I was curious as to what gauge wire would suffice for sending power from my external PSU to the case? Can I get away with using ISDN 8-pin cable (Basically the cable your ethernet is)? Because that would make things simple, but the gauge it happens to be is like 400, (very small), and I don't really know if it would suffice.
I would just butcher an older PSU for its wires...then all you have to do is match up color wise...that is if your talking about 12v/5v/ground...
Only problem with that, is that I'm gonna have the external PSU about 2-4 feet from the case itself, so I don't think the existing wires from a busted psu will work.
There's only one way to find out! Well... there are several, but one that's most fun is just to test it! Cut off a piece of your ISDN cable, and run 12v through it from a power supply. If it burns, then no, it won't work. If it doesn't, then it'll be fine! Moderators? Wakey wakey!
Nope. No, wont work. Not enough current carrying capacity. This is assuming ethernet cabling in the EU is the same as the US. The US standard is 24 AWG, which is probably not rated over 1 amp at best.
erm ok, how is this a project log? toyomatt84 - i suggest you pay more attention to the forum rules in future /moving
Okay, thanks a bunch. Yeah, I live in the US anyway, so that's pretty much what the gauge wire mine would be as well. I didn't put it in the project logs. Gotcha, I'll go pick up a spool of that.
regular PSU wiring is 18 guage, 16 might be kind of big. Though I guess it depends on what you are going to use it for. To cut down on the number of wires, you could say.... run thicker wires of only 1 12v, 5v, and ground, then split them into smaller 18guage inside the case. The lower guage wiring should handle the extra current that is being drawn from the devices without burning up.
ADDON QUESTION I was taking a look into the PSU, and I only see Red, Black, Yellow, Orange, Purple, Blue, and Gray. But, I see multiples of almost all of those. Are the multiples all from the same voltage level? Basically, I'm trying to cut down the amount of wires from my external PSU to the case. Would it be possible to just have one of each color? Or are there seperate values to each of those colors, that I need to abide by.
Yes a single color corresponds to a single voltage, but they're spread out for a reason - to split the load. It reduces the chance of melted wire. You could probably take some heavy guage wire (14) and combine each into one line I suppose.
Awesome, I might do that. I was thinking of running like 4 16 gauge wires for each of the main common ones (ie. Red, Black, Yellow, Orange) and then routing just 2 for the remaining colors. That way, I can use 3 8pin DINN connectors to connect the whole PSU to the the case.
So I take it that this gauge of wire is perfect for PSU wiring? I'm looking to make mine a modular PSU too as well as making some extended hookups.
you would be correct. If you all are looking into making modular PSUs, Ppcs has a bunch of single connectors, or they also have bags of molexes and various connectors in random assortments. I just bought a bag of each, you can never have too many molexes and connectors laying around. Its always good to have just the right connector laying around the workshop for a project.
Well, I've got 2 blown PSU's lyin around, plus 2 sets of of UV Blue PSU replacements. I don't think I need to purchase more.
