12.05v without load. Now to see what she can do.

Hooked up my Imax b5 Charger, charged a 2s lipo at 5amps, voltage at the supply was 11.94v, THen hooked up a Hyperion 6series charger, and charged another 2s pack at 5.6amps, Input voltage dipped to 11.8 then went right back up to 11.94. Then hooked up 2 120mm pc fans, still no change in input voltage :). This thing is a monster and could probably run 4 chargers perfectly fine.

[brushlessboy16]

Oh yes, also... Dont touch heatsinks directly after unplugging the supply... They still hold charge.. Found that out the hard way

[whitrzac]

Originally Posted by brushlessboy16

Oh yes, also... Dont touch heatsinks directly after unplugging the supply... They still hold charge.. Found that out the hard way

Throw a couple of sticks on there and you have the beginnings of a good bon fire!

[What's_nitro?]

I'm stealing your idea for those power terminals...that's a good one.

Hope you don't mind!

[Chadworkz]

Very nice! I think converting PC Power-Supplies is one of the cheapest and best ways of getting an excellent power-supply, better than anything currently on the market.

I am currently looking into building a power-supply that delivers a solid 15-18V @ 30-35A output, but am having a hard time finding anything to work with that is even close to those specs. I did find a 24V power-supply from an Auto-Start jump-starting box for big diesels and other 24v vehicles, but it is huge and is just way too big for me to use.

I have also been thinking about hitting up Radio Shack for a few parts and building my own PS powered directly from any 110V home outlet, but I need to do some serious research first, and maybe even find a local electrician to help me out, so I don't light myself up or burn my house down...heh!

The reason I want/need so much power is because battery and charger technology is growing by leaps and bounds every day, and batteries can now be charged at 5C or more and chargers can deliver 20Amps or more, but in order to reach their maximum potential, they need 13-18Volts @ 20+Amps, and some are built to handle up to 32Volts!

[brushlessboy16]

Originally Posted by What's_nitro?

I'm stealing your idea for those power terminals...that's a good one.

Hope you don't mind!

No problem, its steel rod, soldered to and wrapped with single strand 12ga wire.

Originally Posted by Cartwheels

Throw a couple of sticks on there and you have the beginnings of a good bon fire!

???

Originally Posted by Chadworkz

Very nice! I think converting PC Power-Supplies is one of the cheapest and best ways of getting an excellent power-supply, better than anything currently on the market.

I am currently looking into building a power-supply that delivers a solid 15-18V @ 30-35A output, but am having a hard time finding anything to work with that is even close to those specs. I did find a 24V power-supply from an Auto-Start jump-starting box for big diesels and other 24v vehicles, but it is huge and is just way too big for me to use.

I have also been thinking about hitting up Radio Shack for a few parts and building my own PS powered directly from any 110V home outlet, but I need to do some serious research first, and maybe even find a local electrician to help me out, so I don't light myself up or burn my house down...heh!

The reason I want/need so much power is because battery and charger technology is growing by leaps and bounds every day, and batteries can now be charged at 5C or more and chargers can deliver 20Amps or more, but in order to reach their maximum potential, they need 13-18Volts @ 20+Amps, and some are built to handle up to 32Volts!

a pc power supply is what you need :)

[Chadworkz]

Originally Posted by brushlessboy16

a pc power supply is what you need :)

Yea, I have looked at hundreds of PC Power-Supplies, but none deliver the voltage/amperage that I need.