Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 52696 2004-12-27 01:11:00 Multi power supplies Ron Bakker (356) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
307947 2004-12-27 01:11:00 My step so & I have been collecting computer parts from the dump. A lot of the power supplies are 200w rated. I was wondering if it is o.k to use 2 power supplies on one system?
Cheers Ron
Ron Bakker (356)
307948 2004-12-27 01:55:00 i wouldn't bother. easy to get a cheap 300-400 watt psu.

it might be possible but it won't fit any standard case and you may have electrical noise problems.
tweak'e (69)
307949 2004-12-27 06:14:00 you do see some servers with dual power supplies, but mind you the cases are huge Prescott (11)
307950 2004-12-27 06:43:00 i suspect the servers will dual power supplys only use one at a time, the other is a backup. tweak'e (69)
307951 2004-12-27 07:17:00 oh, i see, what about making it an external power suppy then hooking it together before it enters the pc Prescott (11)
307952 2004-12-27 07:36:00 i suspect the servers will dual power supplys only use one at a time, the other is a backup.

Tweak,

They are also special PSU designed to work with the dual PSU and Hot swap or Backup swap features in the Bios or O/S.

It was not uncommon though to put 2 std ATA sources and use the second only to power extra Raid arrays ect as they can still be run off of the same switch.

But who builds ata servers now unless you get all the bits for free and just want to play.

D.
drb1 (4492)
307953 2004-12-30 07:17:00 Well it's just that my step son is collecting parts from the Tip, best score at this stage is a 20gig hard drive a petium 2 proccessor & mobo, also 15" monitor. All working ,& of course each time another 200w power supply. Ron Bakker (356)
307954 2004-12-30 08:58:00 If they were good quality supplies you could probably parallel the outputs using a Y adaper in reverse, however if they are cheap generic units the two supplies might read each others' output voltage and fight each other . The first one to full output might cause the second to shut down .

Paralleled power supplies is not really a good idea, but if you wanted to test the idea, use a Y connector to join up the 12 volt outputs only, and load them with a single 12 volt car headlamp bulb . Then power up and if the lamp lights up, put a meter on the other voltage rails (3 . 3, +5, -5 etc) and see if both supplies are producing the full range of voltages . If they are, then paralleling might work ok .

Cheers

Billy 8-{)
Billy T (70)
307955 2004-12-30 16:50:00 Sounds Like the supplies could easly affect each other. I was hoping that if they had dc current output they could be parralleled but it sounds like theres more to it.
Thanks Billy I can see why it might not be an good idea.
Ron Bakker (356)
1