ATX PSU 2 Amiga 500 case tutorial now up

[StuKeith]

Ok the project is now complete and running. I have had the power supply active for a couple of hours and it didn't melt down or blow the A1200, so all is well.

Here is a couple of pictures to whet the appetite a bit.




The full 6 page guide can be found here

[AlexJ]

One point on the safety tip "MAKE SURE THAT THE POWER HAS NOT BEEN ON FOR AT LEAST 24hrs! This will allow the capacitors in the PSU to discharge and be safe to work with."

Surely the capacitors would discharge to a safe level within minutes if the bleeder resistors are doing their job, or never if the bleeder resistors fail. I don't see what leaving it 24 hours will do.

[Tiago]

Great work Stu !!!
Nice project !!

[Harrison]

Very nicely done Stu. I hadn't thought if fitting an ATX PSU into an A500 PSU case. Looks nice.

BTW, you didn't mention what the extra wires were going to be for. I assume they are for connecting up a CD drive, but it might be worth mentioning that in the guide.

[StuKeith]

One point on the safety tip "MAKE SURE THAT THE POWER HAS NOT BEEN ON FOR AT LEAST 24hrs! This will allow the capacitors in the PSU to discharge and be safe to work with."

Surely the capacitors would discharge to a safe level within minutes if the bleeder resistors are doing their job, or never if the bleeder resistors fail. I don't see what leaving it 24 hours will do.

Better to be safe than sorry! I've always been told to leave things like that unplugged for as long as possible to help prevent shock.

Harrison, I thought I did put a note in with the "cut the ATX plug off part" Ill take a look as it was midnight when I finsihed!

[Harrison]

Oh yes, you are right, I missed that bit. You do have "I left the original Molex connector on so That I could power drivers externally to the Amiga if required."

But maybe it needs a bit more detail at the very end of the guide just to enforce what the extra wires are for?

[Buleste]

One point on the safety tip "MAKE SURE THAT THE POWER HAS NOT BEEN ON FOR AT LEAST 24hrs! This will allow the capacitors in the PSU to discharge and be safe to work with."

Surely the capacitors would discharge to a safe level within minutes if the bleeder resistors are doing their job, or never if the bleeder resistors fail. I don't see what leaving it 24 hours will do.

Capacitors can hold their charge for a long time. There are reports of people dying from shocks received by capacitors even when they havn't been used for weeks.
Realistically 24hrs is about rightfor fully functioning PSU's

[Harrison]

The warning mainly apply for CRTs and PSUs because they do have capacitors that can hold a charge for a very long time after being switched off. So it is better to be safe, rather than sorry.

[Buleste]

And can we not go down the electrocution puns road please.

[Harrison]

I promise. I know how shocking they have been.