Hi all
Since I often have to deal with crappy bog standard pc power supplies, I am trying to build a 12v load tester (single rail for now) recycling some stuff I have laying around, but I am not sure about some of the components, and in general, the final design:
The load tester should be able to load max 80A on the 12v rail in 4A steps.
For the female connectors I am gonna desolder the 24pin and 4+4 pin from a motherboard, and for the 4pin molex and 6/8pin pcie I will get them from some spare cable adapters.
For the load itself I am gonna use an heating element from an old fan heater, cutting it at the proper length so to get 20x3ohm pieces (I already tested one and a 20cm piece of resistance gets just a bit hot with 12v taking 4A, and I will place them so that they don’t touch anything unnecessary with a fan blowing fresh air, so hopefully there shouldn’t be any fire hazard) and for the box I was planning to use some mdf boards, painted with fireproof heat reflective paint.
Now, what I am missing are the switches, I was planning to use some 10A lever switches for each load increase, but I would need 20 of them, so I was looking for some kind of rotary switch with 20 positions, but it should withstand a load of 80A when fully turned on, and I don’t think such a thing exists..any idea?
P.s.: I know I should test also at least the 5v and 3.3v rails, but for the sake of simplicity I am only focusing on the 12v single rail part, adding the other sections later if it proves successful.
Since I often have to deal with crappy bog standard pc power supplies, I am trying to build a 12v load tester (single rail for now) recycling some stuff I have laying around, but I am not sure about some of the components, and in general, the final design:
The load tester should be able to load max 80A on the 12v rail in 4A steps.
For the female connectors I am gonna desolder the 24pin and 4+4 pin from a motherboard, and for the 4pin molex and 6/8pin pcie I will get them from some spare cable adapters.
For the load itself I am gonna use an heating element from an old fan heater, cutting it at the proper length so to get 20x3ohm pieces (I already tested one and a 20cm piece of resistance gets just a bit hot with 12v taking 4A, and I will place them so that they don’t touch anything unnecessary with a fan blowing fresh air, so hopefully there shouldn’t be any fire hazard) and for the box I was planning to use some mdf boards, painted with fireproof heat reflective paint.
Now, what I am missing are the switches, I was planning to use some 10A lever switches for each load increase, but I would need 20 of them, so I was looking for some kind of rotary switch with 20 positions, but it should withstand a load of 80A when fully turned on, and I don’t think such a thing exists..any idea?
P.s.: I know I should test also at least the 5v and 3.3v rails, but for the sake of simplicity I am only focusing on the 12v single rail part, adding the other sections later if it proves successful.
Last edited: