Post Top Ad

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Use This for Your lab | 24V 12V 5V 3.3V | Computer ATX Power supply


Use This for Your lab | 24V 12V 5V 3.3V | Computer ATX Power supply

Hi friends in this video I will show how you can use a Computer power supply as a Lab branch power supply frist you need to find a green wire and you must connect it to the ground and the fan starts spinning it means the voltage are available for use

When you want to learn about electronics as a hobby, you will, of course, need to make a lot of circuits, and you need to test them. For that you will need a power supply, but you will often find yourself needing different voltages for different projects, so any power supply won't do, and you would want something thats a bit more versatile. You can go out and buy an off-the-shelf Lab PSU with a lot of different features, but these are often very expensive, and you don't need all that fancy features, when starting out with electronics, so you can make do with a lot less .


So where do you find a suitable power supply for your new hobby? That's easy. In almost any old computer theres a standard ATX power supply, which supply 3.3V, 5V, and 12V, which is the three most widely used voltages for electronics, which makes it a great powersupply for any new electronics hobbyist, and with a bit of modifications and accessories, it will be really easy to use as well.


So why not build your own Lab power supply for your new hobby? You might even learn a little about waht such a thing does, and you'll have your first electronic accomplishment to be proud of building yourself.

An ATX power supply from a computer has a standardized size, and a standardized wire layout, so its easy to use general information on PSUs from different manufacturers. There will be some slight differences between brands, but the general standards still apply (eg. wire coloring, size, method of turning it on etc)


In electronics the most widely used voltages for supplying a device are 12V, 5V, and 3.3V. Theres also the lesser, but still widely used 9V, 24V, 36V, and the supplies for laptops, that provide anything from 16-20V. for a device powered by a battery, its usually any supply thats dividable by 1.5 (eg 3V, 4.5V, 6V, 7.5V, etc)


An ATX power supply outputs 12V, 5V and 3.3V, and all of high amperage. On top of that, it provides 5V SB which is always on, if thePSU is plugged into a wall socket, even when you have turned the powersupply off, and it provides negative 12V (but at a low amperage). It is usually able to measure if it outputs the correct voltage on some of the rails as well, and its an extremely stable supply on all rails, compared to a cheap power supply. They usually have two 12V rails, named 12V1 and 12V2, so if you short out one of them for good (should not come to that, because of fuses), you will still have the other to play with. This would be a rare situation, but still nice to have such a feature. All this makes the ATX power supply ideal for our project of making our own lab power supply for our electronics projects, since its so versatile.


By the way, the first two steps have a lot of text, but the later steps are more down to earth. Also, sorry for any grammar mistakes. English is not my first language.

The wire colors of the PSU supplies as follows:


Black: GND/COM. (Ground/Common) also known as 0V


Orange: 3.3V


Red: 5V


Yellow: 12V. You will often see yellow wires with a black line on them. these are the second 12V rail.


(White): -5V this is rarely present, so don't worry about this one. If you have it, you can connect it to the spare terminal in the 6 way terminal (more on that later), or you can just put some shrink tube on it.


Blue: -12V this is rarely used, but you might as well connect it in the case you'll need it some day.


Brown (or thin orange one): 3.3V sense. This one regulates the 3.3V line, if it does not deliver the correct voltage. It is important that its connected at the end of the orange wires, since it needs to regulate the supply according to load and wire resistance. Since 3.3V is such a low voltage, it is sensitive to the amount of load thats on the rail.


Pink (or thin red one): 5v sense. Same function as Brown one, but for the 5V rail. In newer PSUs this is not always present. If its not present, don't worry about it. Mine didn't have it.


Thin yellow one: 12V sense. Again, same function as 3.3V and 5V sense, but for 12V. This one os almost never present in newer PSUs, so don't worry about it if its not present.


Green: PSU ON. When this one is connected to one of the black ones, the PSU will turn on.


Grey: POWER GOOD. Inside an ATX PSU there is a system for testing its own output, and if it passes its own test, it will supply 5V to this wire, after a second or two. We can use this to light an LED, to get some indication if everything is all right. (although it can give a false positive in rare occatiopns)


Purple: 5VSB/ 5V STANDBY. This one provides 5V even when the PSU is off, usually of a low amperage. Its originally used for supplying your computer with a little power so it can maintain sleep mode, or for peripherals such as charging your phone from the USB port when the computer is off, but we can use it in some special simulation situations, such as simulating the supply in a car for example (note, a car supplies 12V, usually not 5V ). A car still holds some systems powered when the engine is off, so you can use this to test a project that needs to turn on when the car is on, but need to have some power when the car is off (eg sleep mode)


CASE: You will need a case of some sort. I made one on my 3D printer, but its not necessary to have a 3D printer to make a case. You can make one out of some old plastic enclosures, or buy a box meant for the purpose. If you don't want to 3D print it, I would believe the best solution might be getting some acrylic plate, and cut it into a box of the desired shape, since its non-conductive, fairly simple to work with, and its not as flammable as wood.


On the other hand, if you wish to 3D print it, I have included the STL files for my enclosure. If you wish to make a different layout for the front plate, I have also included the files I have made for the components mounted on the plate, so you can "punch out" the holes where you want them, in your 3D designer program. See more in the next step. The one i made is my own remix of one i found on thingiverse, made by user james_III. He did a great job on that one, so many thanks to him and his work.

PSU: You will need a standard ATX power supply, which comes out of most desktop computers, and is in abundance in most electronics waste containers. just make sure you get a hold of one that actually works. By using one that's used, you will get it for free, and you ensure help less electronic waste, which is a good deal for our planet, along with your wallet. I used one from my old gaming computer, which was due for replacement anyway.


Use This for Your lab | 24V 12V 5V 3.3V | Computer ATX Power supply

Hi friends in this video I will show how you can use a Computer power supply as a Lab branch power supply frist you need to find a green wire and you must connect it to the ground and the fan starts spinning it means the voltage are available for use

When you want to learn about electronics as a hobby, you will, of course, need to make a lot of circuits, and you need to test them. For that you will need a power supply, but you will often find yourself needing different voltages for different projects, so any power supply won't do, and you would want something thats a bit more versatile. You can go out and buy an off-the-shelf Lab PSU with a lot of different features, but these are often very expensive, and you don't need all that fancy features, when starting out with electronics, so you can make do with a lot less .


So where do you find a suitable power supply for your new hobby? That's easy. In almost any old computer theres a standard ATX power supply, which supply 3.3V, 5V, and 12V, which is the three most widely used voltages for electronics, which makes it a great powersupply for any new electronics hobbyist, and with a bit of modifications and accessories, it will be really easy to use as well.


So why not build your own Lab power supply for your new hobby? You might even learn a little about waht such a thing does, and you'll have your first electronic accomplishment to be proud of building yourself.

An ATX power supply from a computer has a standardized size, and a standardized wire layout, so its easy to use general information on PSUs from different manufacturers. There will be some slight differences between brands, but the general standards still apply (eg. wire coloring, size, method of turning it on etc)


In electronics the most widely used voltages for supplying a device are 12V, 5V, and 3.3V. Theres also the lesser, but still widely used 9V, 24V, 36V, and the supplies for laptops, that provide anything from 16-20V. for a device powered by a battery, its usually any supply thats dividable by 1.5 (eg 3V, 4.5V, 6V, 7.5V, etc)


An ATX power supply outputs 12V, 5V and 3.3V, and all of high amperage. On top of that, it provides 5V SB which is always on, if thePSU is plugged into a wall socket, even when you have turned the powersupply off, and it provides negative 12V (but at a low amperage). It is usually able to measure if it outputs the correct voltage on some of the rails as well, and its an extremely stable supply on all rails, compared to a cheap power supply. They usually have two 12V rails, named 12V1 and 12V2, so if you short out one of them for good (should not come to that, because of fuses), you will still have the other to play with. This would be a rare situation, but still nice to have such a feature. All this makes the ATX power supply ideal for our project of making our own lab power supply for our electronics projects, since its so versatile.


By the way, the first two steps have a lot of text, but the later steps are more down to earth. Also, sorry for any grammar mistakes. English is not my first language.

The wire colors of the PSU supplies as follows:


Black: GND/COM. (Ground/Common) also known as 0V


Orange: 3.3V


Red: 5V


Yellow: 12V. You will often see yellow wires with a black line on them. these are the second 12V rail.


(White): -5V this is rarely present, so don't worry about this one. If you have it, you can connect it to the spare terminal in the 6 way terminal (more on that later), or you can just put some shrink tube on it.


Blue: -12V this is rarely used, but you might as well connect it in the case you'll need it some day.


Brown (or thin orange one): 3.3V sense. This one regulates the 3.3V line, if it does not deliver the correct voltage. It is important that its connected at the end of the orange wires, since it needs to regulate the supply according to load and wire resistance. Since 3.3V is such a low voltage, it is sensitive to the amount of load thats on the rail.


Pink (or thin red one): 5v sense. Same function as Brown one, but for the 5V rail. In newer PSUs this is not always present. If its not present, don't worry about it. Mine didn't have it.


Thin yellow one: 12V sense. Again, same function as 3.3V and 5V sense, but for 12V. This one os almost never present in newer PSUs, so don't worry about it if its not present.


Green: PSU ON. When this one is connected to one of the black ones, the PSU will turn on.


Grey: POWER GOOD. Inside an ATX PSU there is a system for testing its own output, and if it passes its own test, it will supply 5V to this wire, after a second or two. We can use this to light an LED, to get some indication if everything is all right. (although it can give a false positive in rare occatiopns)


Purple: 5VSB/ 5V STANDBY. This one provides 5V even when the PSU is off, usually of a low amperage. Its originally used for supplying your computer with a little power so it can maintain sleep mode, or for peripherals such as charging your phone from the USB port when the computer is off, but we can use it in some special simulation situations, such as simulating the supply in a car for example (note, a car supplies 12V, usually not 5V ). A car still holds some systems powered when the engine is off, so you can use this to test a project that needs to turn on when the car is on, but need to have some power when the car is off (eg sleep mode)


CASE: You will need a case of some sort. I made one on my 3D printer, but its not necessary to have a 3D printer to make a case. You can make one out of some old plastic enclosures, or buy a box meant for the purpose. If you don't want to 3D print it, I would believe the best solution might be getting some acrylic plate, and cut it into a box of the desired shape, since its non-conductive, fairly simple to work with, and its not as flammable as wood.


On the other hand, if you wish to 3D print it, I have included the STL files for my enclosure. If you wish to make a different layout for the front plate, I have also included the files I have made for the components mounted on the plate, so you can "punch out" the holes where you want them, in your 3D designer program. See more in the next step. The one i made is my own remix of one i found on thingiverse, made by user james_III. He did a great job on that one, so many thanks to him and his work.

PSU: You will need a standard ATX power supply, which comes out of most desktop computers, and is in abundance in most electronics waste containers. just make sure you get a hold of one that actually works. By using one that's used, you will get it for free, and you ensure help less electronic waste, which is a good deal for our planet, along with your wallet. I used one from my old gaming computer, which was due for replacement anyway.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Post Top Ad

Pages