12v PSU
 

bought a 500W ATX pc psu of ebay, brand new £16ish, added a few bits and this is it finished , well main bits are there, going to add a few cosmetic touches soon(think blue :) )
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...m/DSC00146.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...m/DSC00147.jpg
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g1...m/DSC00148.jpg

very good, but might i suggest some heatshrink sleeving/insulation on the wires going to the connector posts.

not half, accident awaiting to happen there!

Have you used a resistor, instead of a lamp, to add a load for smoothing?

Looks good!

yes ive used a resistor,

which wires do you mean about insulating?

where you have stripped back the wires coming from the board, and twisted them together, there is far to much bare wire, anything conductive drops in there and bang.

On a side note, you could of taken the board out and just removed most of the wires from the board by heating the solder on the back, would of been far neater.

How come you only have one load resistor? I thought you needed one on the 3.3V and the 5V? :confused:

G

im not using the 3.3v or 5v rails, the bulb only goes on the red, yellow, blacks anyway, been told to stick resistor on red/black anyway

yes teh red and yellow are the 3.3v and 5v rails. These need to be loaded and stable as the 12v rail is referenced from them.

G

PSU
 

Looks good. Where can you find instructions as to how to make this up. Also what sort of AMP do these computer PSU's turn out? I would think this is a marketing opportunity for somebody to source and make these up for us (older) members as I am not sure i would manage all the soldering etc..

you do know you can buy 12v psu's??

G-i dont know, ive just followed instructions and it works

Older folk have more time?:):) try this thread for couple of days reading, soon be an expert, Tip- save any bits/tips that look interesting cause you will neaver find that bit again.............

http://www.rcracechat.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2129


I will try to find another url with a simpler diagram. all connections can be made outside the box (no soldering), some PSU's do not require the loading etc.......have fun.

URL for PSG guide: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fast.electrics/PSU.pdf

Other articles same site: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/fast.el...s/articles.htm

Both above from Fast Electrics.

http://www.wikihow.com/Convert-a-Com...b-Power-Supply
that one is pretty useful

After seeing some of ant's soldering at the track I would say it is an accident waiting to happen anyways. :D I have a fire extinguisher on standby.

lol, guess what!?!?

something blew, wasnt this though, it was my bloody charger :mad:

Did you measure the output of the psu once you'd finished it?

I made one and it needed the 3.3v and 5v lines loaded to get a nice 12v output. Perhaps your 12v line wasn't 12v or was had a lot of ripple on it?

G

i didnt measure it, but it had been working fine, tis still working fine with my backup charger

12v PSU
 

Thanks for the info guys. Looks complicated. Im not sure I would be confident enough to do one for myself though.

Just to let you lot know, Ive used it every week since it was finished and its been working fine, even had it on most of the day at worksop rd2 and the schuey indoor sunday tourers meeting at WBMCC, and my charger hasn't beeped or anything, so its all good *touchwood*

for anyone who wants to know how to make one of these, there is a full picture guide here and very well explained http://www.one18th.com/ShowArticle79.htm
enjoy


alex