Question PSUs without motherboard

[TerryCaine]

Hello there. I have 3 500W PSUs that are not being used at the moment and I wanted to do something ghetto with one of them. I know I can start a PSU on its own by touching the green and a black cable on the 24pin, but I wanted to know how reliable is it for the PSU to stay like that. Especially when I plan on keeping it 24/7 on. Is it a good idea to solder the two cables and then insulate them? Again from an always on point of view. I read somewhere that it is also required to touch the yellow and orange (if I am not mistaken) cables to have voltage regulation. I will be powering external cages with HDDs only and nothing else. I have 2 external cages with 5 HDDs each and want to keep them on 24/7. I just want to know if this method is just as reliable as the PSU being connected to the motherboard or if it is not a good idea in general. If anyone has any experience in running such a ghetto setup I would really appreciate it or any suggestions in general.

 

[jay32267]

" how reliable is it for the PSU to stay like that. "
I think it can stay like that forever.

"Is it a good idea to solder the two cables and then insulate them? "
I think.... only if you think the conductor of the jumper may come in contact with another conductor.

"I read somewhere that it is also required to touch the yellow and orange (if I am not mistaken) cables to have voltage regulation. "
I've never heard this.

" I just want to know if this method is just as reliable as the PSU being connected to the motherboard "
I don't see why not.

 

[TerryCaine]

How to Power Up an ATX Power Supply Without a PC!

How to Power Up an ATX Power Supply Without a PC!: In this instructable i will show you how to power up an ATX Power Supply without a PC. Maybe in some cases you want to test an old CD-Rom Drive or something else. All that you have is a PSU from an old PC an a wire. Here I show you how do to it.

www.instructables.com

I found the comment I read at the comment section of this post. I was wrong about the colours of the cables and their intention, but the guy says the following:
"You missed something important for 24 pin PSU,s. i bet many had tried this and had their PSU just turn on for a second then turn off, If you have a 24 pin psu you MUST connect the brown cable to an orange cable "brown is the voltage sense" and the green to black ! Your 24 pin psu will now work as intended standing alone. "
I have no idea what he means with the brown and orange cable but I would appreciate any additional information.

 

[Karadjgne]

Orange is +3.3v
Red is +5v
Blue is -12v
Yellow is +12v
Purple is +5vVSB
Grey is power: ok
Green is power: on
Black is Common.

Wtf is Brown?

 

[TJ Hooker]

Pin 13 is optionally a +3.3V sense pin, in which case it is brown.

 

[TerryCaine]

Thank you very much for all the explanations. If the brown cable is present then is it really required to be connected to the orange in order for the PSU to function properly on its own? Also, does the size and quality of the conductor used to connect the green and black cable matter, or can I use any old tiny cable I have around?

 

[TJ Hooker]

I don't know if it would be strictly required, but it would make sense and even if not required it shouldn't hurt anything. There should be next to no current on the sense pin, so a small connector should be fine.