Thread: FAQ: How do I power my DC-DC PSU on my workbench?

my workbench psu is now functional due to Vlad's awesome photos. Kudos again!

I followed the excellent examples above and yet I am not getting mine to power on for some reason. I took some shots of my current workbench setup in hopes that someone can see where I am missing something obvious.









I posted in this thread since I figured the resolution that comes from my problem would only add to the value of this FAQ. If the mods don't agree then feel free to move it out to its own post.

I have never heard of the 8-9. It looks like you have a short somewhere. 3v worth of a short. You should be getting 12v not 9.5v from the yellow to ground.

Just take pin 14 (usually green), and short it to any of the black ones. Take out the other one.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

I have never heard of the 8-9

Yes, it works without pin 8 and 9, but I read about them in this post . These Pins will keep it on something like that. In my workbench I tested with and without pins 8 and 9 and there is no difference so far.

Pins 13 and 14 are the required ones.

Originally Posted by 2k1Toaster

I have never heard of the 8-9......

Originally Posted by vladcarpc

Yes, it works without pin 8 and 9...... In my workbench I tested with and without pins 8 and 9 and there is no difference so far.

I've also been trying this setup over the last few weeks, and I've found that shorting pins 8 & 9 makes no difference. Likewise, I've been getting low voltages, and I'm yet to get things to work consistently. For others that may be interested, my experiences including photos are in the following thread:
Testing Opus 150 via ATX - Computer is Continually Rebooting.

Cheers,

Long.1

Thanks to everyone for the input. I have made progress, but first a little recap and clarification on the topic...

If the lowered voltage (9.45) on the 12 volt rail of my power supply is caused by a short, I cannot see it in the external wires. I double checked what the voltage level was directly at the 20 pin connector (unsure what that is called), and I got the same 9.45 reading.

The power supply is labeled as +12V on the yellow wire also stating 9A (see the image below). It was pulled, temporarily, out of a "functional" Gateway PC I have in the basement running as a file server. Also, I double checked the condition of the wires and all of them up to the metal casing are good with no cuts or anything like that. So I can only assume the short that causes the lowered voltage is on the inside of the PS casing. So I can only assume that there must be a problem with the internals of the power supply. Can anyone offer any insight in that regard? Have you experienced the same symptoms and found a workaround or repair for the power supply?

The label of the power supply that does not work (putting out 9.45V rather than the 12V it states):



Now for the good news...
I had another power supply lying around that came with the IBM Netvista case that I bought off of Ebay. I jumped the 8-9 pins just as with the other one, then powered it up to test the voltage level coming form the 20 pin connector's yellow wire. It was showing 11.55 (see the second image below). Using the exact same setup that had failed to work with the other power supply, I was able to jump the white ignition wires, once it was all hooked up, and the computer booted!



So...
Thanks for helping out and posting such great tutorials! You guys rock! I hope documenting my troubles will help to show others that (with the M2-ATX at least) you need to have over 9.45V supplied before it will boot the computer. That very well may be in the documentation for the M2-ATX, but... "I was hired to lead, not read."

FYI: I had pulled out both jumpers during my tests as well and I can confirm too that the 13-14 pin jumper is the only required one.

Oh, for all the people fiddling with wires to short the green with a ground wire:

Just use a big paperclip. Clip it up so you end up with one 'U' shaped piece of metal, and stick them in the pins of the connector. It'll stay in much more securely than shoving a wire in there.

I use a paper clip and it works. The weird thing is that the PC is turning on without the Ignition wire being connected. Since I didn't have a switch, I just left them disconnected and would connect/disconnect them to simulate the switch. Well, I only had the Ground/Power connected and once I turn the PSU on, the PC turns on as well. Any ideas why this is happening? I'm using the M1.

Your BIOS is set to turn on after a power failure. usually there is on/off/last state as options.