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ATX power supply question

Posted by Dom22 
ATX power supply question
July 15, 2014 05:18PM
I'm worried about 18AWG yellow wire (of the ATX PS) being able to carry 11A. Since the 8 pin ATX12V power supply connector consists of 4 +12V and 4 GND wires, can I join 2 or more +12V yellow wires and connect to the Ramps board? ( And do the same with the black GND wires?). This would, in effect, split the current between the wires?

I will use a different (2nd) rail for the 5 V connection.

Thanks
Re: ATX power supply question
July 16, 2014 07:59AM
Quote
Dom22
can I join 2 or more +12V yellow wires and connect to the Ramps board? ( And do the same with the black GND wires?).

Yes. Actually, the more wires you use, the better.


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Re: ATX power supply question
July 16, 2014 10:35AM
Yup, absolutely. That's what I did. My heat bed uses like 30A, so I have about 8 wires grouped together for the heat bed, and 2 grouped together for the RAMPS board.

Basically, take the total amp rating of your PSU on the 12V rail, and divide it by the number of yellow wires. So if it's 30A and there are 10 wires, you'd get 3A per wire. Since your heat bed needs 11A, use at least 4 wires for that. Your board should use 5A, so use at least 2 wires for that.

Each wire should be able to carry quite a bit more current than that, but dividing it like that ensures you're not overloading them.
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