Author Topic: AHHH, RRRR! Whats the freak'en deal with my PC power source for my LEDs and Amp? (Read 2312 times)

rackoon · « **on:** March 18, 2006, 09:24:39 pm »

I bought a really cheap 550watt PC power of eBay to run my 100 LEDs and sound system amp bot I cant find any power on this sucker. Is it dead? I tried flipping the switch on the back of it back and forth.

Before I freak out and throw the thing through the window, I was wondering if any one knew if there are some wires that I am suppose to twist together to close a circuit that turns this sucker on.

SirPeale · « **Reply #1 on:** March 18, 2006, 09:33:26 pm »

ATX Power supply? If so, bridge pin 14 and ground together.

http://www.compute-aid.com/atxspec.html

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #2 on:** March 18, 2006, 09:34:51 pm »

PC Power Supplies are designed to be connected to a motherboard. It won't come on just by applying mains to it. It normally needs the ATX and the Aux Power connector attaching to a Motherboard to work. This is beacuse the motherboard normally controls the power on and off on the power supply.

However, it is possible to ground out one or two of the pins on those connectors to get it to fire up....... I don't have the pinouts to hand at the moment, but a quick serach on the internet should turn up which pins you need to ground to get it to start.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #3 on:** March 18, 2006, 09:36:25 pm »

Quote from: Peale on March 18, 2006, 09:33:26 pm

ATX Power supply? If so, bridge pin 14 and ground together.

http://www.compute-aid.com/atxspec.html

ROFL

I really must type faster.... Better answer than mine, you know which pin to ground.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

whammoed · « **Reply #4 on:** March 18, 2006, 10:50:55 pm »

Wait, on an ATX supply, don't you have to have a certain load on the +5 rail to get it to work right/not fail?

rackoon · « **Reply #5 on:** March 18, 2006, 10:52:19 pm »

Wow, you guys are great! I totally appreciate the quick reply. I did a forum search on PC power supplies but I couldn't find the specific answer I needed. I never even thought that the info would be out there on the net.

Oh by the way when you say bridge do you mean just twist them together right.

So theoretically I could use this to create a remote switch.

Thanks again. I build a lot of furniture and my cab is looking really awesome but my electronic and computer skill are weak. Some times I think, "Man am I going to be able to do the computer part of this project or am I going to just stare at my $1500 dollar cab wishing it would work." I guess I will find that out soon.

I'm off to test my UV LEDs.

rackoon · « **Reply #6 on:** March 18, 2006, 10:54:51 pm »

Hey Whammoed are you just messing with me or are you serious?

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #7 on:** March 18, 2006, 10:57:31 pm »

Quote from: rackoon on March 18, 2006, 10:54:51 pm

Hey Whammoed are you just messing with me or are you serious?

He's serious..... You can damage the power supply on an ATX unit, if there's no load on the 5V Rail.

The PSU uses that to set up its voltage regulators, they can swing wildly if there isn't a correct load on that rail.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

rackoon · « **Reply #8 on:** March 18, 2006, 11:05:34 pm »

Bummer! I bought this power supply just to run my car amp and LEDs.

Is there any solution to this or should I toss this sucker and look for a AT power supply on eBay?

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #9 on:** March 18, 2006, 11:08:42 pm »

If you're using the 5V supply for your 100 LEDs then you should be OK with it. As long as you remember never to turn it on without the LEDs connected.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

rackoon · « **Reply #10 on:** March 18, 2006, 11:34:06 pm »

Does it matter which 5v line? Are they all connected?

Is the 5vsb the right one?

Jess-- · « **Reply #11 on:** March 19, 2006, 06:40:30 am »

NOT the 5VSB Line (that is 5V StandBy)

just grab the 5V rail from one of the drive connectors

rackoon · « **Reply #12 on:** March 19, 2006, 01:24:21 pm »

Thanks Jess.

I got one more question though.

Regarding turning this thing on and off, Do I only need momentary contact or can I just twist the 14 wire and the ground together and just use the switch on the back?

RayB · « **Reply #13 on:** March 20, 2006, 10:08:00 am »

Momentary.

Jess-- · « **Reply #14 on:** March 20, 2006, 07:30:43 pm »

are you sure on momentary? bear in mind this is not connected to a motherboard, think that a motherboard keeps that connection between pin 14 and gnd for as long as it wants power, then breaks the connection to power off.

rackoon · « **Reply #15 on:** March 20, 2006, 07:46:01 pm »

I have a nice chrome start button on the front of my coin door and it would be great if I could use it to turn on my LEDs and Sound system Amp.

   HOLY CRAP! My roof is caving in "right now" from the weight of the snow and the huge tree that smashed through and is now half way sitting on it from the last storm. I cant take this any more! I wonder if I take my old futon and turn it up on end, I might be able to wedge it under the bottom story ceiling in the kitchen and keep it from coming down any further. I gave up on the top story until it stops snowing, HELL, it freaking snows in my old bedroom now since a tree ripped half the roof off. Every other day I go up to the second story and shovel snow from my bedroom. Whats the point of living in California if I live in the part where the weather sucks! I should take a pic of this mess.

   Oh well my computer still works. Oh, and the cable and my 36" HD TV. But I am all out of propane and its 39 degrees in here and all my fire wood is soaked.

   Anyway this ATX power supply is for my LEDs and Amp only so there isn't a mother board involved. Do I need a relay switch. The button on my coin door looks like a leaf switch. What happens if I hold it down too long? Will I fry something?

Fozzy The Bear · « **Reply #16 on:** March 20, 2006, 09:54:18 pm »

Quote from: rackoon on March 20, 2006, 07:46:01 pm

I have a nice chrome start button on the front of my coin door and it would be great if I could use it to turn on my LEDs and Sound system Amp.

I'm afraid that RayB has confused the issue somewhat for you..... This is not the motherboard switch!! This PSU is not connected to a motherboard, which normally has a relay to hold pin 14 tied to ground after you've pressed the front panel switch.

You need to permanently connect pin 14 and Ground or the power supply will not start up. The switch to turn it on is then the mains switch on the back.

OR

If you want control from the front of your cabinet then you need to leave the mains switch on the back turned on and connect an On / Off Switch (NOT Momentary Switch) between Pin 14 and Ground.

Best Regards,
Julian (Fozzy The Bear)

wrench · « **Reply #17 on:** March 21, 2006, 03:19:21 pm »

straight from maximum pc mag,If you want it on all the time while plugged in just splice the two wires together,if you want to switch it off and on ,hook them to a switch.It works,I did this to a power supply for all my cab lights instead of tapping of the computer's power supply

rackoon · « **Reply #18 on:** March 21, 2006, 05:32:25 pm »

This all sounds good. I'm glad I didn't just start hooking things up and fry something.

I have one last question since we are on the topic of PSUs.
I was planning on using 4 to 6 wirering terminals with jumpers to light up all 100 LEDs.
My PSU has two 5v lines for drives and four 5v lines running to the mother board connector.
I wont touch the 5vsb because someone already told me it was a bad idea.

Anyone see a problem with using the four 5v lines that go to the mother board for lighting LEDs? Probably 20 LEDs on each line.

quarterback · « **Reply #19 on:** March 21, 2006, 10:47:18 pm »

Quote from: Fozzy The Bear on March 18, 2006, 10:57:31 pm

You can damage the power supply on an ATX unit, if there's no load on the 5V Rail.

The PSU uses that to set up its voltage regulators, they can swing wildly if there isn't a correct load on that rail.

I'd like some more info on this. I'm currently running my carPC's 7" LCD monitor off of a mini-ATX power supply mounted in my dash. My LCD screen is running off one of the 12v molex connectors coming out of the power supply. NOTHING is running off of the 5v at all.

What you're saying concerns me. I did a fair amount of testing before putting all this stuff into my dash and the 12volts coming out of the mini-ATX seemed very stable. Can you gimme more info and/or tell me what kind of load needs to be put on the 5v?

Thanks

Luckydevil · « **Reply #20 on:** March 21, 2006, 11:52:50 pm »

quarterback- Not all power supplies need something running off of the 5v line. I have nothing attached to the 5v line on 4 of my Rosewill power supplies, and all them are only supplying power on the +12v line. Been using them like this for about 6 months now with zero problems.

Teebor · « **Reply #21 on:** March 22, 2006, 06:13:32 am »

You only need a load attached to the power supply. It doesnt have to be the +5 volt line.

The PSU does monitor the power being produced by use of several wires attached to the Motherboard connector (if you look closesly there should be several pins with two wires attached to it) these "usually" monitor the +5 +12 +3.3 but on some cheaper PSU's they sometimes do not monitor the 12 volt. It is possible to connect a variable resistor to these lines to tweak the output voltage if its too low.

I see no problem in connecting to the +5 line from the motherboards connector. You could even buy yourself a connector from a local electrical suppliers and build it so it all connects properly.

quarterback · « **Reply #22 on:** March 22, 2006, 11:43:11 am »

Thanks for the replies.


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