Electronics > Beginners
Hard Disk power supply from Notebook Power Supply
netdiver_one:
--- Quote from: MyHeadHz on January 02, 2020, 05:37:01 pm ---Those little buck converters won't get near their 3a rating for any longer than a small fraction of a second, if they even manage that. They are only good for a couple hundred ma continuous at 12v.
edit: I know because I made the same mistake a while back, in this thread. One common solution is to hack an old desktop power supply into a "bench power supply" (at least that's what youtube calls them). Though limited in features, they are quite robust and stable, and many people have old ones lying around.
--- End quote ---
Thanks for the "heads-up". I will read that topic in detail. For the moment I have an ATX PC PSU with a switch in the green wire to black wire connection, to power up without a motherboard connected to it, but it's not easy to carry in my backpack.
All the best.
Lorenzo
niffcreature:
In my area it wouldn't be hard for me to find a decent 12v power supply with a few amps. Could find one at a thrift store for a few bucks, maybe even in my apartment.
But why are you using 3.5" hard drives if you need them to be portable?
magic:
You may find external HDD power supplies from good brands at electronics recyclers, on auctions sites, etc.
Or combine separate good quality 5V/12V wall warts.
netdiver_one:
--- Quote from: niffcreature on January 03, 2020, 11:00:24 am ---In my area it wouldn't be hard for me to find a decent 12v power supply with a few amps. Could find one at a thrift store for a few bucks, maybe even in my apartment.
But why are you using 3.5" hard drives if you need them to be portable?
--- End quote ---
I work as a Computer Technician and I often make data transfers between old and new PCs directly at the customer's office.
BTW, I bought a new sata to USB interface that has a simple 12v wall power supply, but I would like to use also the old interface to not lose the opportunity to work with older IDE drives.
David Hess:
I just use a spare ATX power supply to power bare hard drives.
I agree with MyHeadHz about current derating the switching modules. I would do so by at least 100% of the worst case surge estimate.
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