[Previous entry: "Part 1: Gathering parts and cleaning up"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Part 3: Power it up, light it up!"]

03/23/2006: "Part 2: Wiring it all up…"

Ok…we’ve cleaned it up, drilled some holes in it, and gave it a new face. Now let’s give it some features and get it all juiced up!
The first thing to do is put in the binding post and slide in the circuit board and make sure everything fits. You may find, like I did, that you still need to do some modification to make it all fit.
ps48 (8k image)

When I slid the circuit board in I found that the ground post hit one of the riser boards. If I had drilled an 1/8” higher I would not have had this problem.
post (10k image)

The solution was rather simple though. I simply notched the bottom of the post to fit over the board.

ps44 (6k image)Post2 (5k image)
Notch in post.Post over riser board.


Once you have everything fitting it is time to route the wires to their connection point.
ps50-2 (22k image)

I’m not going to go into the wiring because it has been done so well already. Just follow this link
Convert-a-Computer-ATX-Power-Supply-to-a-Lab-Power-Supply

If you are really sharp you will have noticed that my second post is labeled -5v but I have the 5vsb hooked up to it and you would be right. After realizing that there was no -5v in this psu I decided to go ahead and make it hot all the time. This way I could quick test LED’s and such without having to turn on the power.

Ok, now that we know where everything is going its time to get out the soldering iron. After connecting the LED and splicing the brown and orange wires I started on the post. After a couple of tries I decided there had to be an easier way. Molex to the rescue! I pulled the individual connectors from a couple of old female plugs.
ps54 (6k image)
If you never taken these out the trick is the two little ears on each connector. The trick is to push these in a little so it can slide out. They make a tool for this but you can also use anything small enough to get to the bottom of the connector. A jewelers screwdriver works great and so does the tip of your X-acto knife. Gently pull on the wire while you are pushing each ear, one at a time, until the whole thing slip right out.

It turns out that, because of those "ears", these would actually “snap” on to the ends of the post. Instead of trying to unsolder the connector I just broke it off instead. I then stuck the wire in the end and soldered them together.
ps58 (6k image)
ps59 (10k image)

Before slipping on the connectors I slipped on a piece of shrink wrap. This is what it looked like after I got it all hooked up.
ps60 (11k image)

Next we will secure the power resistor and light this baby up!

[Previous entry: "Part 1: Gathering parts and cleaning up"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "Part 3: Power it up, light it up!"]


Be sure to visit

Visit Miss Chame's Tarot Room