Computer PSU conversion project

[chriskraz]

Hey guys,

I have an older computer power supply that I'm planning on turning into a static DC power supply for at home projects.

Now I have originally planned on making a nice wooden box to contain the unit, but after some thought and considerations I began thinking about ground protection for the unit and the fact that a wooden box would take that out.

Now if I wanted to continue with the wooden container for the PSU components, what safety considerations should I include for the grounding the unit? I have some thoughts about what I could do without having the inside of the container lined with metal, but would it better necessary or at least safer if I lined the inside with a (earth) ground plane?

[kjs]

If you search here there are tons of conversions shown.
These power supplies have a tendency to go South when used as lab supplies so I wouldn't even think about moving the boards into their own enclosure. Use it as it is and when it fails take the next one.
The next thing is that they aren't good supplies in terms of ripple and stability. I "transformed" a few as I needed their high current capability but for normal lab use I would go with a linear regulator supply for lower noise. That also allows you to have a variable voltage and even more important adjustable current limiting.

That's how mine look:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/a-pc-psu-%28atx%29-based-lab-power-supply-the-umpteenth-version/msg621374/#msg621374

[DanielS]

You should simply keep the PSU's enclosure as-is and mount it to the rear of your wooden chassis using longer screws. You want to keep the steel enclosure to protect against shorts to high voltage components, possible explosions in case of catastrophic capacitor failures and possibly fire.

[Marc_Und]

The other advantages to keeping the PSU within its metal enclosure is:

- Ease of installation - it is fiddly/time-consuming mounting the transformer/pcbs/etc individually, but the metal enclosure has it done already, and it will only take 2 or 3 screws to mount that.

- the enclosure could be being used as part of the heat-sink for a number of the components within the PSU, which the wooden box obviously can't provide.