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Splinter
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Powersupply repair

Wed Jun 23, 2004 12:13 am

A few months ago as part of my mission to better route my cables, I chopped off my power supplies 12V P4 connector. I've now discovered I need one for the new A64 board I'm getting. Any idea how I can go about attaching a new one?

There are soooo many yellow and black wires. Are they going to be connected in a certain way to the powersupply breadboard?
So how fast is your car, anyway?

Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
atryus28
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:35 am

did you toss the old P4 connector? The only other choice would be to grab one from a shotty PSU you have laying around and reconect it. Use the crappy PSU as a guide to reconnect the old one. Solder of course is the best choice when splicing wires back together and since this is for power I would go that route.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:55 am

Will any old yellow and black wires do, or is it a specific connection?
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
atryus28
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:05 am

Splinter wrote:
Will any old yellow and black wires do, or is it a specific connection?


I don't have one in front of me but IIRC yes any old one. Just make sure the yellow is the same as in make sure one yellow wire isn't just yellow and the other yellow with a black stripe. That would make them different. If you just mean any PSU P4 connector yes deffinately unless it's dell. I don't know about them.

If you meant any ole color wire there is no difference in the wires besides the outside color and how where they connect to. The color is for ease of use.
 
SpotTheCat
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:13 am

just make sure it's of decent gauge. don't stick a 24ga wire there :roll:

I'm using old speaker wire for fans, I cut it to length and routed it perfectly :)
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:20 am

Mmm no I mean, how do I tell which set of wires inside the PSU to connect the plug to?

Are all yellow wires the same, and all black wires the same?
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
atryus28
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:38 am

Splinter wrote:
Mmm no I mean, how do I tell which set of wires inside the PSU to connect the plug to?

Are all yellow wires the same, and all black wires the same?


yes and no, black is usually a ground wire. I haven't messed with the wiring for a while so I don't remember anything off hand. search google for sleaving PSU and you should find some diagrams of what's what. As far as what you need to hook up again where did you cut off the wires? I would just splice them back to those and check the color of the wires. You are only dealing with 4 here.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:19 am

I also sliced off the other powerblock (for server boards I think?), so there is around 16-20 cut off ends in there.
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
atryus28
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:27 am

Splinter wrote:
I also sliced off the other powerblock (for server boards I think?), so there is around 16-20 cut off ends in there.


:o uuummm I don't know then. Not familiar enough with the wiring. How far into the PSU did you hack the wires anyway?
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:06 pm

atryus28 wrote:
:o uuummm I don't know then. Not familiar enough with the wiring. How far into the PSU did you hack the wires anyway?


:oops: There's about 1.5" left of each wire inside the PSU
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
Usacomp2k3
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:14 pm

you could always buy a new PSU :wink:
 
SpotTheCat
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:15 pm

all yellow is +12V
all orange is 3.3V
all red is +5V

I had never heard of anything different.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:25 pm

Usacomp2k3 wrote:
you could always buy a new PSU :wink:


I really couldn't :/

I don't have enough money for school as it is.
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
Steel
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:50 pm

This is only $8:
http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/ ... 12vatx.htm

If you get it, make sure you connect it to a power cable with no other devices on it.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:01 pm

Thanks Steel!!
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
just brew it!
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:11 pm

Next time, just wrap the extra cables up into a tight bundle with a cable tie, and stuff them into the gap above the PSU or CD-ROM drive. It's generally a bad idea to do anything irreversible to your hardware!

You also need to be very careful when poking around inside a PSU. Even if it is unplugged, the capacitors on the input side of the regulators can still hold a charge of ~160 volts. That's enough to do some serious damage (to you) if you accidentally complete the circuit with your body.

Messing around inside a PSU is a really bad idea, unless you know what you're doing.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
Steel
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:18 pm

Here's a cheaper one:
http://www.cablestogo.com/product.asp?c ... &sku=27314

And I didn't realize PC P&C had a $15 minimum order, sorry about that.

Edit: Dammit, I guess I can't win today, Cables To Go has a $20 minimum order.
Last edited by Steel on Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:19 pm

I got a shock from a battery of Flashgun capacitors once, burned a chunk out of my hand.

It's easy to discharge a powersupply tho, I always make sure it's discharged before I do anything inside my case.
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
SpotTheCat
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 3:24 pm

I just leave the power supply in question unplugged for a week or so. I've got one here open now... I'm considering changing it's cooling scheme.
 
Splinter
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Wed Jun 23, 2004 5:10 pm

SpotTheCat wrote:
I just leave the power supply in question unplugged for a week or so. I've got one here open now... I'm considering changing it's cooling scheme.


MM I don't know if that'd work or not. I've gotten shocks off TVs that have been unplugged for years.


What I do is unplug the PSU from the wall, but leave the switch turned on, and hold down the power switch on the front for about 30 seconds.
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.
 
Starfalcon
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Thu Jun 24, 2004 3:49 am

Even doing that you may not be able to get rid of the charge in the psu....sometimes those caps will hold a charge for years. Not something I want to risk myself finding out....
 
Splinter
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Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:30 pm

yahooo!!!

I tried another little computer store, and he had a dead powersupply in the bin and chopped off the connector for me :D

He also gave me a wicked deal on a 4-in-1 USB flashcard reader - $5!!


Update: I've attached the new connector to the cut off wires inside the PSU, and everything seems to boot ok.

Here's the thing tho: I definately found the correct +12V yellow connectors that the old one was attached to, but all the black grounding wires are in one huge chunk, so I can't tell for sure which it was connected to. Is that ok? Does everything have a common ground?
The grounding wires arent very well insulated from each other, so I think all is well. I'd rather not plug this into my new mobo when it arrives and have the whole thing conk out on me
So how fast is your car, anyway?



Oh, about 1200mhz.

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