Free power supply for bench testing.

[Graeme Stebbing]

Mike, I suspect it varies with the brand of supply some are better than others, I use mine for running a computerized Hyperion charger for RC NiCad Lipo cells etc , its a cheap source of 12v at about 7 amps, I also use it to charge 20v battery packs for my workshop hand tools, the Hyperion gives a much better charge and full control of all the options, and can be displayed on a graph on your pc, way better than the rubbish chargers supplied with the tools

[lp670mike]

Thanks for the info.  My buddies and I used to rent a shop together for working on cars and we had a couple of them made up for different things. One was hooked to an xm radio receiver.  We never added any resistors and they always worked fine?  I guess it cant hurt to take the extra steps.
We never had any issues just using them as is though?   

[Graeme Stebbing]

Guys  I'm a computer and electronics  tech, and when I built mine, I  added a resister inside as shown below to simulate the load of a pc, or the power supply will sense there is no load and shut down, if you follow these instructions below its going to work guaranteed.
http://web2.murraystate.edu/andy.batts/ps/powersupply.htm
regards
Graeme

[redline]

All good Mike. Thanks for the tip and I'll put one together as I have a few laying around also.

Redline

[lambobuilder]

Great tip. I have lots of these laying around that could be put to good use.  Thanks for suggestion.

[lp670mike]

Here are a few pics of what you are looking for.
There is a little red switch on the back where the plug goes make sure that is switched to 120 and not 240.

Also do this at your own risk. If you are not comfortable with electronics maybe this is not something you want to mess with. Saftey first!

[lp670mike]

I'd love to have it Mike. Just picked up my Fiero 2.8 base for my first build that has been torn apart in the dash area so I'm sure that come with a work load for me....

Please let me  know the best way to contact you. Thanks!

redline

Just realized the title of my post may have been a bit misleading.  I am not actually giving away the one I bought just the idea itself.

[notnilc20]

Wow!!!!  I would have loved to have this knowledge a few years ago but at least i know now. Thanks for this!!

[BigPines]

Great idea Mike! These are cheap and plentiful. Lots of people have old PCs sitting around. Dime a dozen.

[redline]

I'd love to have it Mike. Just picked up my Fiero 2.8 base for my first build that has been torn apart in the dash area so I'm sure that come with a work load for me....

Please let me  know the best way to contact you. Thanks!

redline

[lp670mike]

Hey guys,

I took an old desk top computer I had lying around and pulled the power supply out and saved the cord to plug it in.  On the harness the Black is ground, Yellow is 12v, Red is 5v and Orange is 3.3v.
I just soldered on some alligator clips and some test probes from an old volt meter. It is handy for testing circuits on the car as you build like lights, wiper motors etc.

Enjoy,
Mike