hey guys i have 2 psus and a big new case coming and they are both goin in there.
of my options to either try and loadbalace to make 1100 watts (practically impossible as alot of us know) use them in dual so one powers mobo the other the drives (still possibility due to size of case i may need to heh) and redundancy where if one psu dies the other psu is switched on so no downtime, i have decided i like the idea of redundancy.

ive tried googling and searching forums with no luck.
any of you guys know how i can have a psu switch over seamlessly without the pc going down.
im guessing itll need a circuit which both psus will be connected to, that monitors voltage and as soon as the voltage goes bye bye it would activate the second one.

but thing is i havent got the electronic know-how to design the circuit (i could construct it np)
so does anyone know or would be able to design the circuit that could switch psus without the computer losing power?

Or you could just splice the rails together, then if both of them function you've got an even more flattened out ripple (they'll split the different in the case of unqual voltage output), and no complex circuitry.... only problem is if you have a major short, it could also kill both PSUs in that case. But as long as death comes from normal wear and tear, the other will just keep feeding juice happily.

Umm WOW another PSU junkie

i have done a few PSU modz in my time
and know that the rails are fine if you are just using the molex
but however if you want to be able to use the 2nd psu then you will
or might need to make a relay so that if one kicks out then you will be able to switch on the other one with a switch! if yah want more info just post back!

how will the controllers handle the two rails with two controllers? as in one controller might want to change voltage to compensate but since it cant control the other PSU it would freak out and safety shut down. is that an issue with directly tieing both rails together?

slplicing the two psus together... doesnt that cause issues with charging of a psu due to the voltage differences? ive read alot of info on joining 2 psus together and every way that i have read is unsuitable for pcs as either the voltage can no longer meet atx requirements or the signal is too messy...if you can give me any more info i would be very interested.

stereo..a relay..of course heh ..now why didnt i think of that..but would the relay be able to switch the second psu on before the mobo loses power and pc shuts off?

ok see attachment

this is a very early and less than perfect show of my idea

basically while psu 1 is running the 12v will hold the relay on so psu 2 stays off.. if psu 1 blows then the 12v rail dies relay switches off turning psu 2 on...seems simple but first i wonder whether this will switch in time to prevent pc shutting off. <- this is my main interest

also this would not allow a pc to shut off because when u would go to shutdown pc psu1 would switch off and circuit would power up psu 2 also the wiring for the connections to all devices would have to be worked out in such a way that if a psu does blow it doesnt get charged by 2nd psu and cause a fire hazard etc

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Quote: Originally Posted by tim_programmer ... but would the relay be able to switch the second psu on before the mobo loses power and pc shuts off?

I don't think it would be fast enough - the only way to find out would be to try it - preferably on a semi-junk rig. Yank the power cable out of your primary PSU & see if the 2nd one kicks in quickly enough.


If you want 2 PSUs, I think you're going to have to split their roles. For anyone not clear on how you'd wire them:

1st psu gets connected to the mobo & power switch, from that you take a 12v line (yellow) from a molex plug & attach it the "85" terminal on your average relay, a ground (black) wire from the same molex plug goes to the "86" terminal.

2nd psu gets plugged into your drives, fans, etc, from the main mobo plug on that, connect the green wire to the "30" terminal on the relay, and any black from the mobo plug to the "87" terminal.

That way, the power button turns on the 1st psu, and the current from that turns of the 2nd psu a jillysecond later.




edit: note to self - must type faster

yeaah i was thinking the same regarding the not fast enough. if it doesnt work the only way round it would be to design a circuit after the relay which would store a small amount of electricity so thaton power loss that circuit could provide the energy till the 2nd psu cuts in..and that would be a challenge for mr i know basic electronics me + it might be stupidly costly...if anyone can design a circuit then id love u longtime lol

id prefer not to use two the way you suggested i used it before when i had 2 cheap 300 watt psus but now i have a 550 watt psu i now have enough to supply my rig with juice but that said i am still waiting (after a month and a bit) for my x800 xt to arrive (apparently overclockers.co.uk supplier still hasnt got the his iceq excalibur in yet...damn u americans and having them already....DAMN UUUU) but that should take more juice than my gf3.

EDIT: isn't there anyone on the forum that actually knows how server redundant supplies work i looked about on google and couldnt find much info. and i dont really want to buy one to investigate myself

I just did a bit of googling .. I see what you mean ... Lots of links for that I-Star "2 ikkle PSUs in one ATX PSU case", but nothing about how you'd take 2 ATX PSUs & make them into a redundant setup.

The two closest matches I could find were http://www.procooling.com/articles/h...ween_psu_s.php & http://www.procooling.com/articles/h..._s_as_one_.php ... and thery're nothing like what you need

heh yeah procooling the other forum im on (was alot of help when i did the bhong)

thanks for taking the time to look jonny ..much appreciated

maybe i can email some tech guy at say antec under the guise im a little gcse electronics kid doin a report type thing on pc power supplies heh, has worked before when i needed something

just do what I did. Search ebay for a power supply paralleling board. It will allow you to use 2,3,4+ power supplies at once and if onr fails it will keep your system going. Plus you even get to hot-swap power supplies. I just got 2 off of ebay so good luck.!

The only thing is you may need to use the psu's that go with that

my setup is using 2 dell power supplies. 700W each. boo yea.

that sounds like exactly what im looking for thanks man thats great!

also 700 watts dell psu are very nice quality i hate u hehe

i jus need to get hold of one cheap over here in the uk and see how the thing works and maybe i can set it up.

though if anyone already has information on this type of thing please let me know

heh after luckybob bought the last one for $5 that guy bumped up the price to $15. i'm gonna bid on it unless tim you're going to? you made this thread so i'm not going to get into a bid war with you. just tell me if you're going to get it or not

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

edit: as of now there's only 12 hours left so hopefully i'll hear from you before then, otherwise i'm gonna bid.

no u go right ahead..hope it works for u

im gonna look for an auction based in uk or maybe see if i cant get hold of one somewhere else

if and when u get it let me know how it goes looking at the connectors it seemspretty easy to adapt for any psu hjus a matter of knowing where pins need to go unless the psu have important sensor information that it relays to the board i see no problem

i sent a message to the owner of that auction asking if it only works with proprietary psus or any standard atx psu so we'll see.

i would imagine hell say that its designed for the power edge psus only due to the connectors... what your better off doing is contaction dell and asking for a pin diagram for the board so you can see how easy it is to adapt to your needs

well right now i don't really have any need for it. know i could probably use it on a future project but for now its just to get it while i remember

hehe kewl well if u find out anything pm me
ill look for one over here or see if someone like hp does something similar

yea that 4200 board is nice. I have mine running with 1 psu now, 2nd is in the mail. but anyway.

Come back here when you try to finger out how to get it to turn on.

BWA! HA! HA ! HA! HA!

J/K

Yea it can be adapted. just get an old atc psu and I'll tell you how.

well now i know i can adapt one im gonna hunt high and low for one heh im sure some uk place nmust have one ...anyone know how much a brand new one would cost from dell? if its pretty cheap itll prob be easier