Power supply mod
A dirty run
through on how to
modify any switching power supply
to run
a waterpump or other accessory before your PC is even on.
Begin by pulling the plug on your power supply and pressing the power
switch on your PC
at least once or twice to drain as much power as you can from the unit
before opening
it up. The following procedures could be considered risky but I'm still
alive so it
can't be that difficult. :)
Oh my, a naked power supply. This is one of my personal favorites. A
Sparkle 300W,
designed to last a lifetime. You can barely see it but in the picture
above there
is a small unit attached to the main recptacle that will prevent the
power supply
from blowing up like many cheap alternatives do. Of much suprise to me
was while
working inside the unit I noticed the main PCB was produced by none
other than
PC Power and Cooling. Top rated parts in a top rated power supply.
Doesn't get much
better than that folks.
You'll notice in picture 2 & 3 that there are wires leading
from
the switch in it's
"ON" position to the PCB. These are the wires we want to splice into.
If you're handy
with a soldering iron you can pull back the heatshrink and solder your
leads right to
the switch body. I can't solder for crap so I chose the splice method.
You'll want to
remove some of the insulation on the wires leading to the PCB and wrap
your wires into
them. Mine have been sealed with electrical tape. Be sure NOT to use
the cheapest tape
you can buy. Unless of course you like things coming undone and
watching smoke come from
the back of your computer ;) You can see in pic 3 where I've spliced in
my leads including
the ground wire. In pic 4 I've simply opened up an area to pass my
cables through. For
cabling you can use any old grounded power cord or take a segment from
your water pump's
power cable as I've done.
Connect a shorter segment of wiring to your leads inside the power
supply, run you cable
out the casing and put everything back together. Place the power supply
back inside your
case and run your new lead where it's least cumbersome. Now wire up
your waterpump and
get ready for some action. Once you're wired up plug in the powercord
but don't turn your
machine on. Once you flip the switch on the power supply your pump
should be running. Give
everything a minute to run to make sure all is good. Once you feel
comfortable with the job
you've done flip on your computer and everything will hum along as
though nothing has changed.
This is my second time doing such a mod and I'm quite comfortable with
the results. I like
knowing my pumps are running even if my CPU is off. If you've found
this information helpful
or have any questions feel free to email
webmaster@you-should-know-where. Be happy to
hear your thoughts.
notanatheist signing off :-)
Also, the finished product..... click
here!
