Chlorate Cell power supplies

[firebreether]

I know That chlorate cells have been talked about on the forum before, I just have one question particularly about the power supply. I have heard you can use a computer's power supply, but how do you use this. There are so many wires going to different comp. systems like motherboard, drives, etc- which would you want to use for the electrodes. I have one out of my friend's old computer - it is rated at 15 A (I think that is what it said I can't remember off hand) for 5 V output. I calculated that at this power ouput, getting only 50 % efficiency, I should get about 120 g of NaClO3 per day, which would be a very pleasant surprise.

[PYRO500]

that depends on the power supply type you are using, there are several difrent types like AT and ATX power supplies. also what are you using for electrodes?

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[10fingers]

I would use a 12v battery charger or a arc welder.

[tvs17]

Using a computer power supply works perfectly! You can usually find a table on the supply where the voltages etc. are mentioned. So for example +5V/18 A and -5V/18 A. For perchlorate manufacture you need a higher voltage..

[PYREX]

Theres an easy way to find the right wires even if you dont have a voltage meter. Just take a car bulb. First check the gnd wire by hooking the bulb between the casing and the different wires. If it doesnt light at all you have found it. Then hook your bulb between the gnd and all the other wires to find out what voltage they carry. If it glows only red it would be a +-5V wire if your power supply sounds like fucking up you have catched a -12V 0.5A wire and if your bulb lights bright you have found the 12V 8A wire!

[This message has been edited by PYREX (edited September 28, 2001).]

[PYRO500]

there are many diff wires coming out of most computer power supplies, not only 12 V there are 5V and other wires that must be shorted to get power to kick on (as most ATX power supplies do)

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[firebreether]

Well, I guess I will try something like what pyrex said. I was wondering if there was any difference between the different wire sets (one says PCM, PCB, etc). Like, are they all the same voltage and are they all off a shared output so when you only use one, then it gets the max potential, or could you hook up several cells at once with no losses. I was planning to use Graphite, or if my chem teacher let me play with lead nitrate I would make a lead dioxide anode, still with graphite cathode, so I guess I will just use graphite. Except It kind of sucks that graphite wears so fast. Oh well, no big deal.

[PYRO500]

I suggest looking up the type of power supply you have and geting the pinout's of the plugs, I beleve it should deliver all outputs up to the total raited wattage, you probably would only need one if the 12V outputs. with some power supplies it is nessisary to have a switch between some pins to kick it on and off also you could do damage just randomly shotring wires together
if it is an older power supply you should look at the longest power conector you have, if it is an AT it will be one stip wide and about 12 or so wires, if atx it will be double wide and about 24 pins, if it is an AT power supply it should have a power switch attached to it (the heavyest cable) and you could just use a HD connector it should be 4 pins wide and be something like red black black yellow, I don't remember witch is 12V but I know the other is 5V

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[rikkitikkitavi]

Sofar I have only seen PC power supplies where black is GND,red is + 5V orange +12 V and yelow is -12 V.

The reason for having so many wires to f e x the motherboard connector is that pulling 5V 20 A through one of the powercontacts would destroy it!

It might need a load of minimum 1-2 A on the 5V line if you only use the 12 V line. otherwise the supply could turn instable and the voltage variates.

[firebreether]

OK, I looked at the motherboard's connections and it says black - ground, blue--12V, yellow-+12V, red-+5V,orange--5V, or something like that. +5V is 15 A,-5V is .3A. Why is there a difference between + and -? Shouldn't they have the same current since they are connected to the same circuit? Please help me with this one.

[EventHorizon]

They typically have different currents as its usually a different circuit in the power supply. Look up the PSU specs, it should tell you exactly which connections carry the most current. For example, my Enermax365 that delivers(max), +5V/32A, +12V/17A, -5V/1A, -12V/1A.

BTW, you want the 20pin connector for your power as I beleive that it delivers the most current on the 3.3V and 5V for the motherboard/cpu, +12V you should be Ok taking it off a molex. You'll also need to find the thin green wire that should be adjacent to the clip on the 20 pin connector; hook up a momentary switch between the green wire and ground, that turns on an ATX PSU. As stated farther up the thread, you may need to hook in an additional load to get the PSU to function correctly.

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[This message has been edited by EventHorizon (edited October 04, 2001).]

[Anthony]

Here's the power supply I use for these kind of things:

http://eawf0.tripod.com/power_supply.jpg

(http://eawf0.tripod.com/power_supply.jpg)

1v-13v output in 1v steps, DC and AC outputs, 8.5A max continuous current, surge is over 20A.

Cost me £2 from a car boot salehttp://theforum.virtualave.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif

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[This message has been edited by Anthony (edited October 04, 2001).]

[firebreether]

My power supply is a 12 pin supply. I still don't understand why the - is less than the +, every circuit needs +/-, and since they are connected, they would run at = amperage right?

[EventHorizon]

12 pin must be an AT supply,

Yes every circuct (DC anyway) has + and -, the difference is that I don't think they are connected to that same output circuit. You have one circuit supplying the +5V and another supplying -5V, since the requirements for the -5V are usually lower, the circuit can be made differently and usually less expensive. Why use a $5 voltage regulator when a 25¢ one will work.

If you are this uncertain about the how's and why's, I certainly wouldn't be playing around with devices capable of high current delivery and conductive liquids.

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[Jhonbus]

All the voltages are quoted with respect to ground (the black wires) so the +5v and -5v circuits are completely separate. If you hooked up a load between the +5v and -5v wires, it would see a potential difference of 10 volts, and a maximum current of the sum of the maximum currents of both wires.

I don't recommend random connecting as a way to treat computer PSU's as they are very very delicate and stop working at the slightest mistake.

For an ATX power supply to be in the ON state, the green wire needs to be connected to ground - a momentary switch would just turn it on for a moment http://theforum.virtualave.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif You need a toggle switch (or just solder the green wire to gnd and just plug it into the wall when you want it to be on)

[BoB-]

2 6v lantern batterys are a "quickfix" your yeild is reduced because there is no way to fine-tune it to your cell, but it works.

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[EventHorizon]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
For an ATX power supply to be in the ON state, the green wire needs to be connected to ground - a momentary switch would just turn it on for a moment You need a toggle switch (or just solder the green wire to gnd and just plug it into the wall when you want it to be on)
</font>

Very true, I was mistaken. I was thinking about the M/B header. http://theforum.virtualave.net/ubb/smilies/frown.gif

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[firebreether]

thanks for your replies guys - I'll see how it works http://theforum.virtualave.net/ubb/smilies/smile.gif