Q:
Can I use (and how) an old PC power supply to power all  components?
=============================================

Jan 2, 2021 in FAQs, Tips (Archive) by

1 Answer


1. The best  way is to use some old AT (not  ATX)   power supply - these PSU was use in older PC since 80-90th up to 2010/2012 and you still can find thousands of them in garages and old stocks.
- It's convenient because it  has a simple power switch and has no internal "standby power"  "hot/waiting" circuit. 
- It has powerful +5V voltage line, that is better than have powerful 12V as it is in newest ATX.

All you need is to connect its black wire to the common GND and RED line (+5V) - to you circuit (dislplays, LEDs, etc) and devices you want to power.

2. "Can I use ATX power supply?"

The newer ATX PSU (since 2008)  has  "standby power  function" and power supplies are turned on and off by a signal from the motherboard. So you need to add a "standby" power switch connecting  one of the black wires to the green wire on the PSU socket. But the internal supply circuit will be always under voltage even if you will turn the switch off.

So, if you can not find the AT PSU (why?), you can use ATX, just  connect the 5V as described above for AT PSU.

3. "Do I need to use fuses for my citcuits?"

No need to have a fuses - every PC (and other) power supply has internal short circuit protection.
On short circuits, current overloading  a fuse blows when too much current flows through and thus interrupts the flow of current through the circuit.  It's mostly protects the PSU rather than your circuit.

Just be sure that the power voltage will not be changing suddenly from 5v to 10-30,  that will hardly ever happens with a PC PSU.
So, if you will use some cheap garbage power supply that provides unstable, "jumping" voltage, the fuse will also not help. So, forget about it and just use a good power supply (with stable voltage).

4. "What if I have a Power supply with 20A 5v, can it damage my low current circuit?"

You will never damage your low-power (low-current) electronics equipment  with power supply of any amperage capability.
The only thing that matters is correct and stable voltage.  So, if your circuit/board/display  consumes a few milliamperes  at 5v, but you have PS with 100 Amperes capability and 5v output  -  it's fine.  Every device will "take" from the power line only as much current as it needs.

So, the over-voltage can damage your circuit, not the  amperage  that you can see on the PSU label  - it shows just how many amperes the PSU itself can sustain! (the more the amperage, the more devices can be connected to it).

5. "I found an old working power supply  200w 10A 5v" 
You can use the weakest PC power supply you can find (but it's doubt it will be less than 200 watt) - just see at its 5V amperage capability.

You can estimate how many amperes you need summary: for example,  300 LEDs  may consume about  5-10  Ams if they all lit at once.

The 7-segment display and LCD current can be estimated as:

Max7219 / Tm1637 modules:
10-20 mA  - min brightness
100-200 mA - max brightness

LCD 1602
data    - 1.5-2 mA
backlit - 5-50 mA

Jan 2, 2021 by
Vlad, Nice write up on the AT(X) PSUs. Please consider putting this information in the Tech Tips section of the website. This question has been coming up a lot lately.

Thanks for all your efforts.

Bill
That Answers some of my questions. Good write up Vlad.

...