I tried macro's external power mod(to use with my VFD) and it ended up burning the insulation off the 5v line i had connected to it...anyone know what i did wrong? the guy at CompUSA (where i tried to use my warrantee, but didn't have the reciept) said i pulled too much current through it, hrmm... anyway i ended up buying a brand new antec truepower 430W...which is very nice, but can anyone help me find some wire braid?
Sounds like you have a short circuit. Was it ok until you plugged in the VFD? If so check the wiring to the VFD.
might i suggest picking up a inline fuse holder from your local auto house? a 2.5 or 3 amp 12 volt fuse should be more then enough to power your mods.. then if you get a short, just the fuse dies.. or even take it a step further and get a surface mount fuse holder, (the type that you unscrew the cap to replace the fuse) from radshack and incorperate that into the mod, then ya can even change the fuse without opening the case.. -scoob8000
i think it was okay until i plugged in the VFD...i dunno, i'm not going to risk it because i won't need it for my custom case because it'll be mounted in the case, and i have a pretty fail-safe way of wiring up the VFD as it is...i'm gonna try it again on a different 5v line on the PSU i ruined later...but for now i'm just glad nothing but that wire caught on fire
I managed to short me VFD when i wired it up, pluged it in and noticed the power wires was getting bl**dy hot, and me HDD powered down (I just hot plugged it for some reason, but it cant hurt cos thats all a switched fanbus does...)
sobriquet, that seems like the same thing that happen to me, well sort of! I didn't do macro's external power mod. Ok here is what happen i made a box for my huge VFD and it was all working fine. Yesterday my friend came over and picked up my the VFD box and was like "this is sweet". It wasn't on at the time and when i went to go cut it on it didn't work. I was like what did you do man what did you do. This is what happen: I had the VFD box set up with a headphone plug and a on and off switch just to be safe. As it turns out, when he picked the VFD box up it caused two of the wires touch which burned out the headphne plug/jack. I know this because I took a look at it and it was all warped and when I went to touch it was hot as balls. The good thing was that since my VFD wasn't on when the headphones plug/jack burned out the VFD still works fine. So I aced the headphone plug and just connected the wires directly to the switch instead of going through the headphone plug.
That's why in the article, I say use the proper power sockets not headphone style jacks. sobriquet - you did use the same/similar power sockets I used?
Just remember this: Heatshrink is your best friend. you can prevent so many shorts with just a bit of heatshrink
Could i make a suggestion . If you have a mulitmeter or tester , then use the beep test to make sure u have the right cables and also u can check for short befor u plug it in . Do not have the circuit connected to any supply and make sure all ur switch (if u have any) are off and the do a beep test between +&- and if u get a sound u know u have a short . Of course this will not work with evey electical circuit . But i always do it on simple things just so i know every thing is ok .
macroman, the headphone jack and the on/off switch was all part of or in the VFD box. The v5 line was connected directly to the PSU. The short circut happen in the VFD box. Well know that I think of it I better check to make sure the wires insind of my computer didn't over heat I would go crazy if something to happen to my computer.
i did that to my car once while wiring up soem bl00 foglights DAMN, burned out the wire from my foglights, all the way up through under the hood, to behind the dash and into the fuse box, and from there to the switch on my dash damn, wasted 14h rewiring my whole car....twas nice watching the wire glow red as it melted through my interior
macro: yeah i used the same connectors/sockets (i think they were called DC power connectors at radioshack) anyway i think i wired up the one that was on the VFD wrong... oh well. the PSU i messed up still powers on so i think i'll use it to test out my next external power mod attempt, i kept all the stuff so it should just be a matter of de-shrinkwrapping/de-soldering... also, anyone know where to get wire braiding in the US? i wanna put it on my new PSU...the split-loom i had before was less than what i wanted
www.caseetc.com has it. I don't know the quality of it, but I have never had problems with their products before.
If you look closeyl at how headphone jacks/plugs are made you will see that you are asking for troubles. Its kind of hard for me to explain, but the tip of the plug will hit contact1 in the jack on its way in and then when it is completely seated it will hit contact2. If you dont understand what i'm trying to say just say "HUH?" and i'm sure macro or one of the other more technically sauvy guys will explain it better, and maybe even provide some pics 8)
Yeah, it would. That doesn't sound very fun, shorting your psu out every time you want to plug something in
i know what you're trying to say, but the connectors i was using weren't like that...they are just like the ones in the article where the center contacts a pole in the middle of the socket...read the article so you know what i mean...they don't connect in series
Then why dont you make contact one 0V and 2 your power, that should work. But then again the slightest jostle might, well, you know...
