What to do with those old AT power supplies (besides trashing them)

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Kerri Ann

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 28, 2004
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I have a whole bunch of really old AT power suppluies (and the cases that house them). I really hate just throwing them away, I would like to find a use for them.
I am always making my own electronic projects (not just computer stuff...) anyone know what I can do with these things?
 
Here is a crazy idea. Buy a bunch of led fans and hook them all up and you be ready for the x-mas lighting in your neighborhood. Shit i dunno, might as well sell, that’s a use. I prefer to bash them.
 
I usually use then to test projects. 3.3,5, and 12v are pretty common voltages, and those old school PSUs usually have more than enough power to test out whatever I'm working on...
 
is there a minimum load that is needed to power one on?

i know with an atx psu there is (i don't know what it is, but i just make sure i have a cdrom drive hooked up to it before i power it up...)
 
Take them out of the cases, wire about 5 in parellel, put them all in one big box, put some fans on them, and hook up some connecters on the box. Then, you have one big fancy power supply.

I use old AT PSU's for running my 12V portable cooler at home.
 
As others have said, hold onto them as regular supplies for whatever needs 3.3, 5 or 12 volts. Since AT's have a built in power switch with no need to paperclip trick them, they can be very useful for non-computer applications and such, or if you just want to power part of a system. (i.e. power your vid card and hdd's off it to see if your psu is working properly, etc.) I can see them being useful for troubleshooting and such.
 
Can also make a ghetto CD player too. Grab an old CD drive, hook it up to the PSU, and connect your speakers to the 1/8" jack on the front panel. :D

I use mine for testing circuits, works great. :)
 
I use one to power my water pumps without having to turn on my system for testing, filling, bleeding, etc.

Also, to clear up some misinformation, AT power supplies do *not* have 3.3v
 
Use them for car stuff? Maybe a head unit or some speakers or something, I don't know if they could power an amp of decent size or not.
 
strossos said:
Use them for car stuff? Maybe a head unit or some speakers or something, I don't know if they could power an amp of decent size or not.
Click to expand...
If you run low volume, and the 12v rail is beefy enough. Should be good for testing out equipment at the very least. I've been considering testing out my amp and sub, since it doesn't seem to turn on half the time... :(
 
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