Which power solution to use?

I found many solution for connection power supply to a board, and I don't really care which board to use as long as it works. I'm a little bit confuse that which power supply to choose and which wiring plan to follow.

1)

This one seems complicated. I don't like it.

2)

This guide is very specific. But the PSU used there has one 3yellow/3black cable and one 4yellow/4black cable, and many other wires are not mentioned. I presume those 4-pin wires not mentioned are supposed not to be used, but I feel no confidence about it.
(not used wires that I mean)

Also, I find that not all the ATX PSU has both a 8pin and a 6pin wire like the one in the guide has.

3)
( this is from official guide)
First, I cannot get a wire like this even online. Second, not all ATX PSU has a 4pin (square? left ,white)that fits, and most ATX seems have more than one of wires that fits the other 4pin (4pin peripheral I guess) in the picture.

4)
I've also thought about using a Printroard in my project, so I find something like this:

Again, I cannot find a wire like this, AND not all the PSU have that 4pin (heard that it's for CPU in a PC). And many PSU have more than one of that peripheral cables.

Sorry if it bothers but English is not my fist language. I'll appreciate any reply

do you want to keep the psu.?

if you are only going to use it on your reprap you can just cut the wires,

if not just buy a cheap cable and cut the wires on that, you will need to use 2 yellow and 2 black.

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I'll cut the wire, but is it fine to leave all the other wires right there?

You can leave the unused wires on the old connector, anything is fine really just as long as there are no bare wires laying around. It shouldn't be a problem.

Hello, guys

Here's a new problem:
How can I get a PSU with wires like these to work on a RAMPS board?



Thanks

I use an old antec atx power supply, 480w.
you should read this : [reprap.org]

reprap.org/wiki/PCPowerSupply

So, what I should do, according to the link, is to cut all the wire and bundle wires of the same color together, and then connect +12v wires, -12v wires, +5v wires -5v wires to the board, right?

I'm amazed we don't have a simple guide anywhere, that link is a whole lot more complicated than it need be. I wouldn't recommend opening up your PSU and tinkering with it.

Here are simple steps:

Just take the 4 pin connector (labelled "P4 power" above).
Cut the connector off, and strip the wires
Twist the two blacks together
Twist the two yellows together
Connect the black wires to the "-" terminal on your board
Connect the yellow wires to the "+" terminal on your board
Put a wire jumper into the 20 pin connector, between a ground pin and the PS-ON pin (black and green). You could use wire from a metal paper clip, bend into a U shape. Put some tape over it to stop it shorting with anything.
Ignore all the other wires. If you want bundle them up and tuck them out the way.

That's it!

If the PSU doesn't stay on, you may need to put a load on 5V, but that can be done later.

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Hello, bobc

Thanks for your easy guide, but a RAMPS 1.4 board does have four "spots / terminals" for power, two pairs of "+ and -".... I know some kind of electronics only have two "spots" (+ and -)for power source. What if I want to use a RAMPS board?

With a RAMPS board I cut the P4 connector then wired the two yellow wires into the two "+" terminals, and the two black wires into the two "-" terminals. See here:


Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2014 03:23AM by samp20.

Thank you, samp20, that'll do