LED Power Supply

[Death_blooms]

LED power supply

In this tutorial I am going to show you how to swap your power supplies fan for one more aesthetically pleasing.


You will need:

• ·A Phillips Screwdriver that fits the screws on the top of your power supply

• ·A pair of scissors

• ·Wire strippers (these are not necessary as the scissors could also be used for this job but they make the job a bit easier)

• ·Electrical tape

• ·An LED fan the same size as the one currently in your power supply (these are usually 80mm or 120mm)

You must take certain precautions before attempting to open or modify any power supply.

Opening up and tinkering with the components and wires inside of a power supply is potentially very dangerous, so BE VERY CAREFUL!!! Opening your power supply will also void any warranty that it may have had, so there is no turning back once you pop the lid!!!

Firstly with the power supply in your computer unplug the computer from the mains power. Next press the computers power button. The fan on the power supply should spin for a short moment indicating that the capacitors inside the power supply have discharged.


Now your power supply should be safe to open and modify. However do not plug the computer back in to the mains otherwise the capacitors will recharge and the power supply will be dangerous again. Now remove the power supply from the computer and you are ready to change the fan.


For the purpose of this tutorial I am going to use a 250W 20pin ATX power supply with a single 80mm fan pictured below. However this modification should work with just about any power supply.








Now to start the modification of the power supply, firstly remove the top cover (this is usually done by removing four screws at each corner of the top cover). We will be working with two wires attached to the fan these are nearly always red and black so in this tutorial we will assume that they are.



The fan needs to be removed from the power supply by unscrewing the four screws located at the back of the power supply. As well as this the red and black wires (shown above) need to be cut half way between the main circuit board and the power supplies fan. The point at which to cut the wire is illustrated below.






You are now finished with the current fan so put it to one side as next the new fan needs to be prepared. Firstly cut the cable half way between the fan and its connector. You will most likely be left with a yellow cable as well as the red and black cables on this fan. This cable will not be needed for this modification so it can be cut away from the fan. Next using the scissors (or wire strippers if you have them) strip away about 1.5cm from both the red and the black wires on the fan. Repeat this process on the red and black wires on the power supply.


Now the fan is ready to be fitted to the power supply. Take the red wire on the fan and twist it together with the red wire on the power supply. Then wind some electrical tape around the wire until none of the metal is exposed. Repeat this process on the black wire so that it is also joined to the black wire on the power supply.


Finally all that is left to do is screw the fan in place and replace the cover. Be careful to put the fan in the right way around with the convex edge of the fan blade facing inwards so that the power supply receives maximum cooling.


Below are some pictures of the finished product (please keep in mind that these images do not reflect the true colour of the fan and that yours will look allot better that the one’s featured in these images due to my cheap camera).













I hope you have enjoyed following this tutorial and if you have any questions feel free to contact me at: deathblooms@ulmb.com

[Death_blooms]

Thanks for the edit GV I ment to add that in but the net went down.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

Good tutorial for a nice visual aid!

I'll definitely consider this on my summer PC project.

[Lead Head]

Very nice guide! Should help people out quite a bit if they wanted to do something like that.

One thing tho, I think you should mention that the PSU should be unplugged for atleast a day to make sure the capacitors are discharged.

[Reloadron]

Very good tutorial, and very well laid out as well as presented. I would only add that if at all possible, heat shrink tubing would be a better choice than tape. Especially with those small gauge fan wires. Not necessary but if available a nice touch.

Ron

[Death_blooms]

I only have about 5mins now so I will add in all your suggestions when I get the time. Thanks for the comments

[gvblake22]

I second the heatshrink idea. I've tried using electrical tape on small gauge fan wires like that and about 4 of the 5 ends I did came unraveled; heatshrink is definitely the way to go.

[Death_blooms]

I dont think I've got any heatshrink left so I cant take any images yet. When I have some spare Ill do it

[Shack]

Originally Posted by Lead Head

One thing tho, I think you should mention that the PSU should be unplugged for atleast a day to make sure the capacitors are discharged.

Caps are going to store a charge until a load discharges them. Thats what the fan spinning down is doing. Just leaving it unplugged for a day isn't doing anything after the fan stops.

That said, everyone has their own little - I call mine paranoid superstitions - habits when they work on things. Most (like unplugging for a day) are rooted in the days when parts weren't made to the tolerances we have now and can't hurt what you're doing or more importantly, hurt you.

[Capper]

Originally Posted by Shack

Caps are going to store a charge until a load discharges them. Thats what the fan spinning down is doing. Just leaving it unplugged for a day isn't doing anything after the fan stops.

That said, everyone has their own little - I call mine paranoid superstitions - habits when they work on things. Most (like unplugging for a day) are rooted in the days when parts weren't made to the tolerances we have now and can't hurt what you're doing or more importantly, hurt you.

Exactly correct.....which is why every single PSU manufacturer recommends users not mod or disassemble their PSU.

At the very least I'd recommend unplugging the PSU from the power source, and while its still connected to the system, hold down the power switch for 30 seconds or so.

Everyone welcome Shack to the forums......he's a great guy and LONG time friend of mine (Don't hold that against him).