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ATX Computer Power Supply Wiring Question

I am putting an ATX computer power supply into an arcade video game cabinet, and I want to make sure that all of the cabinet's harness' power/ground pins are used. The harness has four pins designated for

+12V, but the power supply's main 20-pin output connector has only one +12V pin.

So I intend to use the two +12V pins from the square 4-pin output, and one more +12V pin from one of the 4-pin peripheral power connectors.

Do I need to use the grounds on these same connectors also?

I already have enough(eight) grounds on the main 20-pin connector(if I include the 3.3V sense), but I wanted to be sure.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

Reply to
Searcher7
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All the grounds are common as are the +12 volts. Its your choice ! But I would use all the wires if possible. That way you get less volts drop.

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Best Regards:
                     Baron.
Reply to
Baron

None of those +12v lines are separate. They all come from the same point in the power supply, and the multiple lines are there either for better current capacity (it's sometimes easier to have a number of smaller wires in parallel than one big bulky wire that is too stiff to do much with), or to bring power to different places (as in the case of the power connectors for the drives.

It really depends on the current you demand from the power supply. The more current the game uses, the more there will be a need for multiple wires so the voltage drop across them is not problematic.

The ground wires are the same thing, if what you are using can't handle the current needs of the game, then there will be voltage drop.

But in the case of the ground lines, the issue isn't just the +12v lines, but the +5v lines too, since the ground lines are common to both supplies.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

Thanks Micheal and Baron.

The Game's harness has two power connectors. One with four +12V pins and four Grounds. The other with two +3.3V, four +5V, and four Grounds. (Then of course there is the Hot, Neutral, and ground input connector).

I'll make sure all of these power pins and grounds are being used. (With all the output leads/connectors the power supply has this of course will not be a problem).

Since this is an ATX power supply I will have to connect one "power on" pin to one of the grounds. I assume that the +3.3V sense can be treated like any of the other grounds. And the only two pins I won't bother with are the "Power Good" and +5V Standby", whatever that is.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris Staten Island, New York.

Reply to
Searcher7

As most have said all the ground ( black) wires are common and go back to one point To minimise the voltage drop and ensure the current carrying capacity it is best to use all the ground wires

I have made some bench power supplies from salvaged Computer PSU and found this source informative, instructive and useful

formatting link

I found searching other "conversion" articles a useful way of understanding the wiring

I hope this helps

Reply to
Sparkfish1

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