ramps wiring

I bought a ramps 1.4 kit and don't know how to wire the power to it no sites show any specific details on a power source. I have a old atx power supply and I was wondering if I could use that and if so how to properly wire it, also my ultimachine kit came with a 36" 10 wire cable that I'm not sure what its for.

See: [reprap.org]

Hope this helps!

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Follow my Mendel Prusa build here: [julianh72.blogspot.com]

I found a suitible power supply for $20 but while I'm waiting for it to arrive can I power it from the arduino? If so i doubt I would be able to power my heated platform from the ramps

The arduino PS doesn't have the current to supply the ramps board with enough power to run. I wouldn't do that.

shinjinian Wrote:
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> I found a suitible power supply for $20 but while
> I'm waiting for it to arrive can I power it from
> the arduino? If so i doubt I would be able to
> power my heated platform from the ramps

Best case scenario is that it just won't work.

Worst case scenario is that you'll blow your Arduino and / or you RAMPS, because the motors and the heat-bed want several amps total current supply (those 5 amp and 11 amp fuses on the RAMPS are there for a reason!), whereas the Arduino Mega is only rated for a few hundred milliamps total.

You need to wait until you get a proper power supply!

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Follow my Mendel Prusa build here: [julianh72.blogspot.com]

Can someone please write here, what is the best power supply for RAMPS? I have RAMPS 1.4 and with my DC 12V 5.4A connected, steppers just don't move and they dont even make this noise everyone is writing about, when low voltage setting in set on pololu drivers. I have tried increase that, but nothing happend.
Thank for response.

That PSU should be just enough to run all steppers and the extruder, but don't even attempt a heated bed with it, you need far more current than that can supply. The best PSU is whatever 12V supply you can scrounge up that can provide, say, 20A. Bench supplies are better than adapted ATX PSUs, but perhaps not better enough to justify the additional cost. There's an argument to be made for using a higher voltage, but that requires removing a few diodes and prevents standalone operation since the arduino is no longer powered from the RAMPS power supply and needs the USB.

Anyway, your current PSU should be enough to get you started. Can you verify that the board is being supplied with 12V, and with the correct polarity? If there's a short the PSU may have shut down. The Arduino itself will still run since it can be powered by the USB connection but no heaters or motors will work. If the polarity is reversed, nothing will work. Also double check you're powering the 5A terminals, the 11A set are dedicated to the heated bed. If in doubt, post pictures.