# anyone have a recommendation for a bench power supply



## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

I had a great Dynascan/B&K Precision 1601 that just quit working one day with no warning, and I never bothered replacing it. Ten years later I've been wishing I had a decent supply to set up a bench and start getting into the boxes of old school gear in my attic and see what works and what needs help. 

If anyone can recommend a good bench power source I'd appreciate it.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

it all depends on your budget. best of the best is this
if you OK compromising then you can get server PSU, solder connectors to blade contacts, short couple pins and get yourself 50-70 Ams os very stable power. if you don`t need that much you can get computer atx power supply-10years old gonna be just fine. 20Amp is more then enough for most any testing unless you want to pump your amp to the max.


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

I could have used computer supplies? Just great ... I recently threw out several excellent power supplies because they were old AT units, one was from an NCR server shell, the other was an unused AT supply from when I was a white box builder. 

That makes me curious - I have an old Power Mac G3 and several other Macs sitting in the attic. Apple has used very high quality power supplies dating back to their early days - think I could use one of those?


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## nadams5755 (Jun 8, 2012)

i have a dell poweredge 2950 powersupply i use for a bench psu. 12.03v, 74a. jumped 3 pins. the fan is loud but i haven't cracked it open or followed through on the fan-control threads either.

the r/c car folks use them to run their battery chargers at the track. various server power supplies will work too. A simple high quality 12Volt 100Amp Power Supply- Part1 - RC Groups


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

nadams5755 said:


> i have a dell poweredge 2950 powersupply i use for a bench psu. 12.03v, 74a. jumped 3 pins. the fan is loud but i haven't cracked it open or followed through on the fan-control threads either.
> 
> the r/c car folks use them to run their battery chargers at the track. various server power supplies will work too. A simple high quality 12Volt 100Amp Power Supply- Part1 - RC Groups


i have this one too- works awesome!


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Chuck said:


> I could have used computer supplies? Just great ... I recently threw out several excellent power supplies because they were old AT units, one was from an NCR server shell, the other was an unused AT supply from when I was a white box builder.
> 
> That makes me curious - I have an old Power Mac G3 and several other Macs sitting in the attic. Apple has used very high quality power supplies dating back to their early days - think I could use one of those?


At is even easies as there no pins to short. i se no reason why macs psu won`t work.


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

So then I just need to add terminals to the +12v and ground leads and I'm done?


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Chuck said:


> So then I just need to add terminals to the +12v and ground leads and I'm done?


At PSU- Yes ATX PSU you should shot green wire to the ground to start up PSU.


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

Excellent. Thank you.


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## t3sn4f2 (Jan 3, 2007)

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/1610514-post10.html


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

After searching through the attic I discovered that brand new AT supply that I thought I threw out. It turns out I can't use it, since it only has a 3A output at 120v. I'm going to use that to resurrect an ancient AT&T prototype board I have laying around instead. I looked at all my Mac supplies, and the best one was an old G3 machine with a 5A output. I'd be able to power stuff up, but thats about it.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

look at the link in previous post you can get a good 70Amp psu from ebay for $20 delivered, 1 hour to read RCm forum how to and you all set.


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

Which link? I saw a link to Cascade accessories and another that eventually led to the RC forum articles on converting server psu's. If you have an eBay link for a particular supply please post it. Since eBay only uses output wattage to classify psu's it'll take me hours to go through every one of the 9900 supplies I found to discover the ones that put out 20A or better. 

What I don't understand is why are the RC guys going to the trouble of sourcing computer psu's to make charger supplies when they can go to HobbyKing and buy 12V/35A supplies for $33? Come to think of it - couldn't I just use one of those? I'm thinking an old school cassette head unit, 100w amp, and EQ wouldn't use 35A of current, even if I was cranking it up.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Chuck said:


> Which link? I saw a link to Cascade accessories and another that eventually led to the RC forum articles on converting server psu's. If you have an eBay link for a particular supply please post it. Since eBay only uses output wattage to classify psu's it'll take me hours to go through every one of the 9900 supplies I found to discover the ones that put out 20A or better.
> 
> What I don't understand is why are the RC guys going to the trouble of sourcing computer psu's to make charger supplies when they can go to HobbyKing and buy 12V/35A supplies for $33? Come to think of it - couldn't I just use one of those? I'm thinking an old school cassette head unit, 100w amp, and EQ wouldn't use 35A of current, even if I was cranking it up.


RC forum located in australia- i bet they don`t have hobby King. 35 amp for $33 hell yes, and you can parallel them to increase output, they have not grounded chassis . if not I`ll find you one on ebay.


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## wheelieking71 (Dec 20, 2006)

there is enough power here to thoroughly piss your wife off LOL

Astron 20 amp 12VDC power supply | eBay

ultra reliable, and dead quiet. i had a cascade APS75. did not like it at all. with no battery after it, power was dirty (noise). i have an ASTRON RS-20 just like the one above, and i run everything with it. that little 20amps will go a long way!


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

wheelieking71 said:


> there is enough power here to thoroughly piss your wife off LOL
> 
> Astron 20 amp 12VDC power supply | eBay
> 
> ultra reliable, and dead quiet. i had a cascade APS75. did not like it at all. with no battery after it, power was dirty (noise). i have an ASTRON RS-20 just like the one above, and i run everything with it. that little 20amps will go a long way!


Dude, what do you mean cascade 75 has dirty power? I absolutely love mine.
every piece of equipment I tried demonstrated clean power, no noise at all, I haven`t hook up Oscilloscope to see how dirty that signal yet only because it is performing so nice. maybe yours were faulty? Given cascade is almost $400 but ImHO cascade PS is absolutely great I`ll never sell mine. dead quiet ( I installed best fans money can buy) even pushing 70 Amp fans barely make any noise. astron seems like a great deal for that amount.


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## wheelieking71 (Dec 20, 2006)

yea, i had one. installed a dedicated 20amp service for it. got everything rigged up. i dont remember what the amp was, but put an amp on the bench, started playing music. and, sure enough, there was a high pitch whine. i thought the supply was faulty. even raised a bit of a stink with the seller (was more about how long it took to ship i think, but wasnt happy about the noise either) called cascade and asked questions. they were very helpfull. told me to put a battery in line before the amp and see if the noise went away. it did! pulled the cascade out, put the ASTRON back. no noise. pulled the ASTRON, put the cascade back. noise! at that point it sent it to cascade for service. they gave it a clean bill of health. i never used it after that. i was done messing with it. my trusty old ASTRON does everything i need. i am thinking of upgrading to a 50amp unit because i have some plans that involve multiple 12v components in the house. but i LOVE my little RS-20.


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Bad luck I guess. I`m happy mine is not making any noise with our without load. I still have another one from HP server, I need to slow down fans twice for it to be audio equipment testing supply, it`s very loud but pushing 74Amp with ease. I`l buy thermal controlled fans and make it quiet. very nicely build and like you guessed no electrical noise, only fans.


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## wheelieking71 (Dec 20, 2006)

that sounds quite awsome! my mind would go nuts if i had a constant 70+amps on tap! LOL


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

wheelieking71 said:


> that sounds quite awsome! my mind would go nuts if i had a constant 70+amps on tap! LOL


enjoyHP 406421-001 364360 1300W Power Supply DL580/ML570 G3/G4 | eBayTHis is what I havehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-2-HP-406421-001-DL580-G4-power-supplies-/230729498014?pt=US_Server_Power_Supplies&hash=item35b88cbd9e#ht_500wt_1144


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

I've been so busy lately I haven't had much time for this, but I hope to start my bench project in the next month. After seeing all the suggestions from you guys about using a network PS for a bench source I made sure to keep my eyes open for a good deal. Well today I received my daily DealNews update and there was a smoking deal on an ATX PS in the first page of links. 


What do you guys think of this for a bench supply:


Cooler Master 750WATX 12V Power Supply

It can do 60A continuous at +12V. Would this thing work?


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## cajunner (Apr 13, 2007)

looks like a winner, if you like waiting on rebates


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

Thats a big 10-54. I hate rebates. I rarely ever have anything go right with that. Thanks for pointing that out.


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

Two years later, I realize I haven't done anything with this since I've been caught up in both work and too many other products. Plus lazy.

Does anyone have any new recommendations for a cheap, clean power supply that I can use to test out my old Rockford and Proton amps?


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## Victor_inox (Apr 27, 2012)

Chuck said:


> Two years later, I realize I haven't done anything with this since I've been caught up in both work and too many other products. Plus lazy.
> 
> Does anyone have any new recommendations for a cheap, clean power supply that I can use to test out my old Rockford and Proton amps?


http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/car-audio-classifieds/172684-victory-sonics-30a-430w-power-supply.html


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## Chuck (Jan 15, 2009)

Neat! When did you start building those?


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