How to turn on a PSU without the MB

[rich110]

I had this 200W power supply lying around that is not 'juicy' enough for nowadays MB. But I can use it for my electronics projects (the 12V and. 5V DC supply) Can anyone tell me how to turn it on? In the good old days I can turn on a AT PSU by the rocker switch but now?????

 

[dakota81]

First off, a 200W PSU is certainly "juicy" enough for any current desktop motherboard & psu; it just gives little to no room for the excessories, such as harddrive, cdrom, powerful video, etc.

Anyways, the word is you take the atx mobo connector and short the green wire with any of the black wires and then the psu will be running as long as the switch on the back of the psu is also in the "on" position. Use a paperclip for example while the psu is unplugged.

I've never tried this myself, but that's how other sites say it's done.

 

[edfair]

But doing it may lead to self destruction if there isn't a load attached.
Some power supplies require some minimal amout of load to stabilize the regulation, and missing that they fail to regulate and try to self destruct.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.