The great thing about standards is there are so many to choose from.
The @Printr_bot board’s power connector is almost identical to the 12V extra connector on an ATX power supply, except for being exactly backwards.
Sigh. My #Frankenbot is going to make Frankenstein’s monster look like a GQ model.
It’s the 6 pin pcie power. You can buy a cable for a couple dollars.
reach in with a small pair of tweezers and pop the wires out of the connector; shuffle around as needed and simply slide back into the connector. problem solved.
Thanks @Stephanie_A . Didn’t even know that one existed (haven’t kept up much with PC power supplies).
So, googling that connection, suggests a 5.5A Max on the current (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#Power), so if I’m NOT running a heated bed, will a 5A 12V power supply be sufficient for a a printer with 2 Y steppers and the UBIS 13s hotend?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#Power
Yes, don’t stick a 4-pin plug into a 6-pin connector. Bad things happen. ;).
We have ALWAYS used standards taken directly from ATX power supplies used in desktop computers for decades. We did this so anyone can buy a replacement power supply from anywhere in the world without the need for ANY special adapters or cables. I hate it when companies force you to buy a proprietary dongle (looking at you, Apple).
While it may not have been intended by the person posting the article, it could be mistaken that Printrbot is creating some “standard” to sell cables. The opposite is true. I never want to make proprietary cables - I want to give customers choice and freedom to source their own power supply.
I have stayed with 12V for years when 24V actually has advantages. Why? ATX power supplies are available all over the world, country-specific cables/plugs work great, and legacy Printrbot’s can switch out to new electronics equipment and still use the maximum-- all hot ends, heat beds and electronics all run off of 12v
We will have NEED soon for more powerful hot ends in very large print tees pushing lots of plastic really fast, but that’s a separate issue. Our magic candy factory printer runs our Printrboard at 24v because of all the crazy heaters needed (paste extruder, essentially).
Brook
Thanks @Brook_Drumm for the response - no intent to suggest an ulterior motive. Just wasn’t aware that modern ATX power supplies came with a 6 pin connector. My ATX supplies are from a bygone era apparently.
I do have a neat little switching power supply I acquired from refurbished medical equipment that I want to wire in. It’s rated 12V, 5A and I’m wondering how close to the limit I’ll be pushing it. I think I measured the UBIS 13s hotend pulling 2.5A on my Simple (which has a 6A supply).
Powering my #frankenbot through the hacked cable in the picture, I had run some test leads from an ATX supply converted to bench power supply, but the leads were too thin and the voltage drop caused weird behaviour once everything was up and running.
So, now I’m asking questions before getting in too much further 
The older ATXs didn’t have sufficient wire gauge on the 4-pin to run a heat bed too, so we made a “power y” adapter that looped on one of the disk drive power cables too. We were happy to see the 6 pin appear later, but cheaper psus skimped on the wire gauge, making sourcing a better ATX a little tricky at first. When computers started requiring higher amperage to push big cpus and video drivers, it got easier.
W/o a heat bed, we measured the whole printer running between 2.5 and 3.5 A. With heated bed, around 18-20A. Our current psus for the plus w big heat bed are 42A but the 6 wires are near spec to push 20A. I have hand made a new power y for one customer that pairs both the 4 pin and 6 pin since his ATX has warm wires in the 6 pin. Not sure if he bought his ATX from us, but I doubt it. If you are running a plus w heat bed at 100 c for many hours, better to be safe than sorry. If you have slightly warm cables, it may be ok, but if you would characterize them as hot, take precautions.
All my best
Brook
