Feasibility of wiring in new cables on an older supply?

[Demon-Xanth]

I have an Ablecom SP645-PS (aka: Supermicro) that was pulled out of a server chassis and never used, I've been using it and it works just fine, but I have to use adapters for the PCIe and SATA connectors. I was wondering about the feasibility of getting the cheapest PSU I can find with those connectors (possibly even a dead one) and wiring them in. It has 46A on the 12V, so it's got the juice to handle it.

Worth the trouble, or better off to wait for a good PSU deal on Newegg?

 

[WoodButcher]

You can buy the cable, pins and molex at Performance PC'S for less than butching another psu but if your psu is up to the task I couldn't say.

 

[Zap]

Why not keep using SATA power adapters (free with most motherboards) and PCIe power adapters (free with most video cards)? Alternately, you can butcher those adapters and solder them in.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

It just bugs me to have adapters for everything but the MB. Literally. DVD, SSD, HD, memory card reader, fan, vidcard. All on adapters.

 

[Rifter]

I agree to wire them in, every connection/adaptor adds a point of failure and resistance. And 46A is plenty of juice on the 12v.

 

[Meghan54]

The added resistance of the adapters is negligible. And once in place and working, the adapters would be no more a point of failure than where they plug into the actual piece of hardware, unless one is in the habit of unnecessarily unplugging and plugging in the adapters on a routine basis.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

True, the adapters aren't exactly any worse than a modular power supply. And they are cost effective.

 

[dud89]

Maybe you can use some SATA punch down connectors on the molex wires.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=1220

 

[Zap]

True, the adapters aren't exactly any worse than a modular power supply. And they are cost effective.

Hey, yeah! :hmm: Think of your PSU as a pseudo modular unit that bypasses Ultra's patent.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Maybe you can use some SATA punch down connectors on the molex wires.

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=1220

I lost sectors on a 10k RPM U2W drive because of some Molex power connectors that style. Call me a bit shy of the fire on that one due to the sounds of HDs clicking and spinning up repeatedly in the night.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

As an update, I decided to go for Newegg's Corsair 400CX deal, after tax, shipping, and rebates it'll run me $26, is fully sleeved, and should be able to handle my mildly overclocked i5 750+9600GT system easily. The 645W is an overkill one that I had laying around whose fan runs 24/7.

 

[WoodButcher]

I almost bought it the other day just to have a spare and realised I have too many "spares" already....

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Another update, came across a dead PSU, so I clipped the 2x 6 pin PCIe and 4x SATA power cables off. Gonna do it anyways. Just wish the dead PSU wasn't one with a single color wiring, making sure they're straight is going to be a little bit more of a bother.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Final followup:
I finally got around to adding the cables.

my plan: add 2-2x SATA cables and 2x 6 pin PCIe
my success: 1-2x SATA cable.

Would not attempt this again. My soldering iron (Weller MT1500) isn't big enough, nor is there open holes to mount the wires, I would have to surface mount solder them, which I'm not comfortable doing given their locations. So you can do this, but you really don't want to.

 

[mikeford]

Something to consider, older commercial quality power supplies might be VERY inefficient especially at lower power levels.

Maybe you didn't have the right temperature or tip for the solder used on the power supply?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The PSU isn't that old. Probably designed around 2006. It just wasn't designed for a desktop usage. So it didn't have those connectors. (PCIe and SATA w/o legacy connectors being a fairly new thing) The iron's temp is variable from 400-850F, and I have both silver and lead solder available. The problem was that my iron just flat wasn't big enough, even being a 160W unit, to heat the large mass that made up the vias and bundles of wires.

There are some pictures attached to this thread (not by me) to give you an idea:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4345

 

[Howard]

If you aren't going to remove the power supply, run some leads to a terminal/distribution block mounted on the case somewhere, and then run your SATA/PCIe power from there. You can make it look very clean that way.

EDIT: I really can't see that your iron isn't hot enough to solder wires together, though... Are you adding wires right to the PSU's PCB, or splicing them?

 

[Demon-Xanth]

If you aren't going to remove the power supply, run some leads to a terminal/distribution block mounted on the case somewhere, and then run your SATA/PCIe power from there. You can make it look very clean that way.

EDIT: I really can't see that your iron isn't hot enough to solder wires together, though... Are you adding wires right to the PSU's PCB, or splicing them?

PSU's PCB. If I were splicing them it'd have easily been powerful enough. There's just too much metal attached to the PCB at that spot to warm up for my iron to do a good job.