This is a simple project and super cheap if you’ve already got an old computer power supply laying around.
The power supply I have is a Codegen 300X which is pretty beefy for the mellow jobs I’ve given it. 3.3V 10A, 5V 30A and 12V 13A – I can confirm it will power a Japanese Sega Saturn… not bad.
I purchased the terminal/breakout board from Ali Express, this board simply plugs into the 20/24P ATX connector of the power supply and once you turn it on you’ve got easy access to common DC voltages!
There are a couple of different variations of this board but I think the one I picked up is better as it’s got a USB-A port when most of the others do not. This is super convenient when needing to charge my phone at the workbench or even power a Raspberry Pi when I’m playing around with them. With how cheap these boards are, why not?
When the board arrived, I was using it with it just sitting on the bench, this worked but took up such a big footprint, I also had all the unneeded cables bundled up coming from the power supply.
I decided the best solution would be to mount the board to the power supply itself so it’s a single unit that I can easily move around and put away.
Modifying the Power Supply
First I opened up the power supply, I removed the extra connectors that I don’t require (SATA/Molex power, CPU power etc). I also isolated the wires to prevent shorts.
Now the only thing coming out of the power supply should be the 20/24P (In my case 20P) ATX connector.
I marked out the lid, drilled holes, screwed in plastic standoffs and screwed the board on…
I also found some sticky feet that were meant to be installed on something else and I’ve kept them.
I stuck them to the bottom of the unit so it grips to the bench better. Fancy.
Done. 😀
Practical power supply with easy access to 3.3V, 5V, 12V, -12V, fan headers and USB. All rails are fused for safely which is a nice touch and having the on/off switch is a huge plus. This was the power supply I used for quite a while until I got myself a proper bench power supply… ooh, looks who’s moving up in the world…