Power Converter from Computer???

Anything electric, AC or DC

Power Converter from Computer???

Postby Dee Bee » Wed Nov 10, 2004 6:16 pm

I don't know if this is a good idea or not...

I have access to old computers these have power supplies in them that convert 110 ac to 12v dc. Some of the DC out put varry: .5 up to 8 amps.

Could these be used in a tear application?

What are the risks?

So whadyah think?


DEE
Last edited by Dee Bee on Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Postby SteveH » Wed Nov 10, 2004 7:33 pm

DEE,

The larger ones will work just fine. I have friends that use them for power supplies all the time for battery charging in our radio control hobby.

Since they are voltage regulated, all you'll have to do is plug them in and hook them up to the battery.

Have one you want to get rid of?
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Postby Woody » Wed Nov 10, 2004 7:50 pm

I would be careful about leaving it attached to a battery continiously. The battery could overcharge and be damaged. Most battery chargers have circuitry to prevent overcharging. Even though computer power supplies are regulated, they don't sense complete charging of the battery and shut off. As a power supply it would work, if you don't exceed the output amp rating, but as a charger I would b careful
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Postby bdosborn » Wed Nov 10, 2004 7:53 pm

I think it would work but I wonder how charged the battery would be? A typical deep cell battery isn't fully charged until 12.7 volts. That means you need to charge them at about 13.7 volts to recharge them to full capacity in a reasonable amount of time (say 5 to 7 hours).
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Postby Arne » Wed Nov 10, 2004 9:01 pm

I, too, use a computer power supply to as a 12v source to charge my radio control airplane batteries (the power supply powers the charger which usually uses a 12v bat. as input)... it requires a load (I use 2 taillight bulbs). It works great, but it isn't a particularly easy thing to do... have to have the right power supply and find the right wires going into the power supply, of which there are dozens.

You might try a search and see if you can find any instructions on the net.
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Net Search

Postby Dee Bee » Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:07 pm

arnereil wrote:I, too, use a computer power supply to as a 12v source to charge my radio control airplane batteries (the power supply powers the charger which usually uses a 12v bat. as input)... it requires a load (I use 2 taillight bulbs). It works great, but it isn't a particularly easy thing to do... have to have the right power supply and find the right wires going into the power supply, of which there are dozens.

You might try a search and see if you can find any instructions on the net.


What topic would you use to search for this info? I am stumped.

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Supply of Converters

Postby Dee Bee » Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:09 pm

SteveH wrote:DEE,

The larger ones will work just fine. I have friends that use them for power supplies all the time for battery charging in our radio control hobby.

Since they are voltage regulated, all you'll have to do is plug them in and hook them up to the battery.

Have one you want to get rid of?


Yes I think I might

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Postby Arne » Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:39 pm

www.freewebs.com/aero-1
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More Info On Power Supply from PC

Postby Dee Bee » Tue Nov 16, 2004 10:09 pm

Here are a few more sites I found on the subject

http://www.epanorama.net/documents/pc/pcpsu_connector.html

http://web2.murraystate.edu/andy.batts/ps/powersupply.htm

Has anyone had experience with a project like this?

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Yes! It can be done. PC PS to 12v DC power supply

Postby Dee Bee » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:17 pm

I was finally able to convert a PC power supply to a 12v DC application. Check out my project link
http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/12%20V%20Power%20Supply.htm

At the end of my article I have posted several other links to others Do it Yourself projects that have also converted PC power supplies. It turns out there are a few different ways to acheive the similar results

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Re: Yes! It can be done. PC PS to 12v DC power supply

Postby mikeschn » Fri Dec 17, 2004 9:42 pm

Dee Bee wrote:I was finally able to convert a PC power supply to a 12v DC application. Check out my project link
http://www.nfdc.net/home/cbdb/12%20V%20Power%20Supply.htm

DEE


That's way over my head, but it looks pretty kewl!!!

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