CompuServe Messages

Tony, I had this resistor in the junk box, so I used it. 🙂 Basically, I found that plugging in a couple of old junker HDs into the power supply let the main 1 gig drive spin up ok. So, since the 2 drives put a total of 2.4 amps on the 5v, Ohm's law says R=V/I. R=5v/2.4a or 2.08 ohms. The power is V*I or 5v * 2.4a or 12 watts. Then I double it for safety. 🙂 The resistor I had was fairly large. It was also hollow with a center bolt and mica insulators. I was able to bolt it to the case frame out of the way. It will get hot, so you want to mount it someplace where it will have good airflow and not be resting on cables. Radio Shack has some terminal strips that can mount to the case. You can solder the resistor(s) to the strip, the leads will hold in out in the air. Then use the female half of a HD power extension cable to make a cable for the resistor. You can just plug it to one of the HD power cables. Meter the cable to find the 5v side. The two center wires are ground. One of the outside is 5v the other is 12v. Those clone towers are all different, but the one I had came with a short extender with a tap for the power LED. I just spliced into that rather than making a custom cable. Note that if you can't find one resistor of the right power rating, you can take advantage of paralelling them. Two 10 ohm resistors in paralell is 5 ohms & the power is spread between them, so they can be smaller,like 5 or 10 watts. (10 is better…) -Jim "Mr. Duct Tape"