Using an ATX power supply for stuff other than computer.

[Cashmoney995]

I would like to use ATX power supplies to modify like everything in my house from the couches to the kitchen sink (seriousely). Is there a way that I can dupe the power supply into turning on without being connected to a motherboard? And then have it so i can use its own switch to turn it on and off?

Here's what im thinkin of doing.
Im gonna get a whole bunch of power supply and start using it to power cathode lights and led's and EL wires throughout my house. I want to get all sound sensitive cathodes so that when I start bumping my system i can turn all the house lights off and all the cathodes on and theyll bump to the music. For my kitchin sink i already made an accrylic mount and some caulk so that the kitchin sink is now .5 inches higher than the counter and has a .3 inch rim of plastic around it. I want to use EL wire or 3 cold cathodes around the sink so itll bump, obviousely id cover them in plastic to prevent any nasty water leaks that could arrise. For my couches im gonna turn em over and cut into them and find a good place to place the power supplies so i can turn them on from the ATX switch on the back then ill mount cathodes under the couch and then cover the bottom of the couch in aluminum foil so the light will carry as far out as possible. THennnn im going to start cutting into my wall, im going to add a small metal door inbetween studs near the bottom where i can have the power supply then im going to have a few cathodes inside the wall. Im then going to proceed to drill holes through out those two studs evenly and place covers on them so the holes look neat. turn on the lights at night and you have one elite wall . Yes I know im crazy but i promise pictures if i ever get this crazyyy experiment off the ground.

 

[Lynx516]

All you need to do is connect the green wire to ground (black wire) to turn an ATX PSU on without a switch

 

[Geniere]

Unless you?ve got a lot of spare PC power supplies lying around, I would buy supplies specific to the task. It should be cheaper.

Anyhow, don?t forget the hazards re: cooling, fire, electrocution. A power supply enclosed in a couch is a particularly bad idea.

It would be better to have a single, larger capacity supply feeding your various devices, which of course would need to operate at the same voltage. This avoids running line voltage (120vac) to various locations.

Lastly you would void any fire insurance you may have! I suspect you will likely need it.

 

[rneff50]

I wish i had this much time on my hands.

 

[Cashmoney995]

I was thinking that I could grab my old P2 heatsink and chop it up. I was also thinking that since I would not be connecting it to a motherboard I could just use 250 watt?s or maybe some odd 200?s. They are really cheap these days. I might buy some quiter fans for the older one?s though. I already tried cleaning one of my old 250?s used up about half a bottle of alcohol, fan dry for 20 minutes and it was as good as new. Then I stuck it inside a cardboard box and used a spare temp monitor from my dbox and it didn?t get above 85 degrees with 2 cathodes connected. I might have to install some fancy ducting?.but I think it could be done. Im graduating early from high school and I figured that I would have the time in between college to do this to my parents place?.luckily they are going away for a couple weeks to India and I?ll have the whole house to me and my dremel, mwahaha! Gonna try out this green black wire thing when i get home.

 

[rjain]

methinks someone has been sniffing oil fumes too much

 

[Cashmoney995]

You mean gas? Oildoesnt have that much of a fume, trust me I TRIED!

 

[rjain]

No, your profile says you live in Houston. I know how the Houston air smells (and how much oxygen it deprives your brain of).

 

[SilverBack]

Here is how you spoof your power supply into thinking it's connected to a motherboard. Just connect a single wire as shown.
This way the supply turns on everytime you flip the switch on the back of the PSU.

Simple PSU trick

 

[Cashmoney995]

I think I may try soddering the wires together inside the PSU, then perhaps i can chop off the rest of the wires or connect them to some more 12v connectors.

Yea houston sucks, I wish I lived somewhere nicer. Oh yea and Texas sucks...dumb Bush screwed up whole edu system.

 

[Geniere]

Judging by the idiocy of your project, the educational system has certainly failed you!

 

[Scootin159]

all you need is a 12v DC power supply capable of the nessesary load (i.e. Amps). You'll probably find that most of the little $5 AC->DC converters at radio shack will do what you need. Just look up the amperage requirements of everything you need and it'll give you an idea of the strength power supplies to buy.

Using ATX power supplies would be overkill in things you don't need (like stability, 5v, 3.3v, etc.).

 

[Cashmoney995]

The idiocy of my project? Get the hell out of my topic if you are bitter just because you lack imagination and initiative.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Scootin159
all you need is a 12v DC power supply capable of the nessesary load (i.e. Amps). You'll probably find that most of the little $5 AC->DC converters at radio shack will do what you need. Just look up the amperage requirements of everything you need and it'll give you an idea of the strength power supplies to buy.

Using ATX power supplies would be overkill in things you don't need (like stability, 5v, 3.3v, etc.).

I haven't really shopped the 12 v DC power supplies in a while, but for the amount of current he'll need, I don't think the $5 ones will work. If you've got a bunch of old power supplies lying around gathering dust (I have a couple), you may as well get some use out of them....

Heyyyyy, that's what I'll use to power the $1 stereo that I got in a garage sale that I want to use in my garage... the transformer in it is shot, but it still runs on 8 D batteries...
A little soldering and presto!

 

[NeoPTLD]

If you don't burn your house down, your parents will kick you out of the house as soon as you hit 18 or immediately if you're 18 already.

 

[dnuggett]

This is really very techincal. Sounds like it belongs in OT to me.

 

[ReiAyanami]

computer power supplies are cheaply made, i've had one that exploded after 2.5 years. after that i switch to antec but all computer power supplies use inferior components to industrial power supplies that are made for specific purposes

 

[Cashmoney995]

Actually the thing is that I may be able to purchase 5 raidmax 300 watt powersupplies which are really quiet, and dont produce much heat at all. My cost would be around 35$ and thats pretty low for that type of power. The benefit of using a computer powersupply is that the current is much more stable through longer wires, and trying to be neat using lots of wire is one of my goals.

Meanwhile I went to UT Dallas for the Engineering Computer Science summit, and hillarious speaker. Some tech guy trying to explain cb's and chips, I think one of his most interesting phrases was "Chips are really just Gobs of Wires".