Andy's Workshop Forums

General Category => Hardware projects => Topic started by: lukew on December 14, 2019, 07:01:23 am

Title: Z800 alternative PSU!
Post by: lukew on December 14, 2019, 07:01:23 am

For the last 9 months or so I've been using a Z800 as my main workstation and the one issue it's always had is the power supply. They fail and are not cheap to replace, pretty much the cost of a working machine for a used supply. I have a pair of them but have only had one power supply.

 

I ended up adapting an ATX supply using some leads from China (which were made incorrectly), but recently found a Proliant Ml350/370 supply slides into the space for the original unit. It requires removing the original wiring from the case and chopping off the power supply connectors, then soldering the wires to the supply (or use a piece of strip board for distribution). A 5V relay is also required to short the PS_ON pins using the active low ATX PS_ON signal. I opted to use the original HDD bays so used an old 12V CPU (4 pin) extension to take power to the original connector.

 

It's got the correct outputs for the Z800 (5Vsb, 3v3sb and 12v@82A), is rated at 1KW continous output and my "spare" Z800 is running a CPU stress test under Ubuntu pulling about 280w so it's way over-rated for the job. That leaves a safe 700w for a graphics card or 2.

 

These supplies are available for around £15 on eBay, even cheaper in bulk. A fan will be a good idea to help extract heat from the top of the case.

 

I see no issue with taking one apart and putting the internals into the original psu case for a completely plug and play upgrade, there's plenty of space in there.