Dual PSU How-Tos

[Navig]

Yes. I guess for someone with any basic experience, putting together a relay switch takes like this take about 10 minutes. But if you want, you can just use a paperclip.

The easiest way to convert a 3pin plug to a 4pin molex is buy an adaptor from your local computer store (compusa, frys)--just bring the fan so you make sure you keep the genders of your connectors right.

Male=metal spike
Female=metal receptor

The key is the metal connector NOT the plastic housing!

Most 3pin fans end in a 3pin female. Most powersupplies terminate in a 4pin female. So the adaptor you want will probably have a 4pin male on one end and a 3pin male on the other.

 

[josh478]

i might try that later down the road, but i want to go to a jumper setup first to see if thats what i really want. but if i do the jumper setup, i dont need to plug anything in right? i mean besides the power cord...

 

[MadSkillzMan]

nope. just use an insulated wire, ive always been paranoid itd heat up. You turn it on/off with the master switch on the back.

actually i did it that way for a LONG time

 

[josh478]

im going to do that, and make sure that you cant touch the wire(aka paperclip) that would probably hurt just a tad...

 

[MadSkillzMan]

or get lazy lilke me..stick the paperclip in, then just wrap tape over the whole atx plug

 

[stool]

That particular adaptor is ready to plug into any 2 power supplies. My mostly empty 20pin male plugs into the end of your slave's 20pin female connector (remember you're not using this--the master psu supplies motherboard power).

.

That's a pretty nice setup. Only thing I'd recommend different is the one fromBurning Issues . All you need is an ATX extension cable. No need for a relay.

 

[Navig]

I'm sort of neurotic about my power supplies--I prefer not having an added adpator (ie extra resistance) on my main ATX block power connectors. Which is the whole reason I put together the relay switch method, which powers off the relatively underused 5V off any ol' molex.

 

[josh478]

or get lazy lilke me..stick the paperclip in, then just wrap tape over the whole atx plug

thats what i was going to do, electrical tape FTW.

anyone know what case can hold two PSU's? i want mine mounted in the case and not sitting externally.

 

[MadSkillzMan]

a full tower can. not the mid tower, FULL like i had. YOu usually got to dremel your own hole. I used a cheapo case on ebay. bro did the same thing, some old P3 server case

jsut be careful, my case was steel....most are alluminum...dremeling steel takes, FOREVER!

 

[grendel67]

Dual PSU set up

Do you have to connect both power supplys together?
I have a OCZ 520 for MB and Drives and a old 300W At powersupply I want to power my fans and Pump and lights that I want to turn on and off on its own without turning the other power one. Want to make sure fans and Pump is working first and to cool system down before starting up. Can I just hook a switch to the 300W psu and just turn it on? if so how do I do it?

 

[Navig]

You can use them separately. You merely want to find a method for jumping the green ps_on line to a ground. You can keep it continuously jumped and use the on/off switch on the power supply as mentioned a few posts ago. If you want it a little less "ghetto", select a nice switch (you want a spst toggle on/off, NOT a momentary switch). Then pick up a psu adaptor that fits your power supply, and strip away all the lines except the ps_on and ground. Finally, hook up the lines to the switch, mount the switch somewhere nice and there you go.

 

[josh478]

i setup mine using the jumper method taping off the paperclip and it works great. thanks for the help guys.

 

[1stOVERCLOCKER]

can you buy a splitter that allows you to connect two psus rto one mobo

 

[ghettocomp]

can you buy a splitter that allows you to connect two psus rto one mobo

Wont work right, makes interesting smoke!!

 

[robjen1019]

Ok, if I have a dfi expert nf4, this board has 2 4pin connectors, can I use separatge connectors from two differnt supplies?

 

[-aDaM^]

great post, I was looking for something like this!

 

[RAA]

I'm looking into to dual PSU setup cause i'm running out of Amps on 12v..

But one question, I will use the switch method except the PSU has an on/off mains switch so I will us that instead. I assume that using this method first you power off the main PSU then power off second PSU. Also, when the first PSU is powered off I wanted to be sure that I cannot cause damage to components still running on second PSU.

I think what i'm asking is to do with mobo gnd. Is the mobo still grounded even though main PSU is switched off. If it isn't then components that are still switched 'on' on second PSU could potentially be damaged?

Obvioulsy i'm no expert on this, only need a little clarification.

 

[Slmhofy]

I have dual p/s setup using the "burning issues" method as described on the first page, pins 7 & 8 jumped on the slave p/s and pins 14 & 15 of slave, spliced with 14 & 15 on the master. I did the test on the slave before attempting the mod by jumping 14 & 15 to see if it would come on and it did. So I did the mod and everything is hooked up correctly and this is what I have come to.

When I turn on the power switch on the rear of master p/s, it automatically turns on, starting the system and all the peripherals attached w/o me ever touching the power switch on the front of the case. But when I turn the slave on from the rear power switch, it kills the power on the master and turns the system off, but all I get from the slave is a high pitch noise. When I turn the slave back off, the master will again come back on after about 10 seconds, I guess when all of the voltage is drained out of the rails? Anyways some other notes.

If both p/s are off and slave is turned on from the rear, it will power up.

I used my multimeter and measured lines 14 & 15, voltages are as follows.
.63v slave on, master off
.76v master on, slave off
5.01v when both are on

Any ideas? TIA

 

[Navig]

Hi, go back and carefully examine each line and compare it to formfactors.org. When the "Burning issues" guy wrote his article, 24-pin main blocks weren't even conceived of. Therefore all of his numbers refer to 20-pin blocks.

Properly identify the pins by name and color, not by number. PS_on = green, ground = black, Powergood = gray.

Perhaps if you could take a digital picture of your setup, it would help.

navig

 

[Death_Noodle]

godzilla

RAWR