Recent content by CM Phaedrus

Surge Protectors?

I would like to correct Westom on this fact. Industry standard OVP/UVP/etc is implemented via a protections chip such as the common PS223, which sends a logic high when a protection is tripped. This signal could in theory be sent to an SCR crowbar; however, in my experience working on PSUs...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #98
- Dec 5, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Should I order a spare power supply?

Cheap power supplies can be good. Most are not. Even for facebook/gaming. Especially from ebay. The term "Fire Hazard" is sometimes used, and it's not an exaggeration. There are power supplies on ebay that can kill your computer in minutes, just from hooking it up and turning it on. There are...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #41
- Nov 1, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Modern Power Supplies: You know what grinds my gears...?

You don't start needing to increase PCB trace spacing until ~60VDC. 24VDC functions the same on a PCB as 5V, but can use thinner traces due to lower current.
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #32
- Oct 30, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Modern Power Supplies: You know what grinds my gears...?

Higher voltage enables fewer and thinner wires, as long as you stay within ELV domain (<120VDC). However, buck regulation becomes less efficient when you start converting to less than 20% of supply voltage. Low voltage chips are good as they draw less power. Motors are (usually) more efficient...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #30
- Oct 30, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Modern Power Supplies: You know what grinds my gears...?

A VRM is a buck regulator, one of the basic types of switch mode power supplies. A power supply also don't have to be an SMPS, but also includes linear supplies like LDOs. USB, depending on the motherboard and the specific USB port (IO or header, 2.0 or 3.0) will be powered either from +5V or...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #28
- Oct 30, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Modern Power Supplies: You know what grinds my gears...?

Devices do not "divide power" from the 12V/5V/3.3V The CPU draws +12V power, and uses a buck converter to efficiently reduce the voltage to ~0.9 - 1.6V The GPU draws +12V power, and uses a buck converter to efficiently reduce the voltage to ~1.0 - 1.4V The RAM draws +3.3V power, and uses a...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #19
- Oct 29, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Modern Power Supplies: You know what grinds my gears...?

Real problem with a voltage divider is that to get 1W at 1V from a 20V supply, you need to burn 19W in your resistors. It's horribly inefficient. However, it would be trivial, and beneficial in terms of power efficiency and reliability, to have a single 24V power supply. Every IC component...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #12
- Oct 29, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Surge Protectors?

Westom is a shill and doesn't understand electrical engineering. Ignore. MOV type surge protectors are actually quite simple. You usually get an inductor and an X capacitor (at least in ones I've opened), which filter electrical noise, and one or more MOVs which absorb surge energy. More MOVs...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #5
- Oct 24, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Protecting against power fluctuations

Conditioner, not filter. I knew it wasn't right. There are power supplies with built in batteries, but they are for servers, are massive, expensive, and weigh a ton. The problem with doing it for consumer devices is 1.) space (batteries take up a lot of it) and 2.) cost.
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #8
- Oct 24, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Protecting against power fluctuations

The two devices you are thinking of are a line filter and an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). The first will protect you from transient spikes, surges, and brownouts. The latter will give you a few minutes to turn your computer off in a blackout. Neither will protect you from lightning.
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #2
- Oct 23, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Will this connector work on my power supply?

The real answer is to not use mickey mouse solutions, and to actually buy a power supply with the connectors you need.
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #11
- Oct 3, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Will this connector work on my power supply?

Not if you're running any CPU more powerful than a low-end i3. I would not want to power more than a 60W TDP processor through that adapter. And absolutely no overclocking. You're basically taking +12V from one wire (usually skinnier than the ones used on the EPS12V cable), pushing it through a...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #2
- Oct 1, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Behold My Antec Surgery!!!

It's just wire. As long as the cut ends are insulated, nothing can go wrong. He's not tinkering with the guts, replacing capacitors and upgrading transistors. Heck, I do this sort of stuff all the time, just hit it with a pair of side cutters, use electrical tape on the ends, done. I do it in...
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #56
- Sep 30, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Behold My Antec Surgery!!!

Honestly, it's not a big deal as long as the wires are insulated after being cut. Not what I would recommend, of course, but not terrible. And there's a large gap between "wants to cut off cables" and "need a Weller or Hakko soldering iron"
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #30
- Sep 24, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies
Behold My Antec Surgery!!!

But difficult without a high-quality soldering iron with a large heat output (not just a high max temperature...)
- CM Phaedrus
- Post #23
- Sep 24, 2013
- Forum: Power Supplies

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