Cheap, high quality, high capacity power supplies

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Bar Sport
1

Hey all,

I am taking on a new challenge and figuring out how to convert the power supplies from retired servers into bench supplies for DIYers. At my office, we are retiring (very) old servers regularly and recycling them. But most of them have 2-4 perfectly good power supplies in them, among other things. These units are POWERFUL! And they are very nice quality switchers too. I successfully figured out one last night and the others look pretty similar. I posted my results here:

Now here's the kicker: I can get my hands on a LOT of these and I will gladly send them out to the Arduino community if you're willing to cover the cost of shipping or drop-ship me something from my wish list (that I haven't created yet :smiley: ). Reply or PM me and I'll figure out how much it will cost (after I figure out how to make them work). I have a few different units right now that I'm checking out and will post a section on my web site with instructions on how to make them work as bench supplies as I figure out each different unit.

This is reuse (as in reduce, reuse, recycle) at its best as far as I'm concerned!

These are NOT ATX or any other PC/desktop/workstation power supply. They are from web and application servers and are much higher quality than what you get in an ATX unit. They do not require any internal modifications or constant load to make them work. So they are much safer and efficient to use than an ATX PS.

Here's the output specs of the three different units I have in hand now:

From an old Compaq Proliant 1600/1850 (have several of these)
Model PS-6231-2A
+5V @ 20A
+3.3V @ 14A
+12V @ 12A
-5V @ 0.2A
-12V @ 0.2A
+5VAUX @ 1A (stand by = always on)

From a recent HP Proliant (may be dead though)
Series HSTNS-PA01
+12V @ 74A (yep, seventy four amps; 105A if you plug it into 208/240VAC!!)
-12V @ 1A
+3.3VSB @ 7A (stand by)

And the one I got working last night from an old Compaq Proliant 3000
Model DPS-450CB-1
+12V @ 25A
+5V @ 34A
+3.3V @ 40A
+5VSB @ 2A (stand by)
-12V @ 1A

2

Silicon Chip Australia had a couple of articles on this, one in Oct 2003.

http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_30705/article.html

Unfortunately it's pay to play (or read).

Neil

3

I dunno. Power supplies capable of melting your wires have always made me a bit nervous...

4

I dunno. Power supplies capable of melting your wires have always made me a bit nervous...

But they're perfect for hot wire cutters, or something like Dan's hot air pencil [smiley=grin.gif].

I'd actually consider buying one from you, although I will definitely be investing in some overcurrent protection components if I do. :slight_smile:

5

I'm not sure I would use a switching PS for something like a hot wire unless you can regulate the current without running the PS up beyond its max output. A transformer can do that, but these things have protection circuitry and will shut down if they are too overloaded.

BTW: I figure I should state that I can not guarantee anything on these power supplies. Some of them are over a decade old and/or have been rejected by the server they were in. If I find any issues or know of any problems, I'll say so. This is one reason I'm just giving them away (for the cost of shipping). That and I enjoy the challenge of figuring out how to make them work :slight_smile:

6

So here's one way to use these old supplies. I did this today because my current bench supply bit the dust (it was only good for 1A anyway).

http://www.chesterfamily.org/gallery/ProjectsAndStuff/IMG_1531.jpg.html

and

http://www.chesterfamily.org/gallery/ProjectsAndStuff/IMG_1532.jpg.html

I spent a grand total of around $3 on this for the 12 awg wire. The rest I already had. The power switch came from the same server the supply came from.

This unit gives me +12V, +5V, +3.3V and -12V DC - PERFECT for Arduino projects. :smiley: