hi everyone,
Ive been given a spare 3.5 HDD and want to use it with some stuff i already have. Ive got a spare Mini mac case which has been gutted and only the chassis and power button remain. Im hoping to get a kit of ebay which has a mains power supply with a molex connector on the end to supple power to the HDD (i wont bother talking about the IDE cause its not important).

What id like to do is somehow route the molex cable through the mac min casee power button so i can turn the drive on when its plugged in instead of the hard drive turning on whenever the PSU is plugged in. I have read that the yellow/orange cable suplies power but could you guys help me as im not sure if its possible to do what i want to do.


On another note id like to split the power from the power molex 3 ways after its been directed through the power button 1. to a fan 2, to a white cathode tube 3. to the hard drive itself. Im presuming that there will be enough power but im not entirely sure, i have an almost dead HDD to test before i put the one im going to use in.

Any help would be great, thanks

masterkeith

Can we possibly get pics of the encolsure? To switch the HDD, you can simply add a toggle switch into the 12v and 5v lines of the molex... you should be able to find a switch that can connect both voltages simultaneously.

hi there,
Well i dont have all the parts with me at the mo. Heres what i intend to do.

I have a spare Mini Mac enclosure with no internal components apart from the power button. I also have a spare IDE HDD and a IDE to USB adapter so i can make the case into a usb HDD enclosure.

I want to mount a 12v cathode tube inside the enclosure as well as a fan (which can take 4-15v) to cool the HDD. The PSU which attaches to the mains has a molex power connector on it which is supposed to go directly to the HDD. Instead i want to use a male to to 3x female molex connector at the end of this to power the HDD, tube and fan simultaniously.

Id also like to somehow mod this molex 3 way connector so that the 12v wire splits off and goes through the macs power button before conecting to all the devices. So, hopefully i can turn the HDD, fan and tube on together with the use of this button.

I dont need to use the 5v wire cause everything i have can handle 12v so is it possible to just disconnect the 5v wire on the molex and just pass thr 12v through the power button??


Im kinda way ahead of myself here but im hoping to sort of bodge my way through (i have a couple of rubbish 20gb 3.5 drives whch can be sacraficed)

hope this help people understand me.

Well, you should be able to run the HDD as well as the other components you want to run without much trouble... I think the PSU can handle it. And I wouldn't disconnect the 5v rail, as harddrives use that voltage in some of their internal circuitry.

I second what Jobistober just said, re: not disconnecting the 5V line. Coincidentally, I was researching power requirements of hard drives (ATA and SATA), as I have a Western Digital Raptor drive with connectors for both Molex and SATA power connectors. I wanted to know the difference between them. Obviously the drive can run from either, but I figured the SATA power connector would be better for some reason.

I learned that normal IDE drives (ATA-133 and prior) use both 5V and 12V lines. SATA drives also use 3.3V although it seems somewhat optional, but there you have it. Make sure your power switch runs both 12V and 5V to your drive.

ahhh, well thats what i though. I wondered whether id have to do that since my HDD i have says on it '12v, 5v' and i presumed that if i do run the 12v line through a switch and left the 5v line it would still power the drive which i didnt want it doing.

Any suggestions for how i could run 2 lines through one switch which has a single wire in and a single wire out. ??

thanks for your comments by the way

I don't think you could run both 12v and 5v through a single line switch... however, you might be able to switch the ground wires instead. A ground is a ground, so if you run both 12v and 5v ground wires through the switch, you may be able to switch both voltages at once. Though I'd rather have someone back me up on this before we make it fact.

You could use a pair of relay switches wired to the existing switch. One for 5v and one for 12v. The existing switch could run either 5v or 12v to toggle the relays. Maybe someone can explain better? You may want a debounce circuit. Not sure if hdds need that.

Other option is to run it all on 12v with a resistor for 5v line.

hi again,
well ive now bought a double pole single switch so that i can run the 12v and 5v through the switch at once and turn on and off all the stuff inside the case including the HDD. Apparently the switch can handle the power from the two lines so im gonna give it a try, i have as i said a spare nearly dead drive so im gonna use that to test so im not gonna blow up my pc.

if this switch can handle the voltage is there any reason why this wont work?? Also, does anyone know where i can find the amp rating that molex power carries??

thanks

masterkeith

Ya, that double pole switch should be perfect!

And are you wanting the amp rating of the wire itself, or the amp rating of the power supply? Obviously, the amp rating of the psu will depend on the model... as they're all different. But the amp rating of the wire is probably negligable considering the voltages and amperages you'll be running. Since the enclosure will only be running a harddrive, a CCFL, and a fan... you probably won't have to worry about over loading the PSU.

good, ive got two of the switches incase i wreck one of them. The reason i ask about the amp rating of the power is because im thinking of splitting wire 39 of my IDE cable going from the HDD to the IDE to USB converter and putting in a hard drive activity LED with the right resistor. I was going to use a 5v fan molex so that i can run the LED safely so i will have to contact the manufactorer of the PSU to find out the amps.

thanks for your help guy,s any other suggestions for design/additions would be great. Im spending much more on this then i could actually buy an enclosure for but it wont look as good and i wont have as much fun.

thanks again

masterkeith

You shouldn't have any trouble as long as you hook up the LED correctly. I.e., get a big enough LED that can handle the 12v, 5v, or 3.3v by itself... or wire in a resistor to a low voltage LED so you don't burn it up.

yeah,
ive sorted out an LED but im thinking that i could run it from a 5v line (ihave a y-molex splitter which has 'FAN ONLY' on it which i could use to power the fan and LED).

There is a guide im using on the internet to give me a rough guide.
http://www.zapwizard.com/HTML/Main.h...ide/index.html

its pretty good but i find his guide a little confusing. He splits the IDE cable at wire 39 but from then on im unsure how he does anything else. Presumably the LED/resitor go between the IDE cable wire but im usure where the 5v comees from and goes too, im gonna check out some more so i know what i actually have to do.

Does anyone know how i should wire up the LED??
I originally through to wire the LED up like this

+5v (molex Red Wire)--------------LED---------------Resistor---------Wire 39 on IDE cable


but after reading some more (and very old) forum threads it seems that I get +5v from the IDE cable on pin 39 itself. SO should i be wiring it to the 5V ground on the Molex like this..



pin 39-----------resistor--------------LED---------------5v ground on Molex


And which side should the legs of the LED go on?? If anyone has any ideas please let me know, preferably with shocking diagrams like ive done. Ive picked a 150ohm resistor which should be enough for this purpose.

thanks

wouldnt it be easier and cheaper (since you havent bought the parts) to get a cheap 3.5 external hard drive case and then take the componets of that and mod it into your mac case?

Newegg.com - Scythe KAMAZO3.5-BK Aluminum 3.5" USB 2.0 External Enclosure - Retail

Yeah, about £50 cheaper but its not as fun. Id consider that but im in mood for a project. Plus this way it takes a little more time and money but comes out exactly how i want it i.e my choice of LED colour and size, my choice or on/off switch etc.

Its going in a mac mini case so i dont want to change the overall appearance of it. Where the normal on LED is will be where my HDD activity light is and the on/off switch will be eactly where the old one was, you wont be able to tell that its not a mini mac.

I do understand but this is just more fun.

hi again,
Not sure if i shoud start a new thread but its still about the enclosure. what do you guys think about 'tapping' into a 5v line from the molex. Im gonna run my LED from the same molex that goes directly to the HDD and splits off to the cathode tubes. If i melt some of the insulation on the wire is it ok to wire this section (not cut) to my single LED without taking it from the HDD??

thanks
masterkeith

Quote: Originally Posted by masterkeith hi again, Not sure if i shoud start a new thread but its still about the enclosure. what do you guys think about 'tapping' into a 5v line from the molex. Im gonna run my LED from the same molex that goes directly to the HDD and splits off to the cathode tubes. If i melt some of the insulation on the wire is it ok to wire this section (not cut) to my single LED without taking it from the HDD?? thanks masterkeith

What's your goal? If you just want the LEDs to come on whenever the power is turned on, why go through all the hassle? Setup a separate Molex. Use the red and black (5V) to power a blue LED (either one or several in parallel, they shouldn't even need a resistor if you do that), and the yellow & black to power whatever 12V device you want. Done.

im not after a power LED but a HDD activity LED, im wiring this to wire 39 on the IDE HDD cable but need to source power from somewhere, just wondered if i could take it from the same 5v line (on the molex) that goes to the HDD too

Quote: Originally Posted by masterkeith im not after a power LED but a HDD activity LED, im wiring this to wire 39 on the IDE HDD cable but need to source power from somewhere, just wondered if i could take it from the same 5v line (on the molex) that goes to the HDD too

I don't see why not...but you'll need to factor in the appropriate resistor, depending on the color/size of LED you implement. With a blue or white LED, you won't even need a resistor, but for all other LEDs, or smaller 3mm LEDs, you'll need a resistor to reduce the voltage...unless you use 2 or more of those LEDs in series.