I really would love to shorten the ATX-cable from my PSU, but I'm really not sure on where to shorten it from. I'd really love some input from you guys, so I'll get the best possible result.
Giving the best results, but als being the most complicated is open up the PSU (without killing yourself --those capacitors pack a deadly charge for a very long time --leave it unplugged and resting for at least a week or more), and desolder the ATX wires from the circuit board, shorten them and resolder them. Not for amateurs.
Really thought about desoldering all the wires. Probably would have to buy a psu-tester just be sure that i won't fry my new motherboard. It really would be the cleanest way to get the wires shortened... Really just not sure if I'm up to killing a psu/myself just yet...
Well as Nexxo has stated it is the most clean approach to it. There is also the option of cutting out a piece and reattatching the ends together.. add some heatshrink.. voila done.. But that option can introduce errors into the wiring so to speak. if stressed it will break the joint. and you will also gett higher resistance through that joint. So Nexxo's approach is the best and safest way to do it...
or you can do what i did and remove each pin from the 24pin thing and get some new clip <?>things</?> then cut, crimp, solder, braid, heatshrink and put back in.
True. If you can get new pins for an ATX connector, and have a crimping tool, you can simply cut the end off the cable, crimp on the new pins and reattach the ATX connector.
That'd be my favoured method of doing it - desoldering the mostly commoned cables from a PSU does not sound like a fun task to me. If you're careful, though, you can crimp it with a pair of needle nosed pliers. Won't be AS good a job as a proper tool, but it does the job (Used that method on my PSU-Xbox 1.6 converter).
Thanks for all your answers... I'm gonna see what's possible. Really considering soldering the wires, but I really have to consider shortening the wires from outside the PSU.
i dont have a crimper, yet i remove the pin carefully, remove the wire (not an easy task), shorten the wire bend the crimp back with some pliers, then add a drop of solder to the joint and then rebuild the plug. personally i hate doing it, but i hate long cables or buying new pins and a tool which would only gather dust. soon i wish to re-wire my whole case, but the project is still in the plaining stages atm..
Crimping a new 24-pin power cable is one of the most tedious jobs I've ever done. There is really no easy way to shorten the cable. That is usually the one cable I won't touch when I'm working on a case.
I'm gonna post what solution I ended up with when I get there... Still so many things to get done on the mod itself, before I have to worry about the wiring...
If you take out the pins connectors from the ATX connector and cut the wire really near them (about 3 mm) and solder there, using a short piece of heat-shrink (about 8 mm) it will be as neat as desoldering wires inside PSU and much easier. Also you could open PSU, cut the wires several centimeters away from the circuit board and solder will be hidden inside PSU box.
Alternatively, look at Ultra X-connect PSUs. They are the only modular PSUs which also have a detachable ATX cable. Then you just buy a short ATX extension cable and use that instead.
