OT Power to the periphery!

epirb wrote on 7/31/2005, 11:09 AM

As my external hard drive collection grows my avail power outlets are decreasing. Seem to me it would be nice if there was a ready made regulated multi power unit to supply power to all the external items. most all are either 5.5 volt or 12 vdc.
Does anybody know if theres something out there that does this?
Not only the lack of outlets but the ever increasing set of transformer power supplies is eating up vaulable space too.
Seems to me a 20 amp regulated power supply would handle quite alot of like voltage peripherals.

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 7/31/2005, 5:58 PM

I've built power supplies like that in the past for certain projects. The success has been varied though. One thing to keep in mind is that each device may suddenly draw peaks of current. If your power supply isn't robust enough, this could drop the power available to the other units, possibly to the point of having them malfunction. When each unit has it's own power supply this problem is avoided.

If you want to try to do something like this, i would suggest you add up the power requirements for all the individual units and at least triple that value for the minimum capacity of the power supply. For example, if you have 8 devices that all need 850mA, that would total 6.8Amps. You would want at least a 20Amp regulated supply. Some hard drives probably use more than that.

Do a google search for "Dr. Ferd's Wall Wart Removers". Places like Musicians' Friend will probably have them in stock. These nifty little devices have 110volt plugs for the transformers, a short cord, and a small 110v plug. This lets you connect a transformer ("wall wart") to every outlet of your power strip. They also have double-faced foam tape on the back so that you can stick them wherever it's convenient.