How to turn an X-Box 360 PSU into a 12v lab PSU

In this instructable I will show you how to turn an X-Box 360 PSU into a high ampere 12v power supply. This is simple and it only requires a few parts. In the 2nd hand store, I found and X-Box 360 PSU for $10 and I looked at the back and thought this great for a 12v Supply because it could output a lot of amps, 12.2 to be exact.

So I tracked down the wire Identification and I made one into a 12v Power supply.


P.S(U) I was using an Iphone Because my camera was dead and I'm 13 so please no bad comments!

Lets Cut the X-Box connector!

Step 1: You'll need...

You will need a few basic things for this project...
1. An X-Box 360 PSU (power brick)
2. Heatshrink
3. A small length of Red and Black with able to withstand 12 to 16 amps.
4. Two 15A alligator clamps
5. Solder

The tools you will need...
1. Soldering iron or station
2. Wire cutters
3. Wire strippers
4. Something to shrink heatshrink (My mini blowtorch)
5. Crimp tool

Comments

[invadurxzim]

ive done this with a 175w psu so far so good..my question how reliable is this?
i would like to use this to power a car amp to a guitar 4x12 cab..im interested in doing this as i dont really need a traditional guitar amp head as i use it only to make my signal loud :) and ive toyed with using pc psu but no to good result burn out my better amp fried an ic on the bridge switch i think someone bumped it on while i had it sitting idle :( .anyways .i have had one 360 psu burn out but that was with a 360 using it

[cdances]

I did this for a 203 W Xbox PSU. There were 10 wires instead of 8, and some extra insulation. However it still worked great! Thanks.

[le-Sid]

Nice instructable. Actually, i've got one of these taking dust in my drawers... Now I know what to do with it :-)

[dshillingford]

Thanks for this. :)

[hightekrednek2396]

What are the red and blu wires are they 5v?

[dog digger]

The red wire is 5v and the blue is some sort of ground. It's for starting the PSU. Similar on a computer power supply

[Skater_j10]

So the blue wire is called the Power Enable line, it senses if there is voltage applied to it and turns the 12V rail on if it sees 3V inside the 360. My tests have found that you can hack the circuit be sending 1.5V to 5V to this line and it will still enable the power. That's why using the 5VSB line (called 5V voltage standby which is always on as soon as the PSU is plugged in) will work in activating (enabling) the PSU by hooking it up to the PWR Enable line.

By the way while I'm here, I was curious to where you got the inspiration for this hack?

[dog digger]

Thanks for the info!
I got the inspiration from looking at my power brick because I was bored and I found 12v at high amps in the specs. Then I looked on the internet for the plug pin out and worked it all out. I found an xbox 360 PSU for $6 and I bought it!

[ringai]

You give me hope that I don't need to yell, "Get of my lawn!" at every youngster. You're heading to good places!

[ogeorgescu]

Great job! I'd suggest using different lengths wires for the alligator clips to reduce the chance of shorts. I'd probably go even further and perhaps use some kind of bullet connector with the female end instead of the alligator clips.

[dog digger]

on most of my PSU mods, I've put on insulated gator clips. Even if there is a short, there are all sorts of protection devices installed in the PSU's

[xXNuggettXx]

My 360 PSU (203W) has 10 cables total. 4 Yellow, 4 Black, 1 Red, and 1 Blue. One of the Yellow and one of the Black are smaller than the others. Any ideas what the extra wires are for?

[dog digger]

They are probably for a low amp output. Just don't use them.