Here's the story-I'd been beset by a number of PSU failures over 2005-2006 (no thanks to Intel's Netburst-based processors' obscene power consumption ) & gotten real pissed off with PSU makers that lie or attempt to mislead buyers with their wattage specifications (I swear I'll never buy one of theirs for my own use).

Ok, enough with the ranting; back to reality-my gf's PC, which runs a P4 Northwood 1.6GHz, was using a cap ayam PSU since 2002. Naturally I was worried it would give way any time soon (and possibly take her PC down with it-thats what happened to me) so I made arrangements to get a (decent) replacement into her set.

After some digging, I found this gem on lelong.com for RM9
http://members.lelong.com.my/Auc/Archive/D...20&When=2007-02
(the link will be useless eventually)


A look at it up close

Model : FSP170-60SI One of the most reliable PSU brands.
3.3V-16.7A
5V-16.0A
12v-10.A
5vsb-2A
-5-0.2A
-12-0.3A

3.3V & 5V = 118W max
Passive PFC
Auto fan speed control based on temp

Oh yes, if you're wondering why such a low wattage PSU-FYI most PC don't really take up that much power-PSUs blow because the maufacturer was dishonest or only gave the MAX power rating (which it can only handle for a short time-continuous power rating is what you should be looking at). Her PC takes barely 120W even at full overclock-measured with a digital multimeter.

As luck would have it, my gf's PSU blew -just- a fortnight or so after I got the 'new' PSU. So I was now on a deadline to get it done; before she drives me insane because she can't listen to ther MP3s. So I got started.

The dead victim

Autopsy : leaking capacitor.

The stuff laid out for the transplant operation


As you can see, the new PSU is -not- of the standard ATX design , so I'll need to mod and put it in a ATX PSU case. So what more convenient than the already dead PSU's case? So I started by drilling holes to match the smaller PSU's PCB.



Here I've added the spacers needed to keep the new PCB from shorting itself out on the metal case. And I thought-my gf hates noise, so how about upgrade the 80mm fan to a 120mm?



Ok, I'm a noob at case cutting (gotta get better tools ). Guess what I used..a chisel. Yes, the bloody thing normally used to make grooves & slots in wood. Had to go at it with a file for nearly an hour to get off the hundreds of sharp edges and hammer it back into shape from all the pounding it took (talk about brute force). But in the end, it was done.



Ok, I'm a noob a spray painting too (it flaked eventually-but hey, nobody's gonna look at it-just wanted something other than boring dull metal). And next was the (re)wiring.



This (the filter MOVs & capacitor) were a real b**** to desolder off the old PSU-they was coiled around the contact, THEN soldered. Had to melt the solder AND uncoil it while the solder was still molten. Thankfully soldering it onto in the new casing was much easier. And oh, the acyllic is to close up the previous intake vents so the 120mm fan wouldn't blow hot air back into the casing (trapping air in a vicious cycle).

And here's the auto fan speed controller board modded to fit a 3 pin fan AND allow for PSU fan speed monitoring (the yellow wire).


All the wiring done now. The PFC inductor can be clearly seen here (the yellow wrapped blue transformer block).


The 120mm ADDA fan installed. It was !@$ to fit it in so close to the power cables so I didn't feel like opening it again to take photos (yes I did take it into consideration when I cut the hole, but the squeeze was unavoidable )


Hell, I figured since I made a cool PSU might as well give the proper credit to FSP for the plumbing.


Finished! Tested it out, and oh boy were the voltages stable. Easily pawn my Cooler Master Realpower 550W SLI in voltage regulation (FSP rocks!! ).


This post has been edited by lohwenli: Apr 18 2007, 11:00 PM

mayb it abit better if u sleeving those wires

just off-topic

obviously, you've never heard of expensive, high end, very reliable, server grade, pro-gamer's grade, oc'ers grade type of psu

they swear by the watts, have twin 12V rail, boast active PFC and sustains a real watt over its usage period of time

back to the topic: nice mod attempt.

Actually later I did sleeve it, but didn't have my friend's camera with me anymore. I don't have any camera of my own-unless you count my ancient film one which doesn't even need a battery.

Edit : was also thinking of replacing the back grille, but to lazy to figure out a better solution. Besides, I couldn't keep my GF waiting.

This post has been edited by lohwenli: Apr 18 2007, 11:17 PM

Oh yes I have. Got one sitting in the PC in my house (i stay in USM hostel). Haven't succeeding in bullying it to go below 11.98v. For that matter, I haven't managed to get the 12v2 rail to fluctuate even 0.1V

God, that was a lot of components..

Hmm, how would I like to have a PCP&C/Seasonic/Silverstone sitting in my com..but waaaay out of my budget..

This post has been edited by lohwenli: Apr 18 2007, 11:18 PM

You sprayed the casing black rite? How did you manage those stickers?

I've been asked that a lot Ok, here's the secret-the stickers are those plastic based ones, not paper based. So they don't tear that easily, and I could remove them by sliding a blade under the sticker to remove the adhesive.

If anyone's wondering, no, it doesn't work well on warranty stickers...

nice mod there...can apply back the sticker i thought it will bit koyak or stretch when you strap it from the older one

quite an impressive mod. it looks good too.

wow!

nice transplant work! i like the black finish! bravo!

Whoa.. If u just show me the finish product, i will think it was a new PSU. hahaha.. Nice work bro.
nice touch

looks cekap..keep it up bro..

Nice... u take electrical engineering at USM ka??

Thanks for all the comments..too bad I didn't do a worklog of when @meno and I modded his PSU connector from 20-24pin. But it wasn't that interesting anyway.

Err no. Applied Physics at main campus on penang island. Inherited some itchy hands from my grandfather.

Lemme see, what else to mod?
-a laptop case for my dinosaur laptop (previous case now in 20+ pieces)
-a case from redart (that will be my first REAL casemod-previously just dabbling around)

Gotta get some real tools soon, most of my hand tools just not gonna cut it
Anybody know where to get a proper coping saw blade? Can't seem to find a proper one, the ones I have are poorly suited for cutting metal, especially steel.

Hmm, regretted of not getting a camera when we did that. It was not as impressive as ur mod there, but it definitely is a breakthrough. I wonder how many people out there have self modded 20-24pin PSUs. Still remember the hole on the sleeve...

Btw bro, u couldn't continue cutting metal with your chisel, time to get something more decent.

@Lucifah,
I don't think you would get something as decent as this FSP 170w for RM9.
If you do wonder, he has one of the best PSU i've ever seen. The rails are so stable that you could start to disbelief your eyes.

For those who are wondering how did this PSU look in real, i can tell you guys it's just like what z3r0717 said, like a brand new PSU. Even the stickers were perfect...

Hey dude, why u never told me u had a worklog on this mod. I seem to be the first to see the finished product, but the last to know about the existance of this worklog.

awesome work bro! thumbs up

good job bro....very neat and creative..huhu..

Yo bro!!!What a nice job!!!I moded my casing and im a USm student too!!!x-student actually..i think u know who i am..hehehe..wow..u do modding..and i do a little modding too..guess both of us can work out some modded rig!!hehehe..anyway..nice job there!!!Oh ya..the psu..FSP..like mine too!!

nice job man.. enjoy to see ur mod..

All finished or active worklogs bumped to avoid deletion.