splicing power cables

  • Thread starter Thread starter JC
  • Start date Start date
J

JC

Hey.
What's everybody's opinion on my splicing a couple of device power
cables onto one of the lines that comes out of my 300-W power supply, so
as to let me have up to 5-6 IDE devices (with added controller, of
course; my power supply has only 4 + FDD). It'd look something like
this (boy, I hope this turns out).
Thanks,
jc


Power Supply
------------------------------------
/ \
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| |
Splice -> /| |
/ | _ | _
/ | / \ | / \
/ | / \ | / \
/ |/ \ |/ \
| |---| |---| |---| |---|
| | | | | | | | |
| |___| |___| |___| |___|
|
|
|
|
|
| _
| / \
| / \
|/ \
|---| |---|
| | | |
|___| |___|
 
JC said:
Hey.
What's everybody's opinion on my splicing a couple of device power
cables onto one of the lines that comes out of my 300-W power supply, so
as to let me have up to 5-6 IDE devices (with added controller, of
course; my power supply has only 4 + FDD). It'd look something like
this (boy, I hope this turns out).
Click to expand...

You want to run 5 to 6 IDE devices on a 300 watt power supply?

I'd think the better solution would be to upgrade the power supply to
something big enough to provide enough power to all those drives and
expansion cards. If you overload your power supply "bad things" will
happen.

Jeff
 
JC said:
Hey.
What's everybody's opinion on my splicing a couple of device power
cables onto one of the lines that comes out of my 300-W power supply, so
as to let me have up to 5-6 IDE devices (with added controller, of
course; my power supply has only 4 + FDD). It'd look something like
this (boy, I hope this turns out).
Thanks,
jc
Click to expand...


As long as you don't overload your powersupply it won't do any harm to
splice your wires. I've done it before in a pinch...just make sure all your
connections are good!
 
Thanks for the opinion. I guess I really don't know what the pull is
for 3 WD HDD + 1 FDD + 2 CDD + mb, etc., but, if the only problem is a
dead power supply, I can live with it.
-jc
 
JC said:
Hey.
What's everybody's opinion on my splicing a couple of device power
cables onto one of the lines that comes out of my 300-W power supply, so
as to let me have up to 5-6 IDE devices (with added controller, of
course; my power supply has only 4 + FDD). It'd look something like
this (boy, I hope this turns out).
Thanks,
jc


Power Supply
------------------------------------
/ \
/ \
/ \
| |
| |
| |
Splice -> /| |
/ | _ | _
/ | / \ | / \
/ | / \ | / \
/ |/ \ |/ \
| |---| |---| |---| |---|
| | | | | | | | |
| |___| |___| |___| |___|
|
|
|
|
|
| _
| / \
| / \
|/ \
|---| |---|
| | | |
|___| |___|
Click to expand...

Why not just buy some pre-made y-splitters and plug them in to the
existing molex connectors? Or make your own molex y splitters. They're
very cheap and don't involve fartsing around with your power supply.
 
Splicing was my Friday-night solution--no time to dash out to Comp. City
or elsewhere, with all my excitement over the new hardware. If the
splitters would work, then the splice (wires secured) will work for
awhile. I'll try not to use both CDD at the same time.
-jc
 
Just look for some splitters or cable extensions. They make extra
long cables and y adapters for large server cases.
 
JC said:
Splicing was my Friday-night solution--no time to dash out to Comp. City
or elsewhere, with all my excitement over the new hardware. If the
splitters would work, then the splice (wires secured) will work for
awhile. I'll try not to use both CDD at the same time.
-jc
Click to expand...

Sounds okay. I'd seriously think about upgrading the power supply
though. IIRC all thosedevices run on the 12 volt rail, right? Many PSUs
don't supply as much power there as I feel they should. Three dollars
will get you between 3 and 6 Y-splitters (turning each molex connector
in two molex connectors), but you'll probably not need that many on a
quality new PSU.
 
Factory built splitters ae available from Radio Shack, CompUSA,
OfficeMax, etc, but first buy a new BIG power supply. The MB plus 5 or
6 IDE will drag your 300 PS into the dust. The number of power
connectors coming from a PS should give some clue of how many devices it
will support.
 
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