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Thread: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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Old 03-24-2013, 07:48 AM   #141
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Why not use one of these? 12V 500W Power Supply for Icharger 306B 3010B Powerlab 6 8 Hyperion 4mm Jacks | eBay
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Old 03-24-2013, 07:51 AM   #142
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Or one of these. better yet! 24V 1000W Power Supply for Icharger 306B 3010B Powerlab 6 8 Hyperion 4mm Jacks | eBay
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Old 03-24-2013, 03:03 PM   #143
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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How about because-

1-I can get a server PS for "free" since they change them out before "MTBF".
2-You have 2 posts, both seem to be to sell these server PS's. Thus, I almost consider spammer.
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Old 03-24-2013, 05:02 PM   #144
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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Why is that better yet? Most chargers we use are rated to 17vdc. Connect a charger to 24v that is not made to handle that high of a voltage will be instantly junk.
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Old 03-25-2013, 12:48 PM   #145
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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As mentioned PC PSUs can be had for free or cheap. Those on EBay are used, so no better.

Also most PC PSUs have 3.3V and 5V outputs that can be used for other purposes. I use the 3.3V for my formerly cordless screwdriver. The 5V could be wired to a USB jack to charge you phone or whatever at the track.
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Old 03-27-2013, 07:52 PM   #146
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Sorry! I just thought, if somebody couldnt do the wiring, they could buy something already done. You could do something like this and parallel charge 12 Batt. at the same time. Yes it does cost a bit . Again sorry, no Im not trying to sell anything, not a spam. Heres a pic , from another site, ,
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Old 03-28-2013, 04:27 AM   #147
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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Sorry! I just thought, if somebody couldn't do the wiring, they could buy something already done. You could do something like this and parallel charge 12 Batt. at the same time. Yes it does cost a bit . Again sorry, no I'm not trying to sell anything, not a spam. Heres a pic , from another site, ,
OK, you posted back, sorry, really seemed like a spammer and we get a lot of those.
Thanks for the links....and replying back (since spammers usually hit & run).
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Old 05-22-2013, 09:38 AM   #148
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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Here's mine.. Along with the grd, 12v, 5v, binding posts I also made external test leads and added USB charging ports.
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Also built one using a PS3 power supply and using the dual USB charging posts.
I can leave this one on my toolbox. 12v @ 32a

I have an old PS3 that crapped out also. The first Gen. How did you make that first one, i like the USB port charging part.
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Old 07-08-2013, 03:34 PM   #149
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

wow this is one of the best threads for the hobby im off to the goodwill to pick up my p/s this week and i should get my up by race day. i will be the coolest or geekiest guy at the track. thanks for the info
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Old 09-24-2013, 07:18 AM   #150
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Thought I'd share what I did with two Artesyn 7000830-Y000 (IBM 39Y7343) PSUs which came out of an IBM server. These guys can output 56A at 12V





56A is way more than typically needed, so for the first PSU I installed four sets of banana jacks, with a 15A fuse on each positive jack. I put in a 'power' switch (the fans keep running even when 'off') and extra green LED on the top.

For the second PSU I installed one set of 4mm female bullet connectors for full draw capability. I ran two 12AWG wires, one to each tab, to each bullet.

+12V comes out of the two large tabs on the left, and negative or ground is on the two large tabs on the right.
To turn it on you have to toggle a switch from off to on between ground and the second pin from the top right as seen here with the green shrink wrap.



The other two wires go to the green LED on the top cover with a 1kohm resistor.
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Old 01-19-2014, 11:59 PM   #151
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

my take on this. i started with the atx conversion on the first page, then i started tinkering and it became clear that variable output would be nice. so using this instructables page i built the circuit to do so.

i still wanted the easy -+12v,-+5v,0v option, so i built the variable circuit in a box. being cheap, i opted not to integrate a voltmeter into the box, so i whipped a couple short leads up to hook up to the multimeter that will replaced in the future anyway.

it may seem like a mess, but its not that bad, hook the box leads to the -12v and +12v outputs, then hook up the multimeter, then turn on the power supply. i normally hate those stupid lit up fans, but it works here for a power light and was free (found in junk box). it'll hold to +-.02 volts under load, and for now, that's good enough.





overall, its been working well for a while, and while the face plate and a couple other things could be better, they don't need to be.
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Old 07-24-2014, 10:20 PM   #152
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

I am converting an atx1 and have tried several different resistors on the 5v rail but still cant get the voltage above 11.8v. I have tried a 10ohm 25w, 8ohm 20w and a 10ohm 10w all without much variance in output voltage. What else can I try? I'm still a little confused on the resistance values and their affect on voltage.
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Old 07-24-2014, 10:52 PM   #153
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Your power supply may be internal regulated and will not go above that voltage. I did not use a resistor on mine. Just hooked the fan to the 5v rail. It is rock solid at that voltage. I can hook both my chargers to it for a total of 4 batteries. Crank them up and the voltage will not move.
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Old 07-24-2014, 11:59 PM   #154
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

One of the best places I have found to give good instructions on a DIY ATX power supply to bench top power supply was: instructables.com. There's about a half dozen on there. I used one of the older ables to do mine. None have failed me yet. Got one for running car stereo in garage, one for ........, etc
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Old 07-25-2014, 03:49 AM   #155
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

Ok. Tried to power it up without the resistor and got an output of 9.88v on the 12v rail. Used the 10ohm 25w on the 5v rail and got 11.87v. The 10ohm 10w gave an output of 11.72v. Placing any resistor on the 12v rail prevents the unit from turning on. The machine that this PS came from was operational when it was dismantled, so I know it WAS a properly functioning PS at one point in the not so distant past. I don't want to take the time to completely finish all of the aesthetics to find that the PS won't even power the charger, so I am hesitant to do much more until I can figure out what is going on.
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Old 07-25-2014, 07:23 AM   #156
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Default Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

This is the one I used on all of mine: http://www.instructables.com/id/Conv...ly-to-a-really

I've used the ceramic 10 ohm 10watt resistors.

You also have to connect one of the orange wires to the brown one or the whole thing won't turn on
Hope this helps

Last edited by Gula; 07-25-2014 at 07:27 AM. Reason: added picture
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Old 08-23-2014, 05:52 PM   #157
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger


Based on reading this feed and not knowing a lot about electronics....I'm wondering if this power supply will work and if so which set of mods to follow?


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Old 08-24-2014, 02:12 AM   #158
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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10 ohms at 10 watts is a starting point, imo. I go by my DVM.
The only real way to figure out what resistor to use is to measure the voltage with a meter. If the voltage is too low, lower the value of the resistor. Don't over do it with trying to get a high +12, because it may over work the power supply. Bottom line, there is no telling which resistor to use because of the different manufactures designs. It's trial and error.

You can find these resistors at Mouser.com http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...QSGuZcvbhfM%3d


This is the atx I'm trying to convert and would like to run a 4-6 bank rc charger of it. I would like to be able to charge a combination of lipo and nimh at the same time at any given time and wondering if this will work. Best I can tell I'm in the 12v range but only 4amps. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


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Old 08-24-2014, 05:51 AM   #159
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

So you are wanting to use a single charger and hooking it up to this 200w max output ATX PS correct ? From the data plate it will put out 6 amps at 12v! This power supply is a bit wèk sauce but should work. Worst you'd do is burn it up!
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Old 08-24-2014, 07:48 PM   #160
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Default Re: Modding a PC Power Supply into a 12 Volt Supply for your DC charger

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So you are wanting to use a single charger and hooking it up to this 200w max output ATX PS correct ? From the data plate it will put out 6 amps at 12v! This power supply is a bit wèk sauce but should work. Worst you'd do is burn it up!


Yes....a multiport charger with either 4 ports or 6 capable of charging lipo and nimh at the same time with the same charger


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