[Talguy]

Hi everyone, I'm planning on modifying my home entertainment cabinet to include a common 5V and 12V DC bus to get rid of all this wall warts. I'm going to use an old 450 W computer power supply. I'm looking for a fused terminal block to protect all the devices on each bus. Anyone know of where I can get one?

[GomezAddams]

I'd probably just use in-line fuse holders like this:


So, cut the cord off each wall wart, use one of these in-line fuses for each, and solder everything to the computer power supply.

That said, I think this is a very bad idea. You have no guarantee that all your equipment (present and future) uses negative ground. Some of your devices may connect the + side of the power supply to the signal ground, so now you have a dead short on your power supply. There is also electrical noise to worry about, not to mention the computer power supply is not designed to handle this sort of load (switching power supplies are finicky beasts).

I really, REALLY think this is more trouble than it is worth. And, BTW, I am an electrical engineer.

[Talguy]

Thanks for bringing up the grounding issue. I thought most electronics used the standard power from + and ground from -. How much electrical noise would a computer power supply give. I thought computer parts need a clean power signal which they get from the computer power supply. The loads I'm putting on the power supply are a fraction of what it originally powered in the computer so I'm sure it can take it also.

I'm also an electrical engineer but pretty terrible when it comes to power even though I'm writing software to control lots of very big switch mode inverters and converters in an electric plant

[hick]

What about a power supply with ptc outputs? Check out www.altronix.com , good brand I have been using them for years for cctv, fire alarm, and access control power.

[GomezAddams]

I still just don't see this as worth the effort. Even if the grounds aren't a problem, you'll still have ground loops which might introduce electrical noise into each device.

How many wall warts could you have to make this a problem?