Convert ATX PSU to Bench Supply

Is it possible to use an ATX power supply unit or PSU from an old PC as a bench top power
supply to power 5V logic, but with some limitations.

The standard computer power supply unit (PSU) turns the incoming 110V or
220VAC (alternating current) into various DC (direct current) output voltages
suitable for powering the computer’s internal components and with a little bit
of imagination it is possible to convert ATX PSU to a bench power supply.

Most computer PSU’s range from about 150W up to 500W so there is plenty
of power. The original ATX standard connector used for powering the
motherboard was a single 20-pin Molex that has all the required +12VDC and
+5VDC voltages with huge output currents and short circuit protection as well
as a Power-ON wire that allows the PC’s software to turn “OFF” the PSU on
shut down.
Firstly and more importantly before you start to convert ATX PSU, make sure
that the PSU is unplugged from the mains supply and discharged by
letting it sit unconnected for several minutes before you start. This is
important! as it could result in a potentially dangerous or even lethal situation
due to the high voltages inside the PSU if you decide to dismantle it. Also
make sure that the metal box of the PSU is correctly earthed or grounded.
You are responsible for your own safety!.
We can not just simply plug the PSU into the mains supply and expect to get
the required 5 or 12 volts output. The standard PC power supply unit has two
safety mechanisms that prevent it from being switched “ON” without the
motherboard attached.
 Number 1, the PSU requires a “Power-ON” zero voltage signal to start up
similar to the “ON-OFF” switch on the front of a PC.
 Number 2, for the PSU to correctly regulate the +5V output voltage it needs
to have some sort of load attached, at least 5W to trick the PSU into
thinking its attached to the motherboard
Unfortunately you can not just have the wires left open, luckily both of these
issues are easily fixed.
There are several different coloured wires attached to the 20-pin ATX
connector providing several different voltage outputs such as +3.3V, +5V,
+12V, -12V, -5V as well as a number of black ground wires and a couple
signal wires as shown in the following image along with their colour-code and
description.

20-pin Molex ATX Connector

Pin outs of the 20-pin connector with the colours of the wires used in a
standard ATX PSU connector.
Pin Name Colour Description

1 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

2 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

3 COMMON Black Ground

4 5V Red +5 VDC

5 COMMON Black Ground

6 5V Red +5 VDC

7 COMMON Black Ground

8 Pwr_Ok Grey Power Ok (+5 VDC when power is Ok)

9 +5VSB Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage

10 12V Yellow +12 VDC

 11 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

12 -12V Blue -12 VDC

13 COMMON Black Ground

14 Pwr_ON Green Power Supply On (active low)

15 COMMON Black Ground

16 COMMON Black Ground

17 COMMON Black Ground

18 -5V White -5 VDC

19 5V Red +5 VDC

20 5V Red +5 VDC

There are a number of ways to convert a standard computer ATX power

supply unit into a usable bench top power supply. You can keep the 20-pin
Molex connector attached and connect directly into it or cut it off completely
and group together the individual wires keeping the same colours together,
reds to reds, blacks to blacks etc.
I cut off the connector to have access to the individual wires and connected
them into a screw connector strip to give me a higher amperage output for
both the +5V and +12V supplies. You can connect the same coloured wires
together using crimp connectors or posts, is the same thing. Some of the
other individual coloured wires we need to keep separate as detailed below.
To start up a stand alone PSU for either testing purposes or as a bench power
supply, we need to short together pin 14 – Green (Power-ON) to one of the
common black wires (ground) which is how the motherboard tells the power
supply to turn “ON”. Luckily, pin 15 – Black is next to it so I connected a
switch between the Pwr_On signal (pin 14) and Ground (pin 15). When pin 14
is momentarily connected to ground via the switch, the power supply will turn-
ON.
Next we need to provide a small load on the +5V (red wires) output to trick the
PSU into thinking its attached to the motherboard and to keep the power
supply in the “ON” mode. To do this we have to connect a large resistor of 10
Ohms or less, with a standard power rating of 5W to 10W across the +5V
output using just one set of the red and black wires, pins 3 and 4 will do.
Remembering from Ohms Law that the power (P), developed in a resistor is
given by the equation of: P = I2 × R or P = V2 / R, where: P = power developed
in the resistor in watts (W), I = current through the resistor in amps (A), R =
resistance of the resistor in ohms (ohm) and V = voltage across the resistor in
volts (V). The voltage will be +5V and the power required is 5W or above.
Then any standard power resistor below 5 Ohms will do. Remember though
that this resistor will get HOT! so make sure its out of the way.
One other option we have is to use pin 8 – Grey (Pwr_Ok) as a visual
indication that the PSU has started up correctly and is ready to operate. The
Pwr_Ok signal goes high (+5V) when the power supply has settled down after
its initial start up, and all the voltages are within their proper tolerance ranges.
I used a red LED in series with a 220 Ohm current limiting resistor connected
between pins 8 and pin 7, (ground) for this power ready light but anything
similar will do, its only indication.
Testing the Power Supply
Once assembled you should end up with something like this.

When you plug the PSU into the wall socket and turn the switch “ON” at the
back of the power supply (if it has one), only two voltages should be present
at the connector. One is pin 14 the Pwr_ON green wire which will have +5V
on it. The second is pin 9 the +5V Standby (+5VSB) purple wire which should
also have +5V on it.
This standby voltage, is used for the motherboard’s power control buttons,
Wake on LAN feature, etc and typically provides about 500mA of current,
even when the main DC outputs are “OFF”, so it can be useful as a
permanent +5V supply for small power uses without the need to turn the PSU
“fully-ON”.
Some newer ATX12V power supplies may have “voltage sense” wires that
need to be connected to the actual voltage wires for proper operation. In the
main power cables you should now have three red wires (+5V) all connected
together and three black wires (0V) connected together as the others have
been used for the switch and LED. Also connect together the three orange
wires to give a +3.3V output if you require it to power smaller devices or
micro-controller boards.
If you have only two orange wires, you may have a brown wire instead which
must be connected with the orange’s, the +3.3V for the unit to be able to
power up. If you only have three red wires, another wire (sometimes pink)
must be connected to them. But check this first.
If everything looks ok then we are good to go and the PSU should switch “ON”
giving you a very cheap bench top power supply. You can test the output
voltages using a multimeter or connecting a 12V bulb into the different sockets
to see if the PSU works. The voltage combinations that can be outputted by
the PSU are 24v (+12, -12), 17v (+5, -12), 12v (+12, 0), 10v (+5, -5), 7v (+12,
+5), 5v (+5, 0) which should be sufficient for most electronics circuits.
You could also connect a LM317 Adjustable Voltage Regulator, a 5k
adjustable potentiometer, a 240 Ohm resistor for biasing and a couple of
smoothing capacitors across the +12V supply to give a separate adjustable
output voltage from about 2.0 to 12 volts but this is an additional feature.

The 24-pin Molex ATX Connector

In newer desktop PC’s, version 2 ATX power supplies are used called
ATX12V. The old 20-pin connector has been replaced by a larger 24-pin
Molex connector or even a 20+4pin connector. The four additional pins are:
two additional pins numbered 11 and 12 are +12v (yellow), and +3.3v
(orange) and the two additional pins numbered 23 and 24 are +5v (red), and
ground (black) respectively. The newer ATX12V pin outs and colours are
given in the following table for reference.
24-pin Molex ATX Connector

Pin outs of the 24-pin connector with their respective colours of the wires in
the PSU cables.

Pin Name Colour Description

1 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

2 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

3 COM Black Ground

4 5V Red +5 VDC

5 COM Black Ground

6 5V Red +5 VDC

7 COM Black Ground

8 Pwr_Ok Grey Power Ok (+5 VDC when power is Ok)

9 +5VSB Purple +5 VDC Standby Voltage

10 12V Yellow +12 VDC

11 12V Yellow +12 VDC

12 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

13 3.3V Orange +3.3 VDC

14 -12V Blue -12 VDC

15 COM Black Ground

 16 Pwr_ON Green Power Supply On (active low)

17 COM Black Ground

18 COM Black Ground

19 COM Black Ground

20 -5V White -5 VDC

21 +5V Red +5 VDC

22 +5V Red +5 VDC

23 +5V Red +5 VDC

24 COM Black Ground

The newer type ATX12V PSU’s are a little more tricky to convert as they use a
‘soft’ power switch function and require a much larger external load
resistance. To get them to start-up, or switch-ON, the supply must be loaded
to at least 20W or 10% of the rated power for the larger 600W+ PSU’s.
Anything below this the power supply may run, but regulation will be very poor
less than 50%.
Again the voltages that can be output by this unit are the same as before 24v
(+12, -12), 17v (+5, -12), 12v (+12, 0), 10v (+5, -5), 7v (+12, +5), 5v (+5, 0).
Note that some ATX12V power supplies with a 24-pin motherboard connector
may not have the -5V (pin 20) white lead. In this case use the older ATX
power supplies with a 20-pin connector above if you need the additional -5V
supply.
An old PC power supply unit makes an excellent and cheap bench top power
supply for the electronics constructor. The power supply unit uses switching
regulators to maintain a constant supply with good regulation and short circuit
protection cause the unit to shutdown and be re-powered immediately if
something goes wrong.
The only downside with using an ATX PSU as a bench power supply is that
the cooling fan’s rpm responds to the amount of current being drawn from the
PSU so can get a little noisy. Also the ATX PSU requires a certain amount of
fresh air to keep it cool inside which may not be possible when laid onto a
bench.
All in all, converting an ATX PSU to a bench power supply is an easy
project with many uses. Not bad for something that would otherwise get
thrown away.