Universal Power Supply For Arduino + Breadboard

I work at a computer repair shop in Marietta, Georgia and we have a lot of spare power supplies laying around. This tutorial will explain how you can take a generic computer PSU(power supply unit) and turn it into a power supply that will power your Arduino and give you all the amperage  you need as well as your standard 3.3 volts, 5 volts, and 12 volts for any accessories/electronics used on your breadboard .

Step 1: What you will need

1. A Standard Computer Power Supply Unit.
2. Scissors
3. Soldering Iron + Solder
4. Male Headers
5. A plug that fits into the Arduino's DC Jack (I got mine from an old keyboard power cord)
6. Heat Shrink Tubing (optional)

Comments

[Gelfling6]

Additional side note.. You needn't have to draw power from the supply, through the coaxial connector to the Arduino.. I found, after I unsoldered the power plug from an old, D-O-A, 3.5" floppy drive, and straightened the pins, if you plug them into the breadboard, you _CAN_ run wires from +12V to Vin and +5V to the 5V pins of the arduino, and it will not effect it.. in fact, by adding the +5V, you're supplementing the arduino's 5v regulator..

[Gelfling6]

I kept 1 floppy/HD 4-pin cable wired in, and added a 2X-SATA supply cable to one of my converted units. (I still connect external drives via a USB-to-ATA/SATA adaptor, for testing or re-formatting drives.) The Wattage, can usually compute out to the drive load.. about 25W per 4-pin drive connector. (give or take a molex connector.) But if you want the full wattage available to projects, You'd need to run EVERY wire from the supply, to the various voltage posts.. (including the drive connectors.) Technically, one 400W supply, is only good for 5 drives.. (1 3-plug, and 1 2-plug plus floppy.) .. But I ran EVERY wire from the ATX connector, to the binding post.