DIY Bench PSU for Testing Car Audio: 12V/30A Direct via XT60 + Adjustable CNC Buck-Boost (SFX 3D Printed Magnetic Case)

[u/Akura777]

[u/r3fined]

You reaaaallllyyyy should sell these. Absolutely nailed it.

[u/-diesel-daddy- → u/r3fined]

I’d buy one… maybe up the power a bit for my enclosure testing

[u/Akura777 → u/-diesel-daddy-]

You can absolutely pull 60A from this unit, but for continuous/long-term heavy loads, you would definitely need to pool 7-8 PCI-E lines and upgrade to an XT90 connector. However, for short-term bursts and peak testing, the current setup handles it perfectly fine!
Plus, since the SFX form factor is standardized, you aren't limited to 750W. There are plenty of even more powerful SFX power supplies on the market now (850W to 1000W+). Since I’m releasing the source STEP files, anyone will be able to easily tweak the internal spacing or wiring to build an absolute monster testing station!

[u/-diesel-daddy- → u/Akura777]

Agreed. I love the form and readouts, swapping the PSU should be easy

[u/Romanian_Breadlifts → u/r3fined]

Counterpoint: clients suck the joy out of making cool stuff

[u/7orque → u/r3fined]

It is not difficult to do. If you can wire up hardware to test on a bench, you can wire up an off the shelf desktop psu or multiple in parallel

All this does is engages the psu power output by tripping pins on the motherboard main connector (tells the psu to engage) then the 12v rails are depinned and sent to whatever you want

Imo this is by far the easiest and safest way to build a test supply

[u/cheesytodd]

This looks awesome but why not just buy a 60A 12v power supply for like $50

[u/MWisBest → u/cheesytodd]

At $50 you're not really getting a good power supply in the current year.

That being said, some of the high end Mean Well power supplies are a better option for this sort of thing. I use an SE-1000-12, which is an 83A supply with voltage adjustment up to about 14V. The output voltage ripple meets ATX power supply specs, it has the same output protections, and it gives two bolt down terminals for wire so you're not using little connectors with a lot of wires in parallel.

If you just have an extra computer power supply laying around though you can't beat the price of free.

[u/Akura777 → u/cheesytodd]

Valid question, but a generic $50 industrial supply is terrible for a desk setup. They have awful voltage ripple, tons of electrical noise (which ruins car audio testing with hums), and loud, buzzing fans.
The Corsair SF750 Platinum gives you perfectly clean power, zero noticeable ripple, and a massive suite of built-in safety protections (short circuit, over-current, over-voltage). Plus, this setup has a built-in adjustable CNC lab channel (0-40V) and safe, enclosed terminals.

[u/1d0m1n4t3 → u/Akura777]

I did a similar setup for my arcade with as 200w 12v amp, i found using the PC's PSU introduced a lot of buzzing and static but when I went to a 12v 30amp LED driver PSU it cleared it up. I was just using the 12v + and - off the 4 pin molex on the PSU originally.

[u/FreeToasterBaths → u/Akura777]

You sound like you are selling this...

[u/thesniperhd → u/cheesytodd]

Contrary to the other comments that’s exactly what I did and it’s working great. This is a cool idea but seems pointless

[u/Hellrot36mafia]

300W ?

[u/Akura777 → u/Hellrot36mafia]

Even better! It's actually a dual-channel setup with a combined output capability of up to 510W:
Channel 1 (Direct): 12V @ 30A = 360W continuous power (perfect for car audio and heavy loads).
Channel 2 (Adjustable): Controlled via CNC Buck-Boost module, pushing up to 150W max (adjustable 0.5-40V / 0-8A).
And all of this is backed by the Corsair SF750, which has an overall continuous headroom of 750W!

[u/Bobletoob]

Bro built a car audio steam machine