My Amiga external PicoPSU

[thgill]

I wish I could take credit for this being my idea, but I actually saw it over at A1k.org:

http://www.a1k.org/forum/showthread.php?t=36199


Well, I decided to clone one. I have installed several Pico's inside Atari STs, but it never dawned on me to rig it up external for Amiga usage.

Installed the Pico inside a Hammond 1591BBK plastic enclosure and used an ATX connector to mate up with the Pico. Added a power switch (which hooks up to the ATX power on pin) and a red led.

Most expensive part was the PicoPSU itself. The other parts was very cheap.


It's currently powering my A600 and isn't even getting warm.

 

[delshay]

Not a bad idea but some Pico PSU do run hot. Holes in the case may be needed & possible a tiny fan. This may only effect user(s) that put the PSU under heavy loads.

Be careful it can throw out nasty spikes in voltage when extremely very,very hot. This may not apply to this PSU and could possibly be that I have a small fault on my unit at extreme temperature.

It maybe better to have PSU inside the case free standing ie not lying touching the outer case as some Pico PSU as stated above do run at extreme temperature under heavy loads and may possibly melt the plastic outer casing.

Ventilation holes recommended.
Under heavy load fan recommend.

ALL MODIFICATION AT YOUR OWN RISK.

 

[ptp170]

Mine has been running since 2009 and has never got warm... But mine is a genuine one before the market became flooded with cheap copies...

 

[delshay]

This type of PSU I do believe is not made to operate in a complete enclosed case (please correct me if I am wrong). The minimum possibly is ventilation holes in the outer case.

 

[ChrisUnionNJ]

Guys the one thing you have to remember is heat at any degree is
the electronic killer so I make sure anything a make has proper
ventilation..

 

[johnim]

Nice work but as already said you may need ventilation

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[SkydivinGirl]

Very nice setup! I may have to look into this as an option for some of my other systems. It looks like it would work well for Amiga systems with external PSUs and probably a CD32, and A500 GVP expansions. I could also see using them for my ColecoVision Adam computer.

Good work.

Heather

 

[thgill]

Thanks for the comments guys. I will keep an eye on the temperature and will add ventilation holes if necessary.

So far it's staying icey cool.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[delshay]

You may want to consider the "WI" version,this way you can plug-in almost any power supply up-to 24v. Simply use most laptop PSU

You can also build a complete all-in-one unit if your very good with a soldering iron.

NOTE: you have to use all gnd & +5v lines for heavy loads or you may find computer will not boot or will give random errors.

ALL MODIFICATION AT YOUR OWN RISK

 

[DutchinUSA]

@ delshay

"You may want to consider the "WI" version,this way you can plug-in almost any power supply up-to 24v. Simply use most laptop PSU"

Could you explain a little more please? I have at least 6-10 laptop ac adapters and would love to put them to use, the laptops they belonged to are long gone


Ok, found some more info, I guess there is a wide voltage picoPSU .. the price on that pretty much ruins it for me

 

[roy_bates]

it means "Wide Input" as in: wide input range.

theres tones of them with varying output ranges.

 

[delshay]

Always go for the higher model something like the pico 120 or better you never know what device you will add in the future.

NOTE: keep a eye on the 5v rail their don't all output the same even if its the same model.

I can confirm it does work with most accelerator cards including PPC,but not with very high speed Blizzard cards,need to look into this further.