Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-03-31, 19:28:

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-03-31, 19:21:

Repo Man11 wrote on 2022-03-31, 17:38:

This is the heaviest power supply I have, one I was lucky enough to get for free. Though I was initially a little disappointed that it isn't modular, it also means that there was no way for the prior owner to lose any of the cables. If you swung it by the cables it would be a potentially lethal weapon! https://www.newegg.com/hiper-type-m-hpu-4m730 … N82E16817128008

Are those kg or hoobleegubbs or denkylorgs (freedom units)?

In 1975 I was in the fifth grade, and our teacher told us that the US would be fully converted to metric by 1980. So much for predictions.

OK, sorry I asked.
I opened the pic in a new tab and zoomed on. So, it's in biggywinks.

Well, whatever that means but I've a full size AT here (the one I posted some entries earlier) and it matches just that, but in kg.
(lb is around 450 g, iirc 😉)

PcBytes wrote on 2022-03-31, 08:02:

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully. Also hoping to restore them to a goo […]
Show full quote

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully.
Also hoping to restore them to a good unit that can provide a full 250W of power.

I will also plan on doing the most ghetto ATX-AT conversion on a PSU in the future, going as far as rewiring the PS_ON green wire to the big AT switch that's on the case.

At the moment, I do have a converted AT case - this means I am using an ATX PSU (LC-B400ATX, also rebuilt, branded Torrent Computers.) in it. What I convertrd was the switch, using a similar styled switch to the AT one, but which is momentary - it's kinda like an hybrid between the AT power button and the ATX power button. Machine inside is a fully recapped LuckyTech P5MVP3, w/ K6-II+ 500MHz (actual 500 part, not downclocked.), GF 5200 (I think), and a 40Gb HDD if my memory serves me right.

Well, since you are probably one of the more experienced people on Vogons regarding the use of (refurbished) old power supplies, I'm curious to learn how many times have you had one of these old PSUs explode and burst into flames leaving small smoking craters where your retro PC once stood? 😋

None. Whatever PSUs I've had pop, they were usually never connected to PCs. I first test them w/ the standard paperclip trick before ever installing them into my retro machines.
That was before I discovered the lightbulb trick, where I now just replace the main AC fuse inside the PSU with a 60W lightbulb.
Doesn't work for units with APFC unfortunately, I had to blindly fix my FSP Bluestorm II 500 that I use to this day on my i5-3470. Lightbulb would stay bright on, but when I put it back together, it worked just fine.

Even the units I get with pre-installed PSUs, I first check the PSU before powering the machine on. That's how I managed to save a rather rare SD-RAM based MSI 845 PRO Socket 423 mobo from dying. The Premier inside it had a shattered fuse crappily jumpered back. Yeet'd it out of the system, installed a refurbished Frontier LC-B400ATX (recapped with absolutely brand new Samwha RD caps.) inside and it powered up rather fine.

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-01, 07:08:

PcBytes wrote on 2022-03-31, 08:02:

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully. Also hoping to restore them to a goo […]
Show full quote

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully.
Also hoping to restore them to a good unit that can provide a full 250W of power.

I will also plan on doing the most ghetto ATX-AT conversion on a PSU in the future, going as far as rewiring the PS_ON green wire to the big AT switch that's on the case.

At the moment, I do have a converted AT case - this means I am using an ATX PSU (LC-B400ATX, also rebuilt, branded Torrent Computers.) in it. What I convertrd was the switch, using a similar styled switch to the AT one, but which is momentary - it's kinda like an hybrid between the AT power button and the ATX power button. Machine inside is a fully recapped LuckyTech P5MVP3, w/ K6-II+ 500MHz (actual 500 part, not downclocked.), GF 5200 (I think), and a 40Gb HDD if my memory serves me right.

Well, since you are probably one of the more experienced people on Vogons regarding the use of (refurbished) old power supplies, I'm curious to learn how many times have you had one of these old PSUs explode and burst into flames leaving small smoking craters where your retro PC once stood? 😋

Did you hear about Krakatoa Island in 1883? Well they had used an old AT PSU, but the Chinese covered that up with some BS about a vulcano!

It actually happened before my eyes, but with a pretty fancy, if aging Enermax 350W ATX unit.
I think it was upon reconnection to the grid.
Went flashbang on me and killed a late socket A board and the GF4 on that. Think the CPU survived. Not a huge material loss but rather annoying.

Mind you, that thing was my main desktop at the time, it just went kaflooey on power up, no testing against that...

Again, anything that I use in my builds is usually tested outside any machine first, without anything connected besides a wire between GREEN and BLACK.

Here's my methodology:

- open up unit first, check for anything awry inside the PSU. Measure mains bridge rectifier to check if the 220v side is shorted. If not, close up for now, plug in AC and flip switch on. This also helps to determine if the PSU has upgradeability potential.
- If no flashes or bangs, check for 5vsb. If there's any voltage in there (doesn't matter how high at this time, just must be greater than 0V.), you have a good starting point.
- open up unit again, dismantle everything - desolder main AC wires from PCB, remove fans from connector (or desolder wires from PCB if manuf. cheaped out on connector), then remove the fan. Physical AC plugs don't need to be removed.
- do a very extensive and through cleaning, as much as possible. Check fan - if stil spinning normally, no need to tinker with it further. If it's seized, I add several drips of bicycle oil (not really sure where it's used but I suppose it's for the chains. It's liquid btw.) to the plastic ring, then try to spin the fan. Most of the times, the fans came back to life like new, and significantly more silent than one that runs but hasn't been ever oiled before. (sorry if this point sounds a bit weird, English isn't my main language)
- check the caps. I usually ALWAYS recap the 5vSB first, and with japanese caps. The secondary can get away with medium to high end caps - Nichicon and Rubycon is what I usually try and get in there, but I sometimes do accept using some OST RLX as well.
- next come the rectifiers. I usually do a visual check to see what the PSU could realistically do. Usually, most of the L&C I am getting have 13007s on the primary, so this usually limits me to 250-300W max before they melt steel beams. Some I've seen come with higher rectifiers at the expense of a crappier main transformer (Linkworld LPK2-30 - uses TO-3P packaged 13009s, but EI-33 transformers.) and some do come with all the goodies you'd probably expect to see in a high end version of the specific design (e.g Allied usually packed their units so tight I quite had a difficult time cracking it open.). Secondary rectifiers are usually left untouched unless I specifically need the PSU to be X or Y volts heavy - if I need it 12v "heavy", I derate the 5v by 10A lower than what's installed (for example - if I have a 30A rectifier, I install a 20A one) and bump the 12v one as high as I can. If I need a Athlon/dual Athlon/dual Slot1/370 PSU - I then beef the 12v to 30A minimum (for fans and drives mostly.), and up the 5v to the highest amperage possible. These procedures are usually done to units that I can accurately approximate they have a VERY thick output torroid and are usually units that have good heatsinks, big transformers and a rather sturdy 220v construction - this means populated MOV slots, high capacitance main caps (680uF or 820uF, I've had some 1000s as well.) and high power main transistors.
-finally, once everything is checked out and voltages are within spec, I close up the unit and install it in the desired computer I want.

PcBytes wrote on 2022-04-01, 07:57:

None. Whatever PSUs I've had pop, they were usually never connected to PCs. I first test them w/ the standard paperclip trick be […]
Show full quote

None. Whatever PSUs I've had pop, they were usually never connected to PCs. I first test them w/ the standard paperclip trick before ever installing them into my retro machines.
That was before I discovered the lightbulb trick, where I now just replace the main AC fuse inside the PSU with a 60W lightbulb.
Doesn't work for units with APFC unfortunately, I had to blindly fix my FSP Bluestorm II 500 that I use to this day on my i5-3470. Lightbulb would stay bright on, but when I put it back together, it worked just fine.

Even the units I get with pre-installed PSUs, I first check the PSU before powering the machine on. That's how I managed to save a rather rare SD-RAM based MSI 845 PRO Socket 423 mobo from dying. The Premier inside it had a shattered fuse crappily jumpered back. Yeet'd it out of the system, installed a refurbished Frontier LC-B400ATX (recapped with absolutely brand new Samwha RD caps.) inside and it powered up rather fine.

So I guess using old PSUs is not as deadly as they are sometimes made out to be, or you must have the-hand-of-god-himself-protecting-you-go-buy-a-lottery-ticket 😋
But I mean, PSUs were basically already very reliable back then. PSUs have of course gotten much more modern, but the old stuff was basically just working fine. Or at least back then they were.
One of the things to keep in mind though is their real maximum sustained power and not their (sometimes woefully overrated) rated power.

What's the lightbulb trick?

PcBytes wrote:

I first test them w/ the standard paperclip trick before ever installing them into my retro machines.

I just use AT-ATX adapter and plug some expendable HDDs, CD-ROMs and fans as load.

Repo Man11 wrote:

If you swung it by the cables it would be a potentially lethal weapon!

The Serpent Rider wrote on 2022-04-02, 16:12:

I just use AT-ATX adapter and plug some expendable HDDs, CD-ROMs and fans as load. […]
Show full quote

PcBytes wrote:

I first test them w/ the standard paperclip trick before ever installing them into my retro machines.

I just use AT-ATX adapter and plug some expendable HDDs, CD-ROMs and fans as load.

Repo Man11 wrote:

If you swung it by the cables it would be a potentially lethal weapon!

__antecco_antec_drawn_by_katahira_masashi__5e2e45ff977a39c07c67032a1e60253c.jpg

I guess there really is an anime for every occasion 🤣

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-02, 15:35:

What's the lightbulb trick?

Simple. A 60W traditional glass lightbulb with two wires soldered, installed in place of the main fuse that is present in the PSU.

I forgot the in depth explanation for it but it basically limits the input current enough to not go up in flames (aka pop fireballs when switched on from mains).
If the PSU is working fine - the bulb flashes once then dims.
If the PSU has a short - the bulb stays lit bright.

PcBytes wrote on 2022-04-02, 17:42:

Simple. A 60W traditional glass lightbulb with two wires soldered, installed in place of the main fuse that is present in the PS […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-02, 15:35:

What's the lightbulb trick?

Simple. A 60W traditional glass lightbulb with two wires soldered, installed in place of the main fuse that is present in the PSU.

I forgot the in depth explanation for it but it basically limits the input current enough to not go up in flames (aka pop fireballs when switched on from mains).
If the PSU is working fine - the bulb flashes once then dims.
If the PSU has a short - the bulb stays lit bright.

That's a neat trick 🙂

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-01, 14:29:

Did you hear about Krakatoa Island in 1883? Well they had used an old AT PSU, but the Chinese covered that up with some BS about […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-01, 07:08:

PcBytes wrote on 2022-03-31, 08:02:

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully. Also hoping to restore them to a goo […]
Show full quote

It's gonna take some time, but I plan on diving into rebuilding AT PSUs as well, hopefully.
Also hoping to restore them to a good unit that can provide a full 250W of power.

I will also plan on doing the most ghetto ATX-AT conversion on a PSU in the future, going as far as rewiring the PS_ON green wire to the big AT switch that's on the case.

At the moment, I do have a converted AT case - this means I am using an ATX PSU (LC-B400ATX, also rebuilt, branded Torrent Computers.) in it. What I convertrd was the switch, using a similar styled switch to the AT one, but which is momentary - it's kinda like an hybrid between the AT power button and the ATX power button. Machine inside is a fully recapped LuckyTech P5MVP3, w/ K6-II+ 500MHz (actual 500 part, not downclocked.), GF 5200 (I think), and a 40Gb HDD if my memory serves me right.

Well, since you are probably one of the more experienced people on Vogons regarding the use of (refurbished) old power supplies, I'm curious to learn how many times have you had one of these old PSUs explode and burst into flames leaving small smoking craters where your retro PC once stood? 😋

Did you hear about Krakatoa Island in 1883? Well they had used an old AT PSU, but the Chinese covered that up with some BS about a vulcano!

It actually happened before my eyes, but with a pretty fancy, if aging Enermax 350W ATX unit.
I think it was upon reconnection to the grid.
Went flashbang on me and killed a late socket A board and the GF4 on that. Think the CPU survived. Not a huge material loss but rather annoying.

Mind you, that thing was my main desktop at the time, it just went kaflooey on power up, no testing against that...

I do know a PSU of a friend powering his sA rig must've blown pretty badly. It scorched the power connector on the board iirc.
I have also once found a discarded PC and the owner happened to see me looking at the PC and he told me the PSU had burned out or something. I still took it all home and it contained a s370 440LX board with 400MHz Mendocino iirc. The board still worked and it actually became my first retro rig and used it for a number of years.
The PSU was indeed trashed but it was during when I was just starting the hobby. So I was not knowledgeable enough at the time to figure out what exactly happened except that I saw and smelled the PSU was definitely gone.

This is the main issue of course. As long as a PSU will keep working it will probably be alright (except when you draw too much from it in some way or cause some other defect like a short). It's when something fails that stuff can start cascading, causing other stuff to die.

Thus far I've never (not definitively anyway) had a PSU fail on me causing hardware inside to die. I have had hardware failure of course, partially my own mistake and partially not my fault as it already had failed when I got it or because of something that is kinda totally outside my power anyway (like my IBM deathstar dying).

I have had hardware kill other hardware though, at least twice. One was a RAM stick which caused every motherboard it had been put in + powered on to never function normally anymore and a harddrive which outright silenced any motherboard it ever was connected to which had been powered on. Both items looked perfectly normal btw, afaict, which made it all the more scary in a sense. I started testing hardware before letting it touch any of my 'real' hardware since then, including PSUs, and I now always visually inspect an item first (especially PSUs, it's not a lot of work to open one up usually and have a look inside).

To my utter shame I have not seen a p/s explode, implode, or even have a nervous breakdown. But I did see a motherboard capacitor erupt like Vesuvius once, blow it's lid, literally, and fly across the room. The stub just sat there, burning, until I blew out the flame. This was a Tandy 4000 I bought on ebay. I emailed the seller, not that I was angry, just because, and her reply was "Oh dear, I would feel so terrible if anyone had gotten hurt". My damned feelings were sure hurt, but did I receive any compensation, uh no. Elizabeth-O or whatever her name was, changed her ebay nic shortly after.

chris2021 wrote on 2022-04-02, 18:11:

To my utter shame I have not seen a p/s explode, implode, or even have a nervous breakdown. But I did see a motherboard capacitor erupt like Vesuvius once, blow it's lid, literally, and fly across the room. The stub just sat there, burning, until I blew out the flame. This was a Tandy 4000 I bought on ebay. I emailed the seller, not that I was angry, just because, and her reply was "Oh dear, I would feel so terrible if anyone had gotten hurt". My damned feelings were sure hurt, but did I receive any compensation, uh no. Elizabeth-O or whatever her name was, changed her ebay nic shortly after.

Only cap I had blown was one of those tantrum (lol) caps. Blew like a firecracker and I saw something glowing flying through the room xD

PcBytes wrote on 2022-04-01, 15:41:

Again, anything that I use in my builds is usually tested outside any machine first, without anything connected besides a wire b […]
Show full quote

Again, anything that I use in my builds is usually tested outside any machine first, without anything connected besides a wire between GREEN and BLACK.

Here's my methodology:

- open up unit first, check for anything awry inside the PSU. Measure mains bridge rectifier to check if the 220v side is shorted. If not, close up for now, plug in AC and flip switch on. This also helps to determine if the PSU has upgradeability potential.
- If no flashes or bangs, check for 5vsb. If there's any voltage in there (doesn't matter how high at this time, just must be greater than 0V.), you have a good starting point.
- open up unit again, dismantle everything - desolder main AC wires from PCB, remove fans from connector (or desolder wires from PCB if manuf. cheaped out on connector), then remove the fan. Physical AC plugs don't need to be removed.
- do a very extensive and through cleaning, as much as possible. Check fan - if stil spinning normally, no need to tinker with it further. If it's seized, I add several drips of bicycle oil (not really sure where it's used but I suppose it's for the chains. It's liquid btw.) to the plastic ring, then try to spin the fan. Most of the times, the fans came back to life like new, and significantly more silent than one that runs but hasn't been ever oiled before. (sorry if this point sounds a bit weird, English isn't my main language)
- check the caps. I usually ALWAYS recap the 5vSB first, and with japanese caps. The secondary can get away with medium to high end caps - Nichicon and Rubycon is what I usually try and get in there, but I sometimes do accept using some OST RLX as well.
- next come the rectifiers. I usually do a visual check to see what the PSU could realistically do. Usually, most of the L&C I am getting have 13007s on the primary, so this usually limits me to 250-300W max before they melt steel beams. Some I've seen come with higher rectifiers at the expense of a crappier main transformer (Linkworld LPK2-30 - uses TO-3P packaged 13009s, but EI-33 transformers.) and some do come with all the goodies you'd probably expect to see in a high end version of the specific design (e.g Allied usually packed their units so tight I quite had a difficult time cracking it open.). Secondary rectifiers are usually left untouched unless I specifically need the PSU to be X or Y volts heavy - if I need it 12v "heavy", I derate the 5v by 10A lower than what's installed (for example - if I have a 30A rectifier, I install a 20A one) and bump the 12v one as high as I can. If I need a Athlon/dual Athlon/dual Slot1/370 PSU - I then beef the 12v to 30A minimum (for fans and drives mostly.), and up the 5v to the highest amperage possible. These procedures are usually done to units that I can accurately approximate they have a VERY thick output torroid and are usually units that have good heatsinks, big transformers and a rather sturdy 220v construction - this means populated MOV slots, high capacitance main caps (680uF or 820uF, I've had some 1000s as well.) and high power main transistors.
-finally, once everything is checked out and voltages are within spec, I close up the unit and install it in the desired computer I want.

I also like to do that kind of things to some cheap power supplies, always with used components since I can get faulty power supplies easily, but my knowledge is a lot lower than yours so I thank you the explanations and wish to read more about, "upgrading" power supplies.

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-02, 19:56:

chris2021 wrote on 2022-04-02, 18:11:

To my utter shame I have not seen a p/s explode, implode, or even have a nervous breakdown. But I did see a motherboard capacitor erupt like Vesuvius once, blow it's lid, literally, and fly across the room. The stub just sat there, burning, until I blew out the flame. This was a Tandy 4000 I bought on ebay. I emailed the seller, not that I was angry, just because, and her reply was "Oh dear, I would feel so terrible if anyone had gotten hurt". My damned feelings were sure hurt, but did I receive any compensation, uh no. Elizabeth-O or whatever her name was, changed her ebay nic shortly after.

Only cap I had blown was one of those tantrum (lol) caps. Blew like a firecracker and I saw something glowing flying through the room xD

I seem to recall it being a chunky yellow bypass capacitor at the top of an isa slot. Don't remember what a tantalum cap is off the top of my head.

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-02, 18:04:

I do know a PSU of a friend powering his sA rig must've blown pretty badly. It scorched the power connector on the board iirc. I […]
Show full quote

Cuttoon wrote on 2022-04-01, 14:29:

Did you hear about Krakatoa Island in 1883? Well they had used an old AT PSU, but the Chinese covered that up with some BS about […]
Show full quote

Tetrium wrote on 2022-04-01, 07:08:

Well, since you are probably one of the more experienced people on Vogons regarding the use of (refurbished) old power supplies, I'm curious to learn how many times have you had one of these old PSUs explode and burst into flames leaving small smoking craters where your retro PC once stood? 😋

Did you hear about Krakatoa Island in 1883? Well they had used an old AT PSU, but the Chinese covered that up with some BS about a vulcano!

It actually happened before my eyes, but with a pretty fancy, if aging Enermax 350W ATX unit.
I think it was upon reconnection to the grid.
Went flashbang on me and killed a late socket A board and the GF4 on that. Think the CPU survived. Not a huge material loss but rather annoying.

Mind you, that thing was my main desktop at the time, it just went kaflooey on power up, no testing against that...

I do know a PSU of a friend powering his sA rig must've blown pretty badly. It scorched the power connector on the board iirc.
I have also once found a discarded PC and the owner happened to see me looking at the PC and he told me the PSU had burned out or something. I still took it all home and it contained a s370 440LX board with 400MHz Mendocino iirc. The board still worked and it actually became my first retro rig and used it for a number of years.
The PSU was indeed trashed but it was during when I was just starting the hobby. So I was not knowledgeable enough at the time to figure out what exactly happened except that I saw and smelled the PSU was definitely gone.

This is the main issue of course. As long as a PSU will keep working it will probably be alright (except when you draw too much from it in some way or cause some other defect like a short). It's when something fails that stuff can start cascading, causing other stuff to die.

Thus far I've never (not definitively anyway) had a PSU fail on me causing hardware inside to die. I have had hardware failure of course, partially my own mistake and partially not my fault as it already had failed when I got it or because of something that is kinda totally outside my power anyway (like my IBM deathstar dying).

I have had hardware kill other hardware though, at least twice. One was a RAM stick which caused every motherboard it had been put in + powered on to never function normally anymore and a harddrive which outright silenced any motherboard it ever was connected to which had been powered on. Both items looked perfectly normal btw, afaict, which made it all the more scary in a sense. I started testing hardware before letting it touch any of my 'real' hardware since then, including PSUs, and I now always visually inspect an item first (especially PSUs, it's not a lot of work to open one up usually and have a look inside).

Who else thinks we need a dedicated thread for "best hardware failures"?
Not a PSU problem, but over two decades ago, I tested my brothers discarded VIP 486 board and one of the voltage regulators started spewing a cone of smoke like a comic book steam train. Hard to describe, but it was glorious.

Not a PSU but rather a 95watt USB-C charger ...it was, impressive the amount of smoke that thing let out.

Along with the flames, sparks and stench, not sure why it failed exactly but from inspection it looked like a component on the high side possibly bridged out to a trace on the low side, cant be 100% sure as the board in it was pretty charred but the part that remained showed that there likely wasn't enough separation between the high and low side traces.

So as a warning to all out there .. Chinese USB chargers are a bad idea even if they are expensive !

Let's start with the obvious, though frankly given how long it's lasted and how clean it is, I'm planning on seeing if I can "upgrade" it slightly (replace obvious wear items) and keep it as a -5V PSU:

Then, with a name like PowerMan, you know it's gotta be good! I don't actually know that.

The Zumax, frankly, I don't even know where I got it. I found it and stood there for a minute asking myself where it came from. It may have noticed all the other PSUs and moved in of it's own accord.

I have all these tiny early ATX PSUs, they're just like 5-6 inches long and 3-4 wide, this is a good example of them. Well, "good."

And, of course, one of the fun oddball post-AT and pre-ATX PSUs with an extra AT power plug and no switch.

On that topic, I'd like to vent my spleen at the evil people who named ATX after AT and PCIe after PCI, probably with malice aforethought knowing how that would screw up internet searches in the future.

I am eager to see what other people are doing with regards to rebuilding or building new PSUs, I have been making approximately zero progress toward my goal of an all-new (possibly excepting some connectors) SFX-sized AT power supply, which can also be mounted inside at AT PSU's chassis. The reason I want to do the smaller one is because I have this goofy idea about making a rack for AT systems (and possibly AT, ATX, and generic platforms form things like Powermacs (like the famous PM8500 with the self-destructing plastic case) or even early pre-PCs or custom multi-board computers - all with a KVM (probably custom) that can handle MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA, AT, ADB, PS2, USB, etc. You'd probably actually need a server to be the KVM. Frankly it's a bit aspirational... and I like old case too...

But an AT SFX (small form factor PSU) would also be useful for test bench, or for custom cases or replacing PSUs in small form factor early PCs, Kaypros, terminals, etc.

There might already be something like that, but you can't search for it on an internet because an internet doesn't know the difference between AT and ATX.

Trash the Zumax. I've seen countless of them and that Topower logo is a gigantic lie.

The Codegen... highly depends on what design it uses.

The others are alright, although the Mitac might be an hybrid PSU - it uses AT plugs but it's actually an ATX PSU - the 5vSB line further proves that. It's basically ATX if you replace the AT styled connectors with a standard ATX plug.

Merovign wrote on 2022-04-03, 06:02:

Let's start with the obvious, though frankly given how long it's lasted and how clean it is, I'm planning on seeing if I can "up […]
Show full quote

Let's start with the obvious, though frankly given how long it's lasted and how clean it is, I'm planning on seeing if I can "upgrade" it slightly (replace obvious wear items) and keep it as a -5V PSU:

Codegen.jpg

Then, with a name like PowerMan, you know it's gotta be good! I don't actually know that.

PowerMan.jpg

The Zumax, frankly, I don't even know where I got it. I found it and stood there for a minute asking myself where it came from. It may have noticed all the other PSUs and moved in of it's own accord.

Zumax.jpg

I have all these tiny early ATX PSUs, they're just like 5-6 inches long and 3-4 wide, this is a good example of them. Well, "good."

ilssan.jpg

And, of course, one of the fun oddball post-AT and pre-ATX PSUs with an extra AT power plug and no switch.

Mitac.jpg

On that topic, I'd like to vent my spleen at the evil people who named ATX after AT and PCIe after PCI, probably with malice aforethought knowing how that would screw up internet searches in the future.

I am eager to see what other people are doing with regards to rebuilding or building new PSUs, I have been making approximately zero progress toward my goal of an all-new (possibly excepting some connectors) SFX-sized AT power supply, which can also be mounted inside at AT PSU's chassis. The reason I want to do the smaller one is because I have this goofy idea about making a rack for AT systems (and possibly AT, ATX, and generic platforms form things like Powermacs (like the famous PM8500 with the self-destructing plastic case) or even early pre-PCs or custom multi-board computers - all with a KVM (probably custom) that can handle MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA, AT, ADB, PS2, USB, etc. You'd probably actually need a server to be the KVM. Frankly it's a bit aspirational... and I like old case too...

But an AT SFX (small form factor PSU) would also be useful for test bench, or for custom cases or replacing PSUs in small form factor early PCs, Kaypros, terminals, etc.

There might already be something like that, but you can't search for it on an internet because an internet doesn't know the difference between AT and ATX.

The Power Man should actually be a decent unit for the time. They are often FSP units. It's definitely not a crap PSU. Or well at least not by contemporary standards.
I can't remember having seen a Power Man PSU this recent though. Most I saw were from the earliest ATX era. I haven't googled the actual part number btw. Perhaps you should open it up and have a look inside? 😜