MP 1,1-5,1 We gotta talk about PSU's for 2009-2012 cMP's

[AnimeFunTv]

Well, my second power supply gave up for my 5,1 MacPro.

About 2-3 years ago, you could find quite a few base cMP's on the marketplace. Now I barely find any. Well, at least not ones I'd be willing to part out just for the power supply.

I'm worried that soon cMP PSU's will get so rare it will be costly to find one working, just like the PSU's for the 30in Cinema HD Display. At least with that PSU, it can be made with a generic 24v PSU from Amazon.

However, looking through the forum, I'm really shocked that there hasn't been a project to find an alternative to replace the PSU with an ATX PSU.

It's been asked before on the forum, but it seems no one has started any kind of open project.

We all know that the standard 12v/5v/3.3v rails are common on ATX PSU's, but how difficult can it be to translate the remaining pins?

And yes, I know working with PSU's can be very dangerous, but in experienced hands, I believe something can be achieved.

Lastly, I know there are still PSU's available online, but these are already used and no telling how many hours they have already accumulated. I'm talking about buying new ATX PSU's and using them on cMP's

 

[mode11]

Do you know what actually failed in your PSUs? Are there any known weak spots? It might not be too difficult to repair the original. Though you'd obviously need soldering tools, and to safely discharge any large / high voltage capacitors first.

 

[AnimeFunTv]

Do you know what actually failed in your PSUs? Are there any known weak spots? It might not be too difficult to repair the original. Though you'd obviously need soldering tools, and to safely discharge any large / high voltage capacitors first.

The first PSU I had the issue with, it was cutting power after about 5-15 minutes. You'd be able to turn it back on again, but will cut power soon after again. That issue has been posted here before on the forum.

I replaced it with my second PSU, which lasted me several more years. About a year ago, I put it in storage. I took it out of storage last week to work on a project with it. That's when this power supply just 'popped' and nothing.

Just a day ago, I picked up another 4,1/5,1 Mac Pro to gut its power supply, and my machine is back up and running.

Unfortunately, I don't have the first PSU that stopped working; I only have the one that blew up. Being careful, I did take it apart to see if there were any obvious signs of damage, but I didn't see any.

I do have some hobby skills with doing electronic mods and such, but PSU's are out of my scope.

Keep in mind I did leave my machine powered on 24/7 when it was my daily-use Mac.