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What to do with a dead PC power supply?

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datora:
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I haz a one.  Looking for creative hardware hacks that might be possible with it, or parts from it.  Possibly, might be useful if it can be repaired, but I don't know how to evaluate what exactly is wrong.  Ideas on that would be welcome

It's an Antec 350 W SL350S SmartPower that died after a lightening/power FAIL early last year.  Just been sitting in a box waiting for recycle of some sort.  I was looking at it tonight and about to destructively clip some of the connectors off for re-use.  Had intended to put the 6 PATA connectors, 2 floppy drive connectors in my toolbox for legacy support, not sure if the 4-pin GPU power & 20-pin mobo are worth it.

Then, thought I'd ask here first & see if there are any ideas where it might be useful before I start destructive disassembly.

It's really clean & was well-cared for during it's 5 years or so of service.  The fan was dead silent & working, so I'm considering removing that & re-purposing to cool my Linksys E3000 router, which runs uncomfortably hot.  Ideally I'd like to wire the fan to a USB cable and use the USB port on the router to power the fan, mount the whole mess inside a shoebox or somesuch and turn it into a small wind-tunnel to force air across the router & increase cooling efficiency.  With a powered USB  hub, I could also run one or two external storage devices simultaneously, possibly even configuring so that the fan helps push air across them, too.

Not sure how to re-wire the USB cable to use as a power feed, though ... anybody know how, or have a link to a website?  That would be a very useful skill to add; I can think of several other applications I'd like to use that trick for.

The screws & metal casing even can be used.  I once rebent & re-drilled sheet metal from a dead PSU to construct a hard drive cage, which worked out very well.  Also looking at the power switch.  The heat sinks from inside I've wired tightly to CPU heat sinks with copper wire from lamp cords to increase their capacity, also worked very well before.

Will keep the power on/off switch for potential, but would like to know more about it (can it be safely used with 120 volt house current?).  Not sure if there's a use for the 120/240 switch & the power-in from 120/240 ... ideas?

I've not seriously taken a PSU apart before.  Opened them up a bunch of times to clean them, but I'm a hobbyist/tinkerer, not an electrical engineer so I'm open to education as to what all the guts of the thing are and what else they could be used for.  Especially computer tech-related hardware hacks, but ...

All ideas/discussion welcomed.  Any links to reliable websites that can teach me how to decipher & use all the multi-colored wiring would be appreciated.  Thank you!  :)

kitamesume:
evaluate the PSU first if it can be repaired, repairing it would be the most profitable scenario, otherwise salvage the parts like cutting off the wires to make Y-splits or some sort and checking the inside parts for usable items.

components like working capacitors, transistors and diodes would be beneficial if you're into electronics circuitry, they're usable for even basic diy amps, coils on the other hand could serve well as a filter running in series with the electronics circuitry or making a simple buck converter would do as well.

as for wiring diagrams http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_Supply_Unit_%28Computer%29 scroll down towards the bottom, its there.

vuzedome:
Toss it out the glass window, it's what I do with useless junk.

FlyinPenguin:

--- Quote from: vuzedome on July 19, 2012, 07:58:24 AM ---Toss it out the glass window, it's what I do with useless junk.

--- End quote ---

Agreed.

Datora seems to be quite smart when it comes to computer hardware, however, I would say throw that shit out. That is what I do with PSUs I come across that are dead.

Saras:
Get a soldering iron and start experimenting.

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