Modding power supply
Modding power supply
Hi all.
I have a curious question.
I recently acquired an HP dl180 with 12 LFF Sata HD enclosures packed with drives.
I used a flex to detach the computer part from the 2u case, and now I have a straightforward HD enclosure.
Typically, it is powered by two 10-pin cables from the PSU, which include 5-volt, 12-volt, and ground wires.
These cables are thick and redundant, designed to supply power to 12 HD drives and a SAS expander.
I want to connect this enclosure to my existing NAS, which is essentially a standard PC with an SAS card.
To achieve that, I considered using the SATA/Molex power cables from the NAS PSU.
I obtained a 700W Coolermaster modular PSU that has six separate cable strands for SATA/Molex.
My question is: With six separate strands available, can I combine some of them to increase the amperage and improve safety?
Even though it will likely never exceed around 150 watts, I’m wondering if doing so would help.
I assume a WD 40eFRX uses about 5 watts per piece at maximum, plus a bit more for the SAS expander.
Adding parallel connections of 12-volt sources might increase the total amperage, but not necessarily the voltage.
I just wanted to confirm my thoughts.
Not exactly the best approach, but it seems you grasp the fundamentals. If you're mindful of avoiding mistakes, it should work. Incorrect voltages or incorrect grounding on the wrong pins can cause the unusual white smoke you see.
It should be straightforward. Adding more wires allows for higher current or power handling. The exact rating depends on wire gauge, but using more than necessary will suffice if needed.
The main issue would be dealing with complex setups like power supplies with several 12V rails. It’s like having two separate power sources—you must manage the load carefully to prevent exceeding the rated capacity of any single rail.
I connected four SATA cable strands to the two 10-pin plugs to power the HD section of the DL180. It functions flawlessly.
The full enclosure housing eight drives consumes roughly 50 watts, which means even with all twelve drives inside, it never puts excessive load on the PSU or cables.
The two 10-pin plugs are exceptionally thick and built with extra redundancy. Still, it's not my fault for HP.
Which model is it? Cooler Master offers just a handful of good 700w units. The remaining ones are either outdated or of poor quality.
It is actually an older PSU. I recall it struggling a lot with my overclocked x5650 and gtx680, but it never caused any problems.
But as I mentioned before, it doesn’t need to work as hard anymore.
I have a meter next to it, and the whole setup—including the PC—never reaches 200 watts.
I’m considering adding another cutup dl180 or something similar to remove the load from the PC itself. Since the PC already has HDs.
I’d also like to use some compact HTPC devices such as a prodesk or elite desk to power everything efficiently.
That way, I can neatly fit everything into a small cabinet.
Few Americans would immediately understand that this product is an angle grinder. Similar to Kleenex or Xerox, the brand name eventually becomes synonymous with a whole range of items, though it feels unusual here because FLEX offers many products but is primarily recognized for creating the modern spiral-bevel drive angle grinder in 1954, rather than the flex-shaft grinder introduced in 1922—well before Dremel or Foredom. By that time, Americans already had their own angle grinders, even if they were awkward attachments for circular saws by Louis Lincoln Beach.
Most people would likely only know the Chinese cordless FLEX models available at Lowes, which were acquired by Chervon Group in 2013 and also include Skil and Ego. These models use incompatible batteries compared to the German ones. In fact, many Americans are more likely to think of Metabo when they imagine angle grinders, even though the company produces a wide range of products—plus, the name is essentially a shortened version of the German word for "drill." The most curious aspect is that Hikoki is sold locally as "Metabo HPT."
Typically, these wires are 18AWG and suitable for 10A each, though this can vary depending on the connectors used. If soldering is involved, four should handle the full 480W capacity; the wires themselves are adequate for that level of power.
It's interesting. I hadn't considered the term flex in that way before. I had never even heard of the Flex brand. Yet it remains the standard term for angle grinder in Holland. I am Dutch, but in Hungary, where I live, people also refer to an angle grinder as a flex. I don't think the Dutch rely too much on such brand names; they tend to describe things by their actual function.
The nickname "winchester" for hard drives originates from IBM mainframe history. The initial hard drives were employed in these mainframes, featuring a popular model with both removable and permanent disk packs. Each disk measured 30MiB, often referred to as the 30-30, reminiscent of the well-known Winchester rifle.