Rigging a PC power supply

[Andy A.]

Originally Posted by mechanicalbrain

Well I do kind of want to use a PC power source. It has the perfect outputs and i have like four of them just sitting here collecting dust. I might just have it run some other device all the time like a light or fan. Maybe use it to power a electrical "workstation". Thanks I didn't realise they needed a minimum load.

Ok.

This page has a good deal of information about PC power supplies.

I haven't, in the quick research I've done been able to figure out just what signal to pin 14 it requires to keep the supply on. Perhaps a short to the 5v or 3.3v line?

I'll keep looking.

Anyway, if you want a portable power supply, why not just get an adjustable supply? PC supplies vary a great deal in quality, and some are downright junk. Or, use a battery and construct a voltage regulator to step down to whatever voltage you wanted.

I'd hate to have to drag around a atx supply, especially if you have to get it through airline security (a box with lots of wires coming out of it)!

-Andy A.

Edit: I did a bit more searching, and found a whitepaper on the ATX specs. It seems that pin 14 has to be held at ground for the supply to stay on. Check out the paper .