duel psu

[nskeeter99]

I have a raid system with 4 hd and 3 cds and my 300 watt sp is very taxed. I wont to get a full tower case. Since most aces come with ps i dont wont to wast money on anter one but i have a couple of 200s laying around is ther any way to wire the second one in to help run just hard drives to help take some of the strain off the main one?

 

[HammerBot]

Yes, that is possible. I imagine the following setup: You have a 'primary' PSU that connects to the mainboard, and a 'secondary' PSU that does not connect to the mobo but to a number of HDs etc. In order to make the secondary PSU start up you need to make a few connections:
Here is the <A HREF="http://www.cablingdirectory.com/pinouts/internal/atxmotherboardpower.htm" target="_new">pinout</A> of the ATX mobo power connector.
You need to connect pin 14 of the secondary PSU mobo connector to pin 14 of the primary PSU and any GND signal from the primary to the secondary. There is no need for the wires to be very thick, since the PS-ON signal carries very low current and the GND signal is already well connected to the primary PSU via the multiple GND wires in the ATA cables.

Note: Do NOT connect any 'live' power signal. E.g. you should not attempt to parrallel connect eg. the +5 or +3.3V signal. Each PSU has its own internal regulator, and they may oscillate (become unstable) if a secondary source is attempting to regulate the same voltage.

<i><b>Artificial intelligence will never be a match for natural stupidity</b></i>

 

[ejsmith2]

Hammer, I like the "other" approach.

It keeps both psu's fully independent. You can swap out at any time, or give a psu to a friend without having to redo connections.

Go down to Autozone, and get a 12v relay. You probably want one that can handle several amps.

Hook it up with a wire poked into one of the 12v power cords. Hook the other side up to the "on" and ground.

When the first powers up by hitting the "on" switch, it closes the relay, connecting the second one to gnd, and flipping it on.

I used this with my 85w peltier what seems like a long, long time ago. I even turned up my secondary psu to something like 13.3v to give it some extra power. Kicked ass, totally.

Until it burned out after about 3 days. But I really didn't expect that 200w PoS to last any longer...

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